DUBAI // The Marriott hotel chain is in a multimillion-dollar legal battle with its UAE business partner of 16 years.
When the US hospitality company launched Dubai’s J?W Marriott Marquis, the tallest hotel in the world, a case was filed in a Dubai court for breach of contract after it ended its involvement with Daboos Hospitality Services (DHS).
Last night marked the opening of the hotel, which is 77 floors and 355 metres tall.
Dubai Civil Court on Sunday heard the hospitality company had been instrumental in developing Marriott International’s portfolio in the GCC and Africa since 1997, and was the chain’s sole representative in the region until the end of last year.
Court records show DHS sponsored all Marriott employees in the region and was also in charge of marketing the chain’s services.
The UAE company was told on July 27 last year that its involvement would end on December 31.
Marriott said it would not offer any further compensation to DHS for the eight offices established in the GCC, Middle East and North Africa. DHS is claiming breach of contract and has asked the court to appoint an expert committee to review the records, contracts and history between the companies to establish the value of compensation.
Court records show DHS helped Marriott establish its Middle East and Africa offices in 1999.
They also show an agreement was signed in 2011 for DHS to handle all general sales in the GCC of Marriott properties.
The court has been presented with figures of cost of services provided by DHS, which include salaries, rooms sold and growth of market share between 2009 and 2011 – a total of Dh14.4 million.
The court has adjourned the hearing until March 6, for Marriott to present its response.
amustafa@thenational.ae
yallacompare profile
Date of launch: 2014
Founder: Jon Richards, founder and chief executive; Samer Chebab, co-founder and chief operating officer, and Jonathan Rawlings, co-founder and chief financial officer
Based: Media City, Dubai
Sector: Financial services
Size: 120 employees
Investors: 2014: $500,000 in a seed round led by Mulverhill Associates; 2015: $3m in Series A funding led by STC Ventures (managed by Iris Capital), Wamda and Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority; 2019: $8m in Series B funding with the same investors as Series A along with Precinct Partners, Saned and Argo Ventures (the VC arm of multinational insurer Argo Group)
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Director: Alfonso Cuaron
Stars: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Kline, Lesley Manville
Rating: 4/5
Citadel: Honey Bunny first episode
Directors: Raj & DK
Stars: Varun Dhawan, Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Kashvi Majmundar, Kay Kay Menon
Rating: 4/5
Why it pays to compare
A comparison of sending Dh20,000 from the UAE using two different routes at the same time - the first direct from a UAE bank to a bank in Germany, and the second from the same UAE bank via an online platform to Germany - found key differences in cost and speed. The transfers were both initiated on January 30.
Route 1: bank transfer
The UAE bank charged Dh152.25 for the Dh20,000 transfer. On top of that, their exchange rate margin added a difference of around Dh415, compared with the mid-market rate.
Total cost: Dh567.25 - around 2.9 per cent of the total amount
Total received: €4,670.30
Route 2: online platform
The UAE bank’s charge for sending Dh20,000 to a UK dirham-denominated account was Dh2.10. The exchange rate margin cost was Dh60, plus a Dh12 fee.
Total cost: Dh74.10, around 0.4 per cent of the transaction
Total received: €4,756
The UAE bank transfer was far quicker – around two to three working days, while the online platform took around four to five days, but was considerably cheaper. In the online platform transfer, the funds were also exposed to currency risk during the period it took for them to arrive.
Cricket World Cup League 2
UAE squad
Rahul Chopra (captain), Aayan Afzal Khan, Ali Naseer, Aryansh Sharma, Basil Hameed, Dhruv Parashar, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Farooq, Muhammad Jawadullah, Muhammad Waseem, Omid Rahman, Rahul Bhatia, Tanish Suri, Vishnu Sukumaran, Vriitya Aravind
Fixtures
Friday, November 1 – Oman v UAE
Sunday, November 3 – UAE v Netherlands
Thursday, November 7 – UAE v Oman
Saturday, November 9 – Netherlands v UAE
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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