Major Western hotel companies like Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt, IHG Hotels & Resorts and Accor garnered scrutiny earlier this year for maintaining a presence in Russia following its invasion of Ukraine.

Other companies like McDonald’s and Starbucks pulled out fairly quickly from Russia in light of mounting pressure to do so. Hotel companies eventually moved in lockstep earlier this year in closing corporate offices and suspending investments, planned openings and development in the country.

Existing hotels remained in operation due to long-term franchise agreements between the brands and local owners of those individual properties.

Hotels often have third-party franchise or management agreements and, should those deals get canceled, it’s entirely likely the owner would continue to operate the hotel under existing branding and just no longer pay the fees associated with its former operations deal. 

Leaving Russia isn’t just a matter of taking signs down, turning lights off and calling it a day, however.

Employees on the ground in Russia assisting a company’s decision to leave can be seen as a move against the government. Most companies aren’t giving details as to what exactly goes into the process of winding down operations apart from repeated use of the word “complex” in updates on Russia.

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