If you want warm and cuddly treatment from Marriott, register as a guest. Laurence Geller, the restive owner of the opulent Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel, found that out the hard way. Geller had a raft of complaints about Marriott International, which owns the Ritz name and operates his hotel for around $4 million yearly. He was tired of Marriott's high fees, its secrecy about the hotel's finances and its foot-dragging on a renovation. Marriott's response? It began developing a Ritz done just three miles up the California coast. This 262-room hotel competes head-on with Geller's Ritz, even copying, Geller says, his Ritz's silver-white Italian marble bathrooms. An apoplectic Geller sued for damages from lost bookings and unfair business practices in a Los Angeles court two years ago. The case is pending. Meanwhile, he's stuck with 16 years to run on his Marriott contract in Laguna Niguel.
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