The defendant's legal team will file a motion to set aside the award and then appeal if the first tact fails, David Noteware of Thompson & Knight in Dallas, tells GlobeSt.com about a highly watched contest between Accor and Murat Holdings LLC of Boca Raton, FL over a now-razed hotel that was once the place to stay in Baton Rouge, LA. The 68th Judicial District Court in Dallas County will weigh the motion's merits within 30 days when it convenes to set the final award.

The plaintiff claims the 262-room Prince Murat Hotel would have been a success at 1480 Nicholson Dr., had the Red Roof Inn franchise materialized under the $45,000 buy-in inked in December 1998 and $1.6-million renovation. John W. Bickel II, partner in Bickel & Brewer of Dallas, says Columbus, OH-based Red Roof Inns and parent Accor Economy Lodging withheld final approval on the flag because they had four competing hotels in the same market: one Red Roof Inn and three Motel 6 properties.

Bickel says Red Roof Inn's franchise operations director cleared the flag to rise and then recanted the approval in the wake of the August 1999 buyout by Accor. As a result, Bickel contends in the lawsuit that "the hotel conglomerate allegedly imposed strict guidelines upon the Prince Murat Hotel, causing the business entity to forgo millions of dollars in operating profits due to a delayed opening."