Hospitality Law & the Sonder–Marriott Mess

Bryan opens the show with a meditation on crisis and control in hospitality, then sits down with Stephen Barth — founder of HospitalityLawyer.com and longtime hospitality-law professor at the University of Houston's Conrad N. Hilton College — to unpack the sudden collapse of Sonder's licensing deal with Marriott and what it means for the guests, owners, and brands caught in the fallout.

Stephen walks through what typically triggers a license-agreement default, why Marriott's rare Sunday press release likely signaled advance knowledge of Sonder's looming bankruptcy, and why guests booked through third-party platforms had far less protection than those who booked directly. They also dig into why the franchise model — where a Marriott or Hilton sign out front doesn't necessarily mean the brand owns or runs the property — remains widely misunderstood by the traveling public.

The conversation closes with Stephen's list of legal minefields hoteliers should watch heading into 2026: hiring and background-checking the right people, human-trafficking awareness, cybersecurity liability that franchisees can't simply outsource to their brand, and the persistent "myth" that guests who over-drink at the hotel bar will just sleep it off.