Hotel ready to welcome New York immigrants cancels 30 rooms for wedding

A Florida couple’s wedding was in jeopardy after an Orange County hotel designed to accommodate New York immigrants abruptly canceled rooms she had booked for her guests. The New York Post writes about it.

“We felt abandoned, frustrated and angry that they just threw us aside to make money. It’s just wrong,” said 35-year-old Dina Mifsud.

Mifsud and 37-year-old Gary Moretti, both from New York, plan to wed on June 24 at the Lippincott estate. The wedding is expected to be attended by 160 guests from across the country, she said.

For the big day, the couple had a total of 30 rooms booked at The Crossroads Hotel in Newburgh, about 20 minutes from their venue.

The newlyweds, along with 10 bridesmaids, five best men and guests from California, Florida, Arizona, Minnesota, Connecticut, New Jersey, Long Island and Westchester, planned to stay at the hotel, and the couple paid for round trip transportation.

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“We have signed a contract. We had a contract for these rooms,” Moretti said. “We just wanted everyone to be safe and have a good time.”

But everything turned upside down when they learned that Crossroads was intended to receive immigrants from New York. They called the hotel and found out that their booking had been cancelled. The hotel told them to call Choice Management, who oversees the property.

“We waited over 45 minutes and were finally told, ‘We can’t do anything for you, goodbye,’ and that’s it,” Mifsud recalls, adding that only one guest received a cancellation notice. .

“Some people have already canceled their attendance at the wedding,” she said. – It hurts. We would like these people to come.”

The Crossroads is one of several hotels that have kicked guests out in favor of incoming immigrants, where hotels are believed to receive up to $190 a night.

“It’s complete chaos. We do not feel that they are accommodating migrants out of the goodness of their hearts. It’s just for the money. This is how we feel,” said Mifsud, who is now trying to find new accommodations with Moretti for those who are still coming for their big day.

This is at least the second pair of future newlyweds whose wedding turned into chaos due to the migration crisis.

A Queens couple said 37 rooms they had booked months in advance at the Crossroads Hotel for guests of their May 20 wedding were also abruptly cancelled.

“Right now we feel very abandoned,” said the future groom Sean Plunkett.

A spokesperson for Choice Hotels, the brand under which Crossroads operates, said: “All affected guests will be contacted to assist in rebooking their upcoming bookings.”