El Conquistador faces breach of contract lawsuit from USVI provider
Cruz Bay Watersports is seeking approximately $108,000 in overdue payments.
Island Time Watersports, which does business as Cruz Bay Watersports, has filed a breach of contract lawsuit against Royale Blue Hospitality LLC, which manages the El Conquistador Resort in Fajardo, seeking $108,257 in overdue payments.
In the lawsuit, filed in January at the U.S. District Court for the District of the U.S. Virgin Islands, the daily ferry service provider from the USVI to Fajardo for hotel guests, contractors and other personnel, claimed it has an unpaid invoice dating to October 2021, when the contract expired.
Under the agreement, the hotel was required to pay $300 per day for captain fees and $200 a day for mate fees, in addition to covering costs for preventive maintenance including basic jobs like oil and filter changes, which ranged from $50 to $85 an hour.
Cruz Bay Watersports alleges it is owed $105,457 in maintenance fees and $2,800 for 14 days of unpaid mate fees.
The lawsuit details that the hotel “refused to pay the invoices, asserting that certain materials and labor costs did not constitute ‘preventative maintenance’ under the agreement.”
The parties exchanged several letters for about a year after, debating the amount that the hotel owed.
In December 2022, Royale Blue Hospitality acknowledged in writing that it owed the plaintiff, but that it needed “backup” of the maintenance costs owed. Cruz Bay Watersports provided a full itemization of the charges and associated invoices, it stated in the civil claim.
Despite this, the hotel has yet to make any payments on the outstanding balance and “has made no representations that it intends to pay any portion of the outstanding balance” according to the lawsuit.
“Yes, we are aware of it, and it is being worked on in the courts,” El Conquistador spokesperson Sandra Fernández replied to a News is my Business request for comment. “Once the process has concluded, we can discuss it.”
Cruz Bay Watersports is now seeking a jury trial to settle the dispute.
