http://www.hotelchatter.com/ Hotel Reviews, Hotel Ratings, Hotel Openings en-us Copyright 2008 - SFO Media 2009-11-24T03:50:36Z HotelChatter HotelChatter http://www.hotelchatter.com/images/hcwhite.jpg http://www.hotelchatter.com/tag/ross%20klein http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2009/10/7/145747/419 <![CDATA[<p><img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/1425/nodenizen.jpg" class="top"><p> <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125487422757969391.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLTopStories&loc=interstitialskip">The Wall Street Journal</a> reported this morning that <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/tag/hilton hotels">Hilton Hotels</a> and its executives accused of stealing proprietary <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/tag/w hotels">W Hotel</a> information to create their now dead-in-the-water hotel brand <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/tag/denizen">Denizen Hotels</a>, could face criminal charges. <blockquote><p>The grand jury is part of a six-month-old Justice Department probe into allegations that Hilton, which is owned by private-equity firm Blackstone Group, used trade secrets taken by former Starwood executives, who defected to Hilton last year, to develop its own luxury brand to compete with Starwood's successful W chain.</blockquote></p><p>About 30 Hilton employees and executives have either been fired or placed on leave. <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/tag/ross klein">Ross Klein</a>, the former president of Starwood Hotels who defected to Hilton and juliana 2009-10-07T15:18:26-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2009/4/24/145239/528 <![CDATA[<p><img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/6929/nodenizen.jpg" class="top"> <p>We <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2009/4/21/113619/147/hotels/Hilton_Suspends_Development_of_Denizen_Hotels">reported</a> earlier this week that <b><A href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/tag/hilton hotels">Hilton</a></b> had halted development of <A href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/tag/denizen hotels">Denizen</a></b> (per a Hilton press release), but now <A href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/tag/starwood hotels">Starwood</a></b> is speaking out (i.e. issuing their own <a href="http://www.hotelsmag.com/article/CA6653939.html?industryid=47562">press release</a>) saying that a judge has actually entered a Preliminary Injunction with Hilton, Mr. Klein and Mr. Lalvani &#151; the Starwood-turned-Hilton employees who allegedly stole the Starwood documents and trade secrets to develop Denizen &#151; enjoining them from: <blockquote><p>&#183; Developing further the Denizen Hotels brand. This requires that all internal and external design, branding, development, promotion, programming, staffing and marketing of the Denizen Hotels brand cease. <br>&#183; Engaging in any discussions or negotiations with prospective owners, developers and/or franchisees relating to Jenna 2009-04-24T14:58:16-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2009/4/21/113619/147 <![CDATA[<p><img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/6929/denizenroom.jpg" class="top"> <p>We hadn't heard much from the <b><A href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/tag/hilton hotels">Hilton </a></b>or <b><A href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/tag/starwood hotels">Starwood</a></b> camps since the <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2009/4/17/11456/0680/hotels/Starwood_Sues_Hilton_for_Alleged_Theft_of_W_Trade_Secrets_">news broke last week</a> that Starwood was suing Hilton for the alleged theft of "trade secrets" that Hilton used to develop their recently-announced <b><A href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/tag/denizen hotels">Denizen Hotels</a></b> brand. <p>But today, Hilton speaks: the corporation issued <a href="http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20090421005591&newsLang=en">a press release</a> acknowledging that they've received <b>a federal grand jury subpoena</b> "requesting documents relating to Hilton's employment of former employees of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. and materials which Hilton returned to Starwood in February of 2009." <p>These "employees," of course, are <A href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/tag/ross klein">Ross Klein</a> and Amar Lalvani &#151; two ex-Starwood employees who migrated over to Hilton, allegedly taking sensitive information Jenna 2009-04-21T11:37:30-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2009/4/17/114430/712 <![CDATA[<p><img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/1425/loungedenizensketch.jpg" class="top"><p> The hotel world is in a tizzy today about <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2009/4/17/11456/0680/hotels/Starwood_Sues_Hilton_for_Alleged_Theft_of_W_Trade_Secrets_">the lawsuit</a> that Starwood Hotels has filed against Hilton Hotels, Ross Klein, Amar Lalvani and their just-announced new hotel brand <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/tag/denizen%20hotels"><b>Denizen Hotels</b></a>. Already folks are dividing themselves into two camps: Team Starwood and Team Denizen. We expect t-shirts from Cafe Press to be ready within the hour.<p>In reading today's article from the <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123992288290027113.html">Wall Street Journal</a>, which broke the news online last night, we get the rundown of all Starwood's major complaints which allege that Klein and Lalvani stole trade secrets, brand profiles and even other Starwood employees.<p> The allegations are shocking and scandalous and while we do believe that everyone is innocent until proven guilty, juliana 2009-04-17T11:58:17-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2009/4/17/11456/0680 <![CDATA[<p><img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/6929/loungedenizensketch.jpg" class="top"> <p>When <b><a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/tag/ross klein">Ross Klein</a></b> left <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/tag/starwood hotels">Starwood</a> for <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/tag/hilton hotels">Hilton</a>, eyebrows were raised &#151; and when Hilton's new luxury brand, <b><a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/tag/denizen hotels">Denizen</a></b>, was launched in March, we got a peek at what Klein had been cooking up at his new offices all that time: a sleek, chic boutique concept aimed at the "globally conscious modern traveler." You know, a new brand meant to compete with the <b><a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/tag/thompson hotels">Thompsons</a></b>, <b><a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/tag/morgans hotel group">Morgans</a></b> and <b><a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/tag/w hotels">W's</a></b> of the world. <p>And guess who wasn't so happy about that? W. <p>And guess what Starwood's doing about it? Suing. <p>According to <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a1juN3EuoibM&refer=home">a Bloomberg report</a>, Starwood filed a complaint in federal court in New York Jenna 2009-04-17T08:56:39-05:00 Search HotelChatter string http://www.hotelchatter.com/search/