Luxury Hotel Group Caves to Pressure, Returns $59 Million in Relief Funds
Photo Credit: The Ritz-Carlton Sarasota (pictured) was among the recipients of the Ashford Group of Companies' PPP funding. Flickr / Josh Hallett
Skift Take
Bigger companies are returning PPP funds, but that doesn't mean small hotel operators are having an easier time getting relief from the downturn in travel.
Three publicly traded Texas-based hospitality firms that collectively received nearly $59 million in coronavirus relief funding and are tied to hotelier Monty Bennett announced Saturday they would return the funds after Bennett earlier said he would not turn back the money.
Ashford Inc., Ashford Hospitality Trust, and Braemar Hotels & Resorts released a statement saying the return of Paycheck Protection Program loans under the $2 trillion coronavirus economic relief package stemmed from “the agency’s recently changed rules and inconsistent federal guidance that put the companies at compliance risk.” Among the 130 hotels in Ashford's portfolio are Ritz Carltons and Embassy Suites.
The statement was released on the same day The New York Times ran a fro
