Hilton, Hyatt, and IHG Freeze Hotel Developments in Russia

As the Russian invasion in Ukraine rages on, several hotel chains have announced that they are halting new property developments in Russia and closing their offices.

Hilton, Hyatt, IHG and Accor all announced Wednesday they would freeze new developments and suspend investments in Russia. Hilton and IHG also closed their corporate offices in Moscow, as reported by Skift. 

Marriott later announced the closure of its Moscow corporate office as well as the pause of future hotel openings, development, and investments in Russia. However, Marriott  said that its hotels in Russia are owned by third parties and they would “continue to evaluate the ability for these hotels to remain open.”

“At this time, we have made the decision to suspend our development activities and any new investments in Russia, effective immediately”, Hyatt said in a press release. “We will continue to evaluate hotel operations in Russia, while complying with applicable sanctions and U.S. government directives as we hope for a resolution to this crisis. Understanding that many people in Russia face challenges and uncertainty about their future as well, we are determining how best to support and care for our hotel colleagues and current guests in the country.”

“We are deeply saddened and shocked by the war in Ukraine and our thoughts continue to be with all those impacted by these horrific events. IHG has a commitment to look after the people and communities where we have a presence around the world,” IHG said in its statement. “We have long-term management or franchise agreements with independent third-party companies that own the hotels in Russia.”

Hilton and American Express have announced an initiate to donate up to 1 million hotel room nights in hotels across Europe to support Ukrainian refugees fleeing horrific violence in their country.