The Four Points by Sheraton Hotel (福朋喜來登酒店) in New Taipei City’s Jhonghe District (中和) on Sunday officially changed its name to the RSL Taipei Jhonghe Hotel (瓏山林台北中和大飯店).
The move came after the hotel terminated its contract with Marriott International in protest over the US group caving in to Chinese pressure to refer to Taiwan as part of China.
Marriott International last month was found to have changed the hotel’s location to “Taiwan, China” on the Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) reservation system, sparking a protest from the hotel.
Photo: Chu Shu-yu, Taipei Times
Hotel management in a letter informed Marriott International of its intention to rescind their contract and has launched the procedure to do so, general manager Chu Shao-han (朱少菡) said yesterday.
The hotel stopped receiving bookings through the SPG system in the middle of last month, but guests who had reserved their rooms before would not be affected, she said, adding that guests can book rooms by telephone.
The hotel also took down its Web site and would soon launch a new one, Chu added.
It has informed local booking agents to update its name, she said, but added that correcting its name on foreign Web sites would take time.
Most of the hotel’s signs, consumables and staff uniforms have been renewed, and new printed materials have been ordered, she said.
The hotel would also change the billboard at its parking lot later this week and has arranged for workers to change another one on the Formosa Freeway (Freeway No. 3), Chu added.
Management responded to the issue in the shortest time possible and the hotel would donate next month’s revenue to groups promoting public welfare to follow its founder’s idea of “caring for this land,” she added.
The hotel belongs to RSL Corp, which was founded by Rong San Lin (林榮三), who also founded the Liberty Times Group and passed away in 2015.
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