Trump International Hotel and Towel in Vancouver, British Columbia, has permanently closed down and started laying off employees, several Canadian news outlets reported Friday.
Documents filed with the Canadian government show the hotel’s operator, TA Hotel Management Ltd., filed for bankruptcy on Thursday, CBC and CTV News reported, among other outlets.
Reporters who called the hotel the next morning said they were told it was no longer accepting reservations and permanently closed and that workers just learned they were laid-off.
The hotel — one of several worldwide bearing President Trump’s surname and owned by his family’s private business — opened in February 2017 and lasted a little over three years.
Vancouver declared a public health emergency in March due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, and soon the hotel said it was temporarily closing to help prevent it from worsening.
By early April, the Trump Organization had laid off or furloughed around 1,500 employees of its North American hotels, including Vancouver, The Washington Post reported then.
Mott 32, a restaurant inside the hotel, reopened in June. But it announced on Friday on Instagram it had temporarily closed and apologized to guests with existing reservations.
TA Global Berhad, a Malaysian company that owns TA Hotel Management Ltd, told regulators Friday that “ongoing expenses since the outbreak of COVID-19 and lack of revenue has placed TA Hotel Management into a position of insolvency,” Daily Hive Vancouver reported. A creditors meeting is set for September 16, the report said.
Both the land and building hosting the former Trump hotel is owned by TA Global Berhad who in turn pays to license the Trump name, the Vancouver Sun explained.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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