The Trump International Hotel & Tower Panama is soon becoming a JW Marriott hotel. The change has come after an extensive legal battle in the court systems of both the United States and Panama. The hotel will be officially branded as JW Marriott property.
The owner of the hotel wanted to distance itself from the Trump name and has been aggressively fighting to break its contract with the Trump Organization so that it could acquire a new brand. Ithaca Capital, the property owner, also operates additional properties in South America and the Caribbean under the Marriott name. It just seemed logical to convert this property to Marriott as well.
Many hotel operators that were attached to the Trump brand have changed their name since Donald Trump became president of the United States. Hotels throughout the U.S. and Canada have changed successfully to other brands so that politics would not impact their business.
The Trump Organization has not made any comments about this issue either regarding the Panama property or other hotels that have been leaving the brand.
The new JW Marriott Hotel in Panama City will update many of its amenities to be in sync with the Marriott brand. The hotel operator has not stated if there will be extensive renovations to coincide with the change in name, or if the hotel will just change over quietly and implement Marriott policies. During the entire legal battle, the hotel continued to operate as usual.