Exclusive: Tendai Maraire’s Room Allegedly Burglarized at Sheraton Suites
Posted by Nikki Benson 
Tendai Maraire (left) performing at Roots Picnic (Photo Credit: Colin Kerrigan via Pitchfork)
SSG Music was granted the exclusive right to be the first to report on the incident, however the story was held from publishing until today by the request of Tendai Maraire.
Tendai Maraire of a world renowned avant-rap group was allegedly burglarized at a Sheraton Suites (Philadelphia Airport), owned by Starwood Hotels. As a traveling musician, Maraire has spent more time in Starwood Hotels than his own home in 2012.
While Tendai Maraire was in town with his bandmate for the 5th annual Roots Picnic along with heavy hitters The Roots, Wale, De La Soul, James Murphy, Diplo, Major Lazer and many others, he found his hotel room had been robbed.
Tendai Maraire tells SSG Music the unnerving details of how he came to perform at the aforementioned festival and left one laptop and a priceless amount of memories poorer. Maraire has shared the details of this horrible experience at Starwood in efforts that other musicians will be very cautious while on tour. If hotels are targeting their guests and at best offering meager reimbursements, nowhere is safe to leave your belongings unattended.
At 9:43 a.m. on the morning of Saturday June 2, 2012, Maraire left his hotel room at the Sheraton Suites (Philadelphia Airport), owned property of Starwood Hotels. Upon returning to their room at approximately 1:45 a.m. of June 3, Maraire found that his 2011 Macbook Pro was missing.
Maraire immediately asked for the manager on duty. The hotel receptionist communicated that the manager didn’t come in until the following morning. Maraire then asked for whoever was in charge at the time; the receptionist called for hotel security.
Maraire told SSG Music that the security officer on duty was an elderly man who appeared to be between the age of 60 and 70. The only information the officer requested was Maraire’s first and last name, his address, and the item that was missing. When Maraire told him that his MacBook Pro was missing, the security officer asked, “What’s that?” Maraire explained that it was a computer, and the security officer jotted down the information on his notepad, requested Maraire’s phone number, and bid him goodnight. Maraire told the security officer that he was available any time of the night for follow up.
The next morning, Maraire rose at 6:45 to wait for the Hotel Manager. At well past seven with no manager on duty, the same receptionist from the night before requested the head of hotel security, Mr. Sampson. Sampson asked the same questions as the security officer from the prior evening and collected the information on a fresh record, and then went on to ask Maraire if he was sure that his laptop was missing. After letting Sampson know that he was sure his MacBook Pro was gone, Maraire asked why no one came to his room to follow up when he had made it clear that anyone could follow up with him at any time. Frustrations rose; the hotel security left.
The next receptionist on duty, Danielle, came to speak to Maraire and apologize for the grievance occurring at a Starwood hotel. She then went on to ask, “Does your computer have a black ‘X’ on it?” and “Why doesn’t the name of the reservation match your name?” Alarmed, Maraire responded, “How do you even know about the black ‘X’ on the computer? That’s my band-mate’s computer, ‘Mr. Butler,’ the name on the reservation.”
Later, Maraire checked with his bandmate to see if at any time he had taken his laptop out that morning. His bandmate confirmed that he had not.
Maraire told SSG Music, “if Sheraton Suites employees saw my bandmate’s computer the night before, it’s possible we were targeted.”
The following morning, Bryce Kortvely presented himself to Maraire as the manager on duty, asks the same questions relating to the investigation as the security officers and asked Maraire if wanted to call the police. Maraire responded, “I don’t have the time to call the police,” as he was on his way to the airport. When Maraire asked for the manager’s card, Kortvely commented that he didn’t have a card, and proceeded to write his information on a Sheraton coupon. Kortvely then admitted to only being the Engineering Manager, and told Maraire that the hotel manager would not be on duty until 11 a.m.
Bryce Kortvely’s Linkedin profiles show him to be an Executive Housekeeper and Engineering Coordinator.
Bryce Kortvely offered to review the hotel security logs, and Maraire accepted.
Maraire told SSG Music that the hotel security logs showed the hotel maid servicing the room on June 2 between the hours of 12 and 1; the maid stayed for 20 minutes. The log then showed the same maid returning an hour later and staying for less than a minute.
Taking it to the community, Maraire tweeted about how his MacBook Pro was stolen from Starwood’s Sheraton Suites.
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Someone from Starwood’s official twitter account started interacting with Maraire saying, “Please feel free to send more details to twitter@starwoodhotels.com so we can address.” Maraire replied, “My lawyer is not on twitter and this is a very serious matter for me.”
Maraire’s attorney attempted to reach the Sheraton Suites Philadelphia Airport’s general manager and was directed to the Engineering Manager, Bryce Kortvely. He told Maraire’s attorney, “We looked at the tape. We asked the maid, she said she didn’t take it.”
When Maraire’s attorney asked to speak with the hotel’s General Manager, Kortvely requested that he be permitted to handle the matter himself. When Maraire’s attorney finally got in contact with the General Manager of the Sheraton in question, Patrick Sanchez, the manager said he couldn’t do anything about the alleged theft.
Maraire’s attorney let the GM know that they had received information that the housekeeping associate accused of the theft had not returned to work since the time of the alleged incident. The hotel manager ended the phone call and responded a day later offering Maraire a dismissive 1000 dollars without asking the value of the computer or its contents or for Maraire to produce proof of ownership.
The general manager suggested that Tendai Maraire owed the Starwood hotel an apology.
SSG Music contacted Sheraton Suites (Philadelphia Airport) and requested a comment from Patrick Sanchez. All representatives from the hotel declined to comment.
In the end, Tendai Maraire, community advocate, musician and family man has had his livelihood disrupted. We’re in the technology age; one can’t be expected to work without their tools. Unreleased remixes, the visual and audio work for his side-projects, photos to be used in a surprise wedding present for his fiancee, his daughter’s graduation photos, and many more priceless memories have been lost. For the hardware and software, there is a price tag for replacement costs found in the itemized police report below:
Police report: 1212040657
MacBook Pro $2199.00
Waves Plug-in $6300.00
Adobe CS6 $700.00
Logic Pro $199.00
Ableton Live Suite $699.00
Reason $449.00
Final Cut Pro $1499.00
Motion $49.99
Komplete 8 $999.00
Arturia $499.00
