THE SUPREME Court has continued for another week a stay on an order requiring the Marriott company operating Dublin’s Shelbourne Hotel to hand over books and records to the hotel owners.
The owners, Shelbourne Hotel Holdings Ltd (SHHL), had last month brought successful High Court proceedings requiring the Marriott International-backed Torriam Hotel Operating Company Ltd to provide the records to SHHL, which claimed the five-star venue was being run in a “shambolic” style.
Torriam obtained a stay on that order and the Supreme Court yesterday continued it to next week to allow the parties to prepare outline written legal arguments.
Lyndon MacCann SC, for Torriam, argued yesterday that the books and records order was “illogical and inconsistent” as the books and records would form an integral part of any arbitration. He said Mr Justice Peter Kelly, in the Commercial Court last month, had prejudged the arbitration hearing with his ordering that the books be made available.
Paul Gardiner SC, for SHHL, opposed the stay but he agreed to an adjournment of a week following a request from the court for the parties to prepare summaries of their cases for next Friday.
SHHL had sought access to the books after claiming that nobody appeared to be in charge of running the 262-room hotel, which had been bought and refurbished by SHHL at a cost of €1 million for each room.
Torriam denied those claims and said it had complied with its obligations under a 20-year hotel management agreement and also said the public airing of the owner’s claims was causing “huge damage” to the hotel.