Marriott International will continue to manage the Eden Roc Renaissance Hotel, located in Miami Beach, Florida, after a judge issued a restraining order against the hotel owner Eden Roc LLLP’s move to take over operations.
Marriott International, Bethesda, Maryland, filed a lawsuit against the owner of the Eden Roc Renaissance Hotel, located in Miami Beach, Florida, alleging an attempted hostile takeover early Sunday morning of the hotel’s management in a situation similar to the former Waikiki Edition hotel in Hawaii.
Marriott filed an injunction against Eden Rock LLLP that stated “while Eden Roc’s initial hostile takeover attempt was unsuccessful due in part to timely police intervention, Eden Roc has threatened to try again and may do so at any moment, if the requested relief is not granted.”
Eden Roc LLLP, a subsidiary of real estate development company Key International, Miami, said that while it disagrees with the court’s order, it will abide by it pending further court order.
The dispute has been going on for months. Eden Roc LLLP filed a lawsuit against Marriott International in April, seeking US$75 million in damages and accusing Marriott of mismanaging the hotel. After spending US$300 million on the property, Eden Roc LLLP alleged in its lawsuit that Marriott and its Renaissance Hotel flooded the hotel with discount bookings for years, generating a “mere fraction” of the US$30 million in profit projected for 2011 and the US$35 million forecast for 2012. Eden Roc bought the hotel for US$100 million from Blackacre Capital Group in 2005.
“Under Marriott’s management, Eden Roc lost market share despite its exceptional amenities and legendary reputation. Our exhaustive efforts to encourage Marriott to correct its numerous management defaults, and to preserve our partnership, proved fruitless, leaving us with no option but regain control and to put this property on the path to success,” said Diego Ardid, vice president of Eden Roc LLLP.
Eden Roc did not respond to requests for additional comment from HOTELS.
On Sunday Eden Roc LLLP issued a release stating that its affiliate Eden Roc Management Co. commenced its role of managing the 631-room property, rebranding it as the Eden Roc Beach Resort & Spa and that reservations for the property could now be made at www.edenrocbeachresort.com. However, that url is currently inactive, while Marriott’s page for the hotel remains up. Eden Roc said it terminated Marriott’s management agreement on March 30, saying Marriott mismanaged the property and failed to maximize the Eden Roc brand and that the termination followed multiple written notifications to Marriott in January 2012 and in subsequent months.