A group of owners at Fontainebleau Miami
Beach’s Tresor and Sorrento condo-hotel towers are aiming to
torpedo new management rules they allege unfairly target
them for not participating in the resort’s in-house rental
program.
The owners — Tatiana Rybak, Alexander and Tatiana Dvorsky,
Mustafa Hakim, Solaria Investments and E&F Management — sued
Fontainebleau Miami Beach and two affiliates last week for
allegedly violating long-standing settlement agreements tied
to the towers.
The historic 1,504-room hotel at 4441 Collins Avenue is
owned by billionaire Jeffrey Soffer’s Aventura-based
Fontainebleau Development. The 22-acre property also
includes Tresor and Sorrento, a pair of highrises with a
combined 748 condo-hotel units at 4401 and 4391 Collins
Avenue. About 674 owners are enrolled in the resort’s rental
program, which gives Fontainebleau Miami Beach the exclusive
right to lease the units, court records show.
In their March 27 complaint in Miami-Dade Circuit Court, the
six unit owners allege Fontainebleau Miami Beach is
attempting to pressure them to use the in-house program by
trying to implement regulations that require non-program
owners to be physically present, or use an approved agent,
for guest check-in, as well as imposing a $75 check-in fee.
The resort is also sharply raising housekeeping costs,
restricting vendor access, limiting valet access and barring
non-program owners from advertising any affiliation with the
Fontainebleau name without approval, the lawsuit alleges.
The owners are seeking a court injunction to stop the rules
from taking effect on April 15.
The rule change “made it almost impossible for our unit
owners to operate and to make money on their units,” said
Steve Davis, a partner with Miami-based Haber Law
representing the plaintiffs. “They imposed a bunch of
discriminatory practices, including exorbitant hotel
housekeeping charges.”
A separate group of Tesor and Sorrento unit owners sued
Fontainebleau Miami Beach and its two affiliates in January
making similar allegations.
A spokesperson for Fontainebleau Development said the firm
does not comment on pending litigation.
The owners not using the in-house program allege the rules
conflict with 2012 settlement agreements governing the two
towers, which they say guarantee non-program owners the
right to rent their units without interference, restriction,
fees or costs imposed by the hotel owner.
They also say the hotel owner was required to obtain
association-board approval and a unit-owner vote before
changing services or privileges, and that Fontainebleau did
not follow that process.
In a March 30 motion to dismiss the January lawsuit,
Fontainebleau Miami Beach alleged the owners don’t have a
legal right to enforce the 2012 agreements.
Fontainebleau Miami Beach has been fighting a broader battle
with Tesor and Sorrento unit owners. The resort sued
Benichay Brothers Group, M.A.K. Realty Group and Hillcrest
Property Services last year, accusing the brokerages of
harming business by allegedly helping condo owners book
guests outside the resort’s rental program through Airbnb
and other short-term rental platforms.
The brokerages allegedly were steering clients in the Tresor
and Sorrento towers away from Fontainebleau’s hotel-rental
pool, which has the exclusive right to rent out units
enrolled in the program, the lawsuit said. Fontainebleau
also alleged the firms were coaching owners on how to
conceal unauthorized bookings and encouraging them to
terminate their agreements with the resort.