PHILADELPHIA — Some Marriott guests weren’t happy when they found out they were sharing their Center City hotel with the conservative “parental rights” group Moms for Liberty.
At least a few attendees of the Federation of Jewish Men’s Clubs’ biennial international conference earlier this month canceled their travel plans after hearing they’d be sharing the Philadelphia Marriott Downtown with the group, which has pushed to ban books and curtail classroom discussion about race and gender identity. Other FJMC conference attendees joined anti-Moms for Liberty protesters outside the hotel.
FJMC became aware of the simultaneous booking after its contract with Marriott had been signed, the organization said in a statement.
Hospitality experts are quick to note that what happened last weekend is rare.
Still, some brides-to-be, bar and bat mitzvah planners, and conference coordinators may want to consider other hotel guests as they prepare for their events. And some vacationers might wonder whether they can find out in advance if they’ll be sharing a hotel with any potentially controversial groups.
The Inquirer asked two hospitality experts: Christine Cleaver, assistant professor of practice at Temple University’s School of Sport, Tourism, and Hospitality Management, and Sheryl Kline, acting dean of the University of Delaware’s Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics and the Aramark Chaired Professor in the Department of Hospitality and Sport Business Management.
Here’s what they told us.
- Can I ask my hotel if any groups will be there during my stay?
Yes. And definitely do so if you’re preparing for an event.
“As a good planner, that is what you should be doing,” said Cleaver, who previously ran a full-service event management and production company. “You want to know what the logistics are, so you can plan for the comfort of your guests.”
But be aware that for privacy reasons, hotels have different policies about how much, if anything, they will disclose. (The Inquirer requested information about these policies from a dozen large hotel chains, including Marriott, with locations in Philadelphia; none returned requests for comment.)
Hotels are generally not permitted to share any specific booking information, said Kline, who worked in hotel management in Atlantic City and Las Vegas for more than a decade before becoming a professor. The one exception is for citywide events, like 2022′s Army-Navy game, which result in 2,000 or more hotel rooms booked on its peak night, and usually advertise online.
The hotel may also be able to provide vague descriptions of any other groups that have booked at the same time. For example, they may be able to share that there will be a gymnastics team staying there, without identifying where the group is from, or let you know Comic-Con, the popular comic book convention, is in town that weekend.
“Talk to the sales manager. Let them know any concerns you might have,” Kline said. “You can’t say, ‘I don’t want any groups of small children here.’ You can’t discriminate.”
But, she added, “you might ask: ‘Are there any other groups coming to the hotel?’ “
- Is there anything else I can do before booking my event or room block?
You can call the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau, or the local equivalent wherever your event is being held, and ask if there are any large groups or conventions scheduled to be in town, Kline suggested.
The Pennsylvania Convention Center also has a public calendar on its website, though it only includes events being held at the Center City facility, not at other hotels or venues, spokesperson Pete Peterson said. Some event organizers do not want their events advertised, either, he added, so those conferences are also excluded from the published list.
If you have a contract with a hotel, Cleaver suggests putting specific language in that document indicating you’d like to have discussions about what else is happening at the hotel during your event. You could also include a values statement, if you’d no longer want to stay there if you’d have to share space with a group that contradicts those values.
- Is there any way to eliminate the possibility of sharing a hotel with another group?
Yes, if you opt for a small hotel and book all the rooms, Kline said.
If you want to stay at a larger hotel, you could choose one without meeting space, which reduces the chances of a conference being held there, or ask for your room block to be as separated from other guests as possible, she said.
- What if I can’t find any information out in advance?
Stay calm. Remember that a conference clash or logistical chaos on the day of your event is unlikely.
“If you book a large hotel, be aware there will most likely be other groups there,” Kline said. But “nine times out of 10, there won’t be a problem.”
