The Court of Final Appeal has rejected an effort by Hong Kong Parkview to be exempted from needing to obtain a hotel licence.
The city's highest court dismissed an appeal by Parkview (Suites) Limited and Tri-view Limited against HK$20,000 worth of fines imposed last year for operating a hotel without a licence.
The fines had been imposed after undercover inspectors of the Home Affairs Department stayed overnight at the luxurious development on two occasions in 2004. They found the establishment was operating as a hotel with a reception desk, day-to-day letting of apartments, and internet and phone bookings.
Under the Hotel and Guesthouse Accommodation Ordinance, hotels are classified as places that offer sleeping accommodation to any person who appears able and willing to pay for it. Any place classified thus needs a licence to operate.
Parkview, which sprang to prominence as the place where wealthy investment banker Robert Kissel was murdered by his wife, Nancy, in November 2003, contended it did not strictly fit the description of a hotel and should be exempted from the licensing requirement.
The company argued that under the general understanding of the law, hotels had an obligation to provide accommodation to any person willing to pay for it.