Capella Hotel Group (CHG), one party in the management dispute over luxury Los Cabos resort Capella Pedregal (also known as The Resort at Pedregal), has responded to accusations by property co-owner CarVal Investors that CHG has withheld donations raised to help Capella staff affected by Hurricane Odile. Additionally, CHG reports that it continues to be denied entry to the property.
Following an order by the New York Supreme Court reinstating CHG as the manager of Capella Pedregal, CHG representative GM John Volponi was refused entry to the property at 2:00 pm Central Time Friday, November 7, CHG reports.
Volponi and an official Mexico Notary of Public who accompanied him were met by private security guards and locked gates to prevent them from legal access to the resort.
“CarVal’s refusal to obey a legal order is unacceptable,” said Horst Schulze, chairman and CEO, Capella Hotel Group. “Barring our representative from the resort demonstrates their blatant disregard for proper legal procedure and is in defiance of the law. The Supreme Court of New York has made it expressly clear that we are the designated, and in fact, the only legal operator of the resort.”
“It’s imperative we have access to the property to ensure it is up-and-running in preparation for an early 2015 re-opening and also to make certain that our employees are safe,” continued Schulze. “This is clearly a premeditated and reckless disregard of the law by CarVal and we will be taking further legal action against them.”
Allegations on Hurricane Odile
CHG also responded to CarVal's allegation that the company had withheld donations intended to help Capella Pedregal staff who had been affected by Hurricane Odile.
“We are very disappointed with CarVal’s actions, especially after the ruling handed down by The Supreme Court of the State of New York,” said Schulze. “We refute all their claims as inflammatory and intentionally misleading. Capella has acted with the utmost integrity in this matter and with the best interests of its employees and guests in mind. Our top priority has always been to create a world-class resort and we believe that when all the facts are known, it will be evident that we have fulfilled every aspect of the management agreement with property ownership.”
Schulze added, “Immediately following the storm, an Employee Relief Fund was set-up on GiveForward.com. In order to distribute these funds outside the US, the hotel was required to register with the Mexican government for that purpose, ensuring that the funds would not be distributed to a company or a single individual. That registration was finally received and the funds were to be transferred this week. CarVal’s illegal takeover of Capella Pedregal has hindered the disbursement of these funds as originally intended.”
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