FORMERLY PE OWNED
Motel 6
Includes Motel6
budget hotel · Dallas, TX
- PE Firm
- Blackstone →
- Year Acquired
- 2012
Blackstone left the light on. For ICE agents checking guest lists.
What Happened
- Under Blackstone ownership, employees at multiple locations shared guest lists with ICE, leading to at least 20 arrests of Latino guests
- Paid $12 million settlement in Washington state (80,000 guests' data shared) and $10 million in Arizona discrimination class-action
- Blackstone bought Motel 6 for $1.9 billion in 2012 and sold it to India-based OYO for $525 million in 2024, as the brand reputation cratered.
The Damage Done
- If you stayed at certain Motel 6 locations with a Latino-sounding name, your personal information was handed to ICE agents — without your knowledge or consent
- At least 20 guests were arrested at Motel 6 properties after employees shared daily guest lists with immigration authorities
- Ranked dead last in American Customer Satisfaction Index for hotels two years running — guests report dirty rooms, broken fixtures, and safety concerns
- Quality deteriorated so visibly that the brand became synonymous with budget-hotel horror stories during Blackstone's 12-year ownership