Hotel Sues Restaurant Over Noise
The white gloves are off.
For months, the five-star Four Seasons Hotel (guests have included former President George Bush and Barbra Streisand) quietly sparred with its hip neighbor, the open-air Twin Palms restaurant (partners include Cindy Costner, Kevin Costner’s ex-wife.)
The hotel’s complaint: Twin Palms’ late-night rock bands are too loud.
Finally, in April, a fed-up Four Seasons filed suit against Twin Palms, alleging that the restaurant’s live music is “at such high and invasive levels” that it keeps guests from sleeping at night.
The suit, which is set for a June 5 hearing in Orange County Superior Court, pits a stately resort--all marble and exotic orchids, soft lights and antiques--against a trendy French bistro, which hosts cigar night parties and Sunday Gospel brunches under a billowing tent-like canopy.
The public spat is a rare spectacle in the cozy circle of tony Newport Beach businesses, observers said. In fact, both the Four Seasons and Twin Palms say the issue goes beyond the noise dispute; each contends that its reputation and business are at stake.
“Businesses can usually work these things out,” said Richard Luehrs, president of the Newport Harbor Area Chamber of Commerce. “It is very cooperative here.”
It’s an unexpected problem for rising star Twin Palms, which was wooed to Newport Beach by Irvine Co. Chairman Donald L. Bren. The 425-seat restaurant opened in November 1995 at the Irvine Co.’s Newport Center complex at Fashion Island--600 feet away from the Four Seasons.
The $3.5-million Newport Beach restaurant is the first offshoot of the original Twin Palms in Pasadena, which has drawn national attention for its famous chef, Michael Roberts, its eye-catching big-top architecture, and celebrity crowd, including regular Steven Spielberg. Others are being considered for Las Vegas and San Diego.
“We’re a young company,” said Twin Palms President Dennis H. Constanzo. “To have a problem here so quickly--we’re nearly 6 months old--it hurts us with other landlords. They say, ‘What’s going on?’ ”
“Our reputation is tarnished. . . . When we’re talked about as being loud and raucous, it gives a very negative connotation.”
Four Seasons general manager Mehdi Eftekari declined to comment. The hotel’s attorney, S. Christian Stouder, and noise expert, Henry Moon of Mestre Greve Associates, did not return calls seeking comment.
At stake, the Four Seasons says, is its image as an elite resort and its ability to earn a profit, the hotel says in court papers.
According to the lawsuit, many hotel guests have said the Twin Palms’ music was so loud that they won’t be back. The music is “particularly bothersome because of its rhythmic nature and the fact that it grabs your attention,” the hotel says.
The hotel says it has moved complaining guests to quieter rooms in the middle of the night and provided complimentary rooms and gifts “at great cost.”
According to the lawsuit, more than 175 guests have complained about the noise at the ocean view hotel, which places a huge premium on niceties such as twice-daily maid service.
Newport Beach police report that they responded to eight noise complaints from the hotel between Feb. 23 and April 6.
The hotel has asked Superior Court Judge Jack K. Mandel for a preliminary injunction ordering Twin Palms to turn down the volume--or “unplug the amplifiers”--from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m.
“That’s [when] we make our profit . . . in the concept of the after-dinner cabaret,” Constanzo said. “If you take that time period away, we might as well go home.”
At next month’s court hearing, sound experts hired by the Four Seasons and Twin Palms will each present decibel readings from the restaurant’s Thursday through Saturday night concerts.
The reports will include noise measurements since April 26, when Twin Palms voluntarily installed two 500-pound sound absorbent curtains--costing $10,000--to help muffle the sound of music from the restaurant.
Twin Palms says sound tests show that its bands do not violate noise standards set forth in city ordinances or its operating permit, and a ban on late-night music would destroy its business.
It has tried to be a good neighbor from the start, the restaurant says. Even before construction started, Constanzo said he asked Irvine Co. officials whether the live music would bother Four Seasons and was told not to worry.
“Twin Palms and the Four Seasons are two valuable and popular businesses in Newport Beach, and obviously we want them both to succeed,” said Irvine Co. spokesman Franz Wisner, who declined to comment on specifics of the dispute. “We believe that they should be able to coexist on the same block.”
When the hotel started complaining, Constanzo said, he turned off speakers in the back of the restaurant and above the stage, and redirected others away from the hotel--even though some of their guests complained they couldn’t hear the music.
He added a plexiglass drum screen on stage. He decided not to invite back a popular band with a loud horn section.
Constanzo said he will abide by the sound experts’ reports.
“If the study says, ‘Dennis, you have to go down by two decibels because you’re two decibels above the standard,’ I accept,” he said. “I want to be a good citizen and have a relationship with [the Four Seasons].”
In yet another twist, Twin Palms’ live entertainment permit--the one that allows the late night bands--may be in jeopardy.
In an oversight, Constanzo said the restaurant failed to get the permit before its November 1995 opening.
City Manager Kevin Murphy will evaluate the restaurant’s permit application after May 31, when the city’s sound expert completes reports on decibel readings during Twin Palms’ band nights.
According to permit standards, the live entertainment “should not be audible on adjacent property,” Murphy said.
“That’s a tough standard,” he said. “The standard is you can’t bother your neighbor.”
