$1M A YEAR FOR ICON RESORT TO KEEP NAME

OUTGOING Palazzo Versace general manager Jane Kingston says condo owners have no right to attach the name of the famous Italian fashion house to their properties.

Ms Kingston, who recently resigned after a controversial stint running the swanky hotel in Main Beach, said the $1mplus annual licensing fee was paid by the hotel and not the condo owners.

Ms Kingston’s last day is May 14.

“Those condominiums don’t go under Palazzo Versace,” she said. “They have no right of licence whatsoever to use the name. Absolutely none.

“They (the condominiums) have always been known as Al Destra and Ala Sinistra.

“Owners are running around going, ‘Oh, you know I have my penthouse at Palazzo Versace’, but it is by association only.”

Palazzo Versace contains 72 residential condos and 200 bedrooms and suites. The condos share the cost of running the property with the hotel owner.

The licence to use the Versace name has been the subject of speculation for years.

In 2020 the Bulletin reported that it was due to expire at the end of the year, with owner Dong Run Group said to be tossing up whether to renew the licence given the considerable expense of upgrading the hotel to Versace’s standards.

The hotel has attracted substantial criticism from owners and guests over what they say are falling standards and poor maintenance at the hotel where rooms cost $375-$3065 a night.

Versace was bought by New York-based Capri Holdings in 2018 for $2.85bn, although Ms Kingston said the House of Versace still retained the use of the name outside of fashion branding.

She intimated that the hotel would one day have a different name:

“It is a difficult hotel to run because you’re respectful to the brand. We pay royalties, we pay a licence fee for that brand and it is not going to be there forever,” she said.

“What will it be? It will be another luxury hotel.”

Ms Kingston said some owners who wanted to separate from the hotel and engage their own security and cleaning services were ignorant of the true cost of the Versace name.

“They have no idea that you have got to actually go and buy the licence and pay. We are talking over $1m a year and they pay not a red cent towards it,” she said.

A Palazzo Versace owner said there had been no update on the licensing issue by Ms Kingston and condo owners were dismayed at being told they were not entitled to use the Versace name.

“The condos are rented out using the Versace name,” the owner said. “If it is not a Palazzo Versace condominium then why is the hotel obtaining a financial benefit from renting them out as such?”

The owner said they would be happy to contribute to the licensing fee “but it has never been on the cards”.