Provenance Hotels Received Paycheck Protection Loan

The chain was founded by Portland hotelier Gordon Sondland.

A protest of Gordon Sondland outside the Sentinel hotel in 2019. (Briana Ybanez)
By Rachel Monahan

On July 6, the Trump administration bowed to pressure and released the names of businesses that received loans of $150,000 or more under the federal Paycheck Protection Program.

Among the Oregon names that stood out: Provenance Hotels, the chain founded by Portland hotelier Gordon Sondland, former U.S. ambassador to the European Union. Provenance qualified for a loan of $9 million.

The Portland Business Journal first reported on the loan. (Disclosure: WW also received PPP funding this year.)

The data on Provenance states zero jobs would be saved by the money, so the federal government would not forgive the loan.

Trump fired Sondland from his ambassadorship after the hotelier's star turn as a witness during last year's impeachment trial.

The hotel industry has struggled in the face of a pandemic that has diminished the public appetite for travel. The company has 13 hotels, including the Heathman, the Dossier and Hotel Lucia in Portland.

The company declined to comment.

Willamette Week’s reporting has concrete impacts that change laws, force action from civic leaders, and drive compromised politicians from public office. Support WW's journalism today.