Judge rules for Eden Roc in Renaissance hotel battle

Renaissance Hotel in Miami Beach
Renaissance Hotel in Miami Beach

An appeals panel in New York City has ruled in favor of Eden Roc Renaissance Hotel in Miami Beach, following a lawsuit brought against the hotel owner last year by Marriott International, the South Florida Business Journal reported.

Marriott International sued Eden Roc for allegedly mismanaging the property after Marriott made a $300 million investment, which included $240 million in renovations. And Marriott sued again, when, six months later, Eden Roc ordered its staff to takeover the hotel late one night, the Business Journal said.

Initially a judge had told Eden Roc that is could not remove Marriott as it management company, but today an appeals panel reversed that decision. The ruling states that Marriott’s agreement with Eden Roc allowed the owners to manage “virtually every aspect of the hotel.”

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“Such an agreement, in which a party has discretion to execute tasks that cannot be objectively measured, is a classic example of a personal services contract that may not be enforced by injunction,” the appeals court said.

The  iconic 21-floor, 627-room art deco hotel originally opened in 1956 and was site of many episodes of “I Love Lucy.” Eden Roc acquired the property in 2005. [SFBJ]Christopher Cameron