Tag: Hotel Lawsuits
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Marriott's Edition Hotels is Locked Out in Waikiki
This used to be a happy place.
Uhoh. Remember that Edition Waikiki Lawsuit that the owners of the Edition Waikiki filed against Edition's parent company Marriott Hotels and visionary Ian Schrager a few months ago? Well things have just gotten really nasty.
The Wall Street Journal reports that over Saturday night, the owners changed the locks on the hotel doors, effectively shutting out Marriott.
In a dramatic move, the owners of the Waikiki Edition in Hawaii said Sunday that in the early morning hours they installed new management and changed the signs and locks on the hotel to reflect a new name, the Modern Honolulu. The changes were made in spite of a contract that allows Marriott to run the hotel as an Edition for 30 years.
Hotel Lawsuits / Ground Zero Hotels / Hilton Hotels / Manhattan Hotels / Hotel News / → All Tags
Millenium Hilton is Now Suing Ground Zero Over Construction Noise (And We Can Vouch for That)
The view from the Millenium Hilton in 2008.
Millenium Hilton hasn't had it very easy this past decade. When September 11 happened, one side of the hotel was completely blown out forcing closure of the hotel for nearly two years.
When we checked in with the hotel on the 5th anniversary of 9/11, things were settling down into a new kind of normal for the hotel, just like everyone else in the city was doing. But the hotel's proximity to Ground Zero with its strange mixture of 9/11 memorials and frenetic construction was unavoidable. And now five years later, it's gotten so bad the hotel is filing a lawsuit.
According to the NY Post, the hotel is suing both the Port Authority, which owns the site, and Silverstein Properties Inc., who is the developer of Towers 2, 3 and 4 for a total of $8 million claiming:
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Could This New Lawsuit Be The Death of the Hotel Newspaper?
This story is for all the people who leave us nasty comments when we complain about annoying hotel fees. At least we haven't filed a lawsuit about them yet.
Yes, one man is so upset about being charged 75 cents for what he thought was a free copy of USA Today that he is suing Hilton Hotels in a federal class action lawsuit. The San Francisco Chronicle reports:
Rodney Harmon, 55, of Sacramento said he visited the Hilton Garden Inn Sonoma County Airport on March 28 and saw a copy of USA Today outside his door.
"He did not request a newspaper and assumed it had been placed there by hotel staff," said the suit, filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in San Francisco. Harmon didn't realize until later that a 75-cent charge for the paper had been added to his bill. Harmon accused Hilton of deliberately hiding the newspaper charge by describing the fee in an "extremely small font which is difficult to notice or read" on the sleeve of the room card.
Hotel Lawsuits / Nick Hotels / Nick Hotels by Marriott / Family Suites Resorts / Viacom / Marriott Hotels / → All Tags
In Case You Were Wondering What Happened With Those Nick Hotels by Marriott...
Things seem to have quieted down on the Waikiki Edition Lawsuit front but now thanks to a tipster, we can turn our full attention to a new hotel lawsuit brewing--this time involving Viacom, Nickelodeon, Family Suites Resorts and again, Marriott.
It turns out Family Suites Resorts, the owners of a Nickelodeon-themed hotel in Orlando, The Nickelodeon Suites Hotel, sued Nick's parent company Viacom last year for allowing Marriott to offer a bunch of Nickelodeon-themed getaways at their hotels throughout Florida. (Remember, we first reported Marriott's partnership with Nickelodeon way back in 2007.)
Apparently, Family Suites has the exclusive rights within 150 miles to operate Nick hotels and any Nick-themed hotel getaways, packages, what have you. Also, they are fired up that there could possibly be other Nick-themed hotels in America that which they have nothing to do with.
Hotel Lawsuits / Ian Schrager / Marriott Hotels / Edition Hotels / Edition Waikiki Lawsuit / Hotel News / → All Tags
Ian Schrager Speaks Out On 'Frivolous' Lawsuit
**A HotelChatter Exclusive**
Ian Schrager is not happy about the lawsuit that the owners of the Waikiki Edition filed last week--and which they put out a press release on yesterday.
Until now he's been referring all inquiries to Marriott but he's told HotelChatter he couldn't sit on the sidelines any longer.
Here is Ian's Schrager's official statement on the Waikiki Edition lawsuit:
I'm going to let the hotel, media and customer reviews speak for themselves. The Edition Waikiki, in its first 6 months, has received rave reviews. Marriott is the best operator in the business, but they can't stop the affects of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. While its true I didn't build, develop, manage or make all the final decisions for this property, since my name and reputation are involved, I want it to be as good as it can be. This lawsuit, I can only speculate on their motives, is not only completely transparent and frivolous, it is an abuse of process. We intend to defend ourselves vigorously."
Your move, M Waikiki.
Hotel Lawsuits / Edition Waikiki Lawsuit / Marriott Hotels / Ian Schrager / Edition Hotels / Hawaii Hotels / Hotel News / Hotel Industry News / → All Tags
Waikiki Edition Wanted More of Schrager's 'Edge', Not So Much Marriott's
Yesterday after a long day of working on the internet, we were looking forward to putting our feet up and reading the latest issue of The National Enquirer The New Yorker when up popped a Google Alert in our inbox with the headline, "Owner of Waikiki Edition Hotel Files Lawsuit Against Marriott and Ian Schrager." Hmm...been there, read that.
But just as we were about to focus on Arnold's housekeeper, er, we mean the latest crisis in Syria, we noticed the source of that Google Alert--PR Newswire.
