During a late-night switch by the hotel’s owner this weekend, a Hyatt Hotels Corp. affiliate was ousted from its management of a resort in Curaçao.
Santa Barbara Hospitality NV, led by Curaçao’s Smeets family, removed Hyatt from the 350-room hotel alleging the Chicago-based management company had incurred cost overruns. Hyatt had managed the property since it opened in 2010.
Santa Barbara Hospitality said the hotel has posted losses exceeding US$13 million since it opened as revenue fell short of Hyatt’s goals.
Previously known as the Hyatt Regency Curacao Golf Resort, Santa Barbara Hospitality handed management of the Willemstad hotel over to Benchmark Hospitality International, The Woodlands, Texas, and the hotel has been renamed the Santa Barbara Beach & Golf Resort, Curacao. Benchmark reportedly plans to retain most of the hotel’s employees at their current salaries.
Arbitration between Hyatt and Santa Barbara Hospitality began in late November. Hyatt’s subsidiary Hyatt Curacao N.V. denies that owner has the legal right to remove it as manager of the property in this manner.
“The owner, however, has elected to take this precipitous action rather acting as set forth in the management agreement to resolve matters in the arbitration. Hyatt Curacao N.V. will be taking action to protect its rights under the agreement and expects to have control of the resort restored. Hyatt Curacao N.V. is concerned about the impact of owner’s disruptive action on the resort, its guests and employees,” Hyatt said in a statement. “While Hyatt does not believe that owner has acted properly, until Hyatt has an opportunity to obtain appropriate relief from legal authorities, Hyatt is not in a position to take reservations for the property or to respond to questions about existing reservations.”