Banyan Tree says accusations 'baseless and untrue'

Luxury hotel operator Banyan Tree has hit back at claims made by Al Areen Holding that the company had poorly managed Banyan Tree Al Areen in Bahrain.

Banyan Tree revealed it was seeking a winding-up order for the management contract with Al Areen Holding through the Bahrain courts last week, seeking a sum of more than US $1.1 million.

But Al Areen countered by saying Banyan Tree had failed to manage Banyan Tree Al Areen properly.

Banyan Tree Holdings Limited executive chairman Ho KwonPing has responded to the accusations, labeling them “baseless and untrue”.

“As an international hotel company with over 550 international awards, we have the responsibility to protect our most valuable asset - our brand,” KwonPing said in a statement.

“Contrary to allegations of poor management, Banyan Tree Al Areen has consistently ranked number 1 out of all 73 hotels in Bahrain by TripAdvisor, the world's largest international online rating forum.”

KwonPing added that since the property opened in 2007, Banyan Tree Al Areen had received 13 awards, including Best Spa Resort in the World “all conferred by internationally lauded travel publications”.

“We were also recently nominated by World Travel Awards for Bahrain's Leading Spa Resort, Middle East's Leading Desert Resort and Middle East's Leading New Hotel,” he said.

The executive chairman added that these were no small achievements given the difficult operating conditions facing the hotel since its opening.

“Having arrived at a settlement agreement over a portion of the disputed debt due from Al Areen to us, we expect that at least the settlement agreement would be acted on in good faith by Al Areen,” he said.

“We regret that the continuing non-compliance of Al Areen to fulfill its contractual obligations under the settlement agreement leaves us no choice but to seek redress under the laws of Bahrain.”