A Merriam hotel is behind more than $950,000 in taxes and is at risk of losing its business license.
Located at 9009 Shawnee Mission Parkway, Hotel Lotus failed to pay transient guest taxes to the city all of last year, and hasn’t paid property taxes since 2022.
It is the only hotel in Merriam that is delinquent on property taxes, with overdue payments accumulating since 2022 in a total amount of more than $800,000, according to Johnson County property records.
Although the city didn’t specifically name the hotel in public meetings, Merriam city staff flagged the loss of $160,000 worth of transient guest taxes in the city budget to the city council earlier this summer. Transient guest taxes are used to attract visitors to the city, largely through city-sponsored events.
Hotel Lotus is owned by Merriam Hotel Partners LLC of Independence, Missouri, according to county records.
Robin Martinez, general counsel with Lotus Hospitality, the company that is associated with Merriam Hotel Partners LLC’s Independence address, told the Post in a Monday afternoon email that the failure to pay transient guest and property taxes are a result of “long covid.”
“The pandemic created tremendous financial challenges for the hospitality industry in general, with some markets and properties recovering quicker than others,” Martinez said. “Those challenges affected this hotel perhaps more than others, leading to a longer recovery path.”
“We are aware of the situation and are working with our accountants and appropriate government officials to reconcile the accounts and bring the property current,” Martinez continued. “We hope to resolve this matter shortly.”
In June, city staff told the Merriam City Council — without ever naming the hotel — that Kansas Department of Revenue and county staff, the respective administrators of transient guest taxes and property taxes, are aware of a hotel’s delinquent payments.
The Kansas Department of Revenue did not immediately respond to the Post’s request for comment for this story.
The city needs letters from both the county and state before it can move forward with potentially revoking the hotel’s business license.
City alerted the state of the unpaid transient guest taxes
On June 22, Finance Director Meagan Borth told the city council that the city’s transient guest tax fund expenditures are down by about $250,000 because the city “had to match revenues.”
The transient guest tax fund “was bleeding a little bit,” Borth said, largely as a result of a hotel that has failed to pay that tax to the state.
Borth said, without naming Hotel Lotus, that the hotel did not pay its transient guest taxes for the entire year in 2025.
“I do not foresee them paying in the future even with the state working with them,” Borth told the city council.
In order to pad the transient guest tax fund, which pays for events that attract people to Merriam, Borth said the city shifted $250,000 worth of personnel salaries — including a parks and recreation and half of a communications staffer — from its that fund to its general fund.
Additionally, Borth said the city is unable to “go after” the hotel for the transient guest tax since the state collects this tax and then distributes it to the city.
Borth said the state “assumed the hotel had closed down and” was unaware of the “missing revenue” until the city alerted the state.
Hotel Lotus is working to “reconcile the accounts”
Ciera White, the city’s communications specialist, told the Post in a Monday email that the city is unable to name the hotel that is behind on transient guest taxes.
But on June 22, City Administrator Chris Engel told the city council that the same hotel in question has also failed to pay its property taxes for years.
The only hotel in Merriam that is behind on property taxes is Hotel Lotus, according to county records.
White told the Post on Monday that, compared to the previous two years, the city’s total transient guest tax paid by all local hotels decreased by more than $160,000 in 2025. Four hotels are licensed to operate in the city, according to the Merriam Visitors Bureau.
“Issues like this are handled by the State of Kansas, and we understand the state is looking into it, following state law,” White said. “The City takes this seriously and wants that process to finish first.”
Merriam can take action on hotel’s business license
In June, Borth said the city council has the ability to revoke the hotel’s business license, which is issued by the city.
In order to revoke the license, Borth said the city needs to have letters from both the county and the state detailing the hotel’s delinquent taxes.
The county has already sent the city such a letter, Borth said, but the city is waiting for the state to finish its process to have such a letter about the hotel’s unpaid transient guest taxes.
White told the Post on Tuesday that the city is waiting for the state to finish its investigation before figuring out next steps.
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