Yes, the owners of the Waikiki Edition put out a press release about their lawsuit, even after it was written up last week in the WSJ. As if this couldn't get any better, the press release included a PDF to the lawsuit filing. For hotel geeks, this is akin to shirtless pics of Bieber. So we clicked and began reading all 27 pages.
We totes recommend you read it in your spare time but allow us to pull out the juicy parts.
Hotel Lawsuits / Edition Waikiki Lawsuit / Marriott Hotels / Ian Schrager / Edition Hotels / → All Tags
Marriott Totally 'Perplexed' By Waikiki Edition Lawsuit
Check-in desk at Waikiki Edition
Last week's news that the owners of the Waikiki Edition were suing both Marriott Hotels and Ian Schrager came as quite a surprise to us. And apparently it was a surprise to Marriott as well.
A spokesperson for Marriott Hotels emailed this statement to Reuters over the weekend:
"We are surprised and perplexed by this action and will defend it vigorously. Edition and specifically the Waikiki Edition have generated tremendous excitement, and both we and Ian Schrager are confident of the hotel's and Edition's success.
Schrager had already been quotes in the Wall Street Journal saying that he was "very active" with Edition, even as he readies his new hotel brand, Public Hotels.
But it's clear Edition and Marriott will have to do something about generating more buzz for the brand as the Waikiki Edition reported only a 29 percent average occupancy rate for its first quarter open. Sad face times two.
Edition Hotels / Edition Waikiki Lawsuit / Hotel Lawsuits / Ian Schrager / Marriott Hotels / Hotel News / → All Tags
The Waikiki Edition Wants Out and is Suing Marriott and Ian Schrager to Do It
Could this be the final Edition? The owners of the Waikiki Edition are suing both Marriott Hotels and Ian Schrager claiming that the two have done nothing to grow the Edition name or brand and are ultimately responsible for making their hotel "a virtual ghost town," The Wall Street Journal reports.
The owners now allege Marriott was responsible for construction overruns, as well as cost overruns after the hotel began operating. The owners say the hotel has lost $6 million since it opened in October 2010, with occupancy just around 30% in the fourth quarter of 2010, far below the 62% occupancy Marriott predicted in August 2009.
Those are some dismal numbers especially for such a hotly anticipated hotel brand like Edition and with such a dynamic pedigree too. Remember how we nearly lost it when we heard Bill Marriott and Ian Schrager were partnering up together way back in 2007 to create this super boutique brand?
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There Will Be No More Lady Gaga Sightings at The Plaza
Is that the new hand sign for the Oak Room?
Well, scratch this off your To Do list for NYC. The Plaza is shutting down the Oak Room (which Lady Gaga used to frequent on Wednesday nights) due to a rent dispute as well as some concerns over heavy partying.
The NY Times reports:
At the heart of the dispute, [Oak room owner Eli] Gindi said, were the Oak Room’s “Day and Night” Saturday afternoon parties, which drew hundreds of young revelers with fat wallets to the restaurant, and reportedly annoyed the Plaza’s year-round tenants.
Yet Gindi's own lawyer, Robert Lynn, had harsh words for the guests themselves, saying "The reality is, worse things go on upstairs in the Plaza than whatever went on in the Oak Room." He couldn't be talking about Charlie Sheen could he?
Hotel Lawsuits / Standard Hotels / Manhattan Hotels / Hotel Sex / → All Tags
Someone is Suing The Standard NYC for Being Too Sexy
Someone thinks this is too sexy. We know.
Hottie hotelier Andre Balazs might find it hard to believe but there is actually someone out there who does not want to stay at his hotel.
Remember that bizarre case over last year where a housekeeper at The Standard NYC accused a guest of forcing himself on her? Well, the guest was acquitted of all charges (he claims the housekeeper told the lie to defend herself after he caught her rifling through his things) but the guest is now blaming the hotel's sexy attitude for the whole thing. The NY Post reports:
Hard Rock Hotels / Viva Vegas / Morgans Hotel Group / Hotel Lawsuits / Hotel News / → All Tags
Will the Hard Rock Hotel Have to Change Its Name?
We knew those breast implants would come back to hurt the Hard Rock!
For all the sex, drugs and rock and roll that it brings, we could never imagine Las Vegas without the Hard Rock but yet a Hard Rock-less Vegas could be in the near future for us.
The Hard Rock Cafe chain has filed suit against the owners of the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, Morgans Hotel Group, alleging that the reality TV show "Rehab" on TruTV which follows the raunchy pool party through its STD-filled season has given the Hard Rock a very bad name. The AP reports:
The 110-page lawsuit including exhibits says the show portrays the hotel-casino as a place that "revels in drunken debauchery, acts of vandalism, sexual harassment, violence, criminality and a host of other behavior" that most people would find offensive, including patrons of Hard Rock restaurants.
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Apparently, Canceling a Concert at a Hotel Opening Does Cost a Thing
A new Cyprus hotel is threatening to sue Jennifer Lopez for $40 million. Whoa, that's a lot of Louboutins. J.Lo was scheduled to appear at the Cratos Premium Hotel and Casino's opening later this month, but she recently withdrew from the event.
Jenny from the Block was going perform at the Vegas-style Kyrenia hotel on July 24 and bring hubby Marc Anthony and the twins along with her to celebrate her own 41st birthday that day. But apparently she didn't know the politics of booking such a gig.
