The San Francisco International Airport?s US$250 million hotel is pending approval by the Board of Supervisors, but who manages the hotel remains subject to dispute, according to a report in the San Francisco Examiner.
While the deal appears pretty straightforward, behind the scenes there is a fight between the operators of the Fairmont and the Hyatt hotels. Hyatt was selected among 11 hotel chains to manage the hotel, but the Fairmont, which came in second, has protested the bidding process.
That has put the debate before the Board of Supervisors.
The board?s Budget and Finance Committee postponed a vote on the deal last week but planned to revisit the issue November 18.
Unite Here Local 2 spokesman Ian Lewis said the union has not taken a position on the management deal. ?If they build a hotel there it will be a very lucrative project for the airport and whoever manages it,? Lewis said. ?There are a lot of different opinions about which brand would be best for the city?s interests there.?
The Unite Here union and the Chicago-based Hyatt chain have had a strained relationship in San Francisco and beyond over the years with the union boycotting Hyatt hotels over the right to organize and other employee issues. The Hyatt brand is already represented in the area with the Hyatt Regency in Burlingame.
The Fairmont has argued the Hyatt should have been excluded from the bid because its criteria had prohibited those with hotels within a 10-mile radius of the airport, but the city attorney said the Burlingame Hyatt is a three star hotel and the restriction had only applied to four star hotels.