Demands Investigation into the hotel’s operations for irregularities

NEW YORK (TIP): The Rajasthan Association of North America (RANA) New York has declared 2025 as the International Tourism Year to prom ote Rajasthan as a global travel destination. Even without this initiative, RANA New York remains the most influential and largest organization of Rajasthanis outside Rajasthan, consistently working for the state’s welfare and promotion. Over the past 25 years, RANA has been actively advocating for tourism in Rajasthan. The organization has also successfully hosted four international conventions attended by former Chief Ministers Ashok Gehlot (twice, along with his cabinet ministers and senior bureaucrats) and Vasundhara Raje (with her cabinet colleagues and bureaucrats).

As part of its ongoing tourism promotion efforts, RANA President Prem Bhandari advised a Florida-based Indian American family of Rajasthan origin in November 2024 on the best places to visit in Rajasthan. Following this guidance, the family, along with relatives from India, booked their stay in Jaisalmer and purchased air tickets well in advance.

The family arrived in India on March 7, 2025. On the same day, they received an email from Marriott Jaisalmer stating that due to a high-level central government meeting, they would need to relocate some guests to other hotels. This sudden notice caused significant distress to the family. Nonetheless, they proceeded with their journey and reached Jaisalmer on March 8, with some members scheduled to join the next day.

Upon arrival, the hotel began exerting pressure on the family to shift to another hotel—one where room prices in November 2024 had been half of what they had paid for their Marriott booking. This unexpected situation put the Florida family and their extended relatives under severe stress.

Early in the morning, the distressed family contacted Prem Bhandari, who immediately intervened by reaching out to the hotel’s General Manager (GM) to express his strong disapproval. Several WhatsApp exchanges followed between Bhandari and the GM, but the tension persisted. Eventually, after Bhandari’s intervention, the GM agreed to honor the original booking and assured that the family, along with other incoming guests, would not be relocated.

As news of this incident spread among RANA members in New York, they urged Bhandari to investigate the supposed high-level central government meeting that Marriott had cited as the reason for the relocation. To Bhandari’s shock and disbelief, no such meeting was scheduled. Instead, the hotel had fabricated the story to accommodate a corporate conference for Pfizer, a U.S.-based pharmaceutical giant, which promised greater profits for the hotel.

Bhandari strongly condemned this unethical behavior, emphasizing that such deceitful practices severely damage Rajasthan’s global reputation as a premier tourism destination. He reaffirmed RANA’s commitment to promoting tourism in Rajasthan with integrity and ensuring that such incidents do not tarnish the state’s hospitality image.

In a statement released to The Indian Panorama, Mr. Bhandari, in his capacity as the President, Rajasthan Association of North America (RANA), has demanded from the relevant government of India agencies to “investigate the hotel’s operations for any other potential irregularities”, and ensure that tourists from abroad get a fair deal.
“As the President of the Rajasthan Association of North America (RANA), I was surprised when Marriott Jaisalmer failed to provide any proof of the central government meeting they had cited in their email. Upon further inquiry, I discovered that the claim was fabricated to accommodate a private conference for a U.S.-based company, Pfizer, and maximize their profits.

This blatant misrepresentation is not only unethical but also deceptive to guests and stakeholders. We will escalate this matter to Marriott’s corporate leadership, urging them to take strict action, including the possible cancellation of the hotel’s franchise. Simultaneously, we will request the relevant Indian government agencies to investigate the hotel’s operations for any other potential irregularities.”