Court asked to wind up top hotel

● The Vineyard Hotel in Cape Town prides itself on being one of SA’s best hotels and promises guests exquisite hospitality.

But a self-storage company believes the impact of the lockdown on the hospitality industry may be the reason why the hotel has allegedly failed to settle a debt of R159,000.

Alan Lyons, director of OnShelf Investment Five, has lodged an application for the provisional winding up of the hotel at the high court in Cape Town.

“A liquidator will be in a position to determine whether it is viable to continue with the business of [the hotel] or whether the business should be finally wound up,” Lyons said in an affidavit.

“The lockdown had a dramatic impact on the liquidity of all operators in the hospitality industry. As a result, the [hotel] is simply unable to pay the rental arrears for the units it rents/rented.”

Lyons said the hotel had failed to pay R159,678 for the rental of storage units leased from his company in 2018. The lease agreements ended in September this year.

He said he had demanded payment through his lawyer, but the hotel’s financial director had disputed the amount and “requested all invoices in order to be able to settle the dispute”.

“On 12 August 2020, the [hotel] made a payment on account in the amount of R96,879. [My] managing agent then prepared a reconciliation statement taking the payment made by the [hotel] into account, which still left a balance then due in the amount of R 159,678.”

Lyons added: “It is common knowledge the nationwide lockdown has had a crippling economic effect on the hospitality industry, and [my company] believes this is the reason [the hotel] remains unable to pay the balance of the rental due.”

George Petousis, owner and CEO of Petousis Family Holdings, which incorporates The Vineyard, said the hotelwas a “solvent, liquid and fully functioning business open for overnight accommodation, restaurant and conferencing guests” and would defend the dispute in court. He said the allegation about not being able to pay debts was “spurious and unfounded”.

The matter will be heard on December 4.