Now this is a hostile takeover (very weird news story)

[davidm]

http://www.courthousenews.com/2011/12/14/42229.htm

 HONOLULU (CN) - Marriott Hotels claims a competitor executed a "forceful and hostile takeover" of the Marriott's new luxury hotel in Honolulu, hacking into its computers and sending "dozens of hired security guards" to commandeer the hotel and "ransack" it for proprietary information.

…
"At approximately 2:30 a.m. on August 28, 2011, Aqua’s management team entered the hotel, flanked by dozens of hired security guards. Although Oles was not ordinarily scheduled to work that night, he had traded shifts with another employee in order to facilitate and assist with the takeover. His first step was to hand over to Aqua the keys to the offices of Marriott’s managers.
"The Aqua team immediately began cracking into the hotel’s computers and printing Marriott’s proprietary information. They also ransacked Marriott’s paper files, seeking competitively sensitive information about Marriott guests and potential sales leads that they wished to exploit and convert to Aqua.
"At the same time, the Aqua team assembled all of Marriott’s employees present at the hotel in the hotel lobby and told them that the hotel was under new management. It was now to be called the ‘Modern Honolulu’ and to be managed by Aqua. The Aqua security guards escorted Marriott’s top managers, with the exception of Christian Oles, off the property and told them not to return. They advised the remaining employees that they would have to sign on with Aqua or face termination.

I can’t quote more than 4 paragraphs but you really should read the whole thing. They cut “Marriott” labels out of towels and put stickers with the new name over the bottles of toiletries. This reads like some bad movie.

Marriott is suing Aqua to get it’s hotel back. Why aren’t there criminal charges? Why haven’t the police thrown the interlopers out of the hotel and arrested them? This sounds like violent theft and destruction.

[LurkerInNJ]

@davidm

Marriott is suing Aqua to get it’s hotel back.

Marriott had a contract to manage the hotel, they didn’t own it.

Bizarre story though.

[robardin]

It sounds like the property owner is in cahoots with Aqua, too. Even stranger.

[Moonlitherial]

Hmmm, I have a reservation at one of the Aqua hotel’s. I’ll have to make sure I don’t piss them off

[msmith537]

@robardin

It sounds like the property owner is in cahoots with Aqua, too. Even stranger.

Yes, technically M Waikiki LLC, the owners of the hotel, had supposedly filed a lawsuit against Marriot and brought in Aqua to run the place.

Marriot is actually filing a lawsuit for damage to their brand, theft of proprietary intellectual property and the value of the management agreement that the owners are still contractually required to pay.

So in a way, its sort of like if you owned a business, didn’t like the manager you hired, he wouldn’t leave because of his contract so you hired some goons and a new manager to throw him out.

The article makes it sound like Nino Brown and the Cash Money Brothers storming The Carter. Still very bizarre though.