Viceroy denies allegations of US lawsuit filed by Dubai’s Five Holdings

The Viceroy Hotel Group has denied the allegations made in a lawsuit filed against the company in Los Angeles earlier this month by Dubai-based Five Holdings.

The lawsuit relates to the management of a luxury hotel in Palm Jumeirah that is owned by Five Holdings.

It was filed on September 7, 2017, by entities affiliated with Five Holdings’ Kabir Mulchandani and cites a consultant report dated in August that claims Viceroy “mismanaged” the hotel.

The disputed hotel, which officially opened on March 31, 2017, was originally operated by the Viceroy Group (and named Viceroy Palm Jumeirah).

On June 19, Five Holdings announced the purported takeover of the hotel and said the hotel’s name had been rebranded into Five Palm Jumeirah Dubai.

However, on June 25, Viceroy claimed that the existing hotel management agreement had been “breached”. The company approached DIFC Courts and stated that a court order had been issued, prohibiting Five Holdings from taking any further actions to prevent Viceroy from exercising its exclusive authority to manage and operate the hotel.

But on July 2, Five Holdings issued another statement saying that its hotels unit “continues to manage the Five Palm Jumeirah Dubai hotel and residences”.

It said that Viceroy’s agreement to manage the hotel had been “suspended”.

In its latest statement, Viceroy said its management “honoured the terms of the hotel management contract with Mulchandani and his group at all times, including the time leading up to their expulsion from the property on June 19,2017”.

The global hotel operator also asserted that DIFC’s injunction was still in place.

“Viceroy will continue to seek enforcement of the DIFC injunction and will vigorously defend itself against these false allegations. Viceroy will also aggressively pursue all remedies available to it,” it said.

Also read: Dispute between Dubai’s Five Holdings, Viceroy heats up over Palm Jumeirah hotel