Douglas Wignall

Douglas Wignall is a solicitor and the sole principal of Douglas Wignall and Co, a boutique practice specialising in the hospitality industry.

Douglas has more than twenty five years of industry experience including executive experience with Sheraton as an in-house counsel before setting up his own practice in 1984.  Douglas has lectured on hotel management contracts at conferences in Cannes and Dubai and has written articles on hotel management contracts for UK hospitality magazines.

He is a member of the Law Society, the International Bar Association, the International Society of Hospitality Consultants (ISHC) and the Company of Scriveners, as well as a Freeman of the City of London.

His services include:

• drafting and negotiating commercial agreements in connection with hotel/resort development projects such as hotel/resort management agreements, franchise agreements, leases, condominium sale and timeshare agreements, joint venture agreements and sales and marketing agreements. In this regard the practice has acted for owners/developers on projects in  the UK, in most countries in Europe, and also in Russia, former CIS countries, Middle East, Africa and the Caribbean;
• acting for purchasers/vendors in relation to the acquisition/disposal of hotels; acting for several quality hotels in London on operational matters such as compliance with statuary enactments, employment, guest issues, leasing of commercial space, legal audit and litigation.

Recent clients include:

• Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide Inc
• Nykredit A/S
• IBC Investment SA
• Morrison International Developments Ltd
• The Ministry of Tourism, Montenegro
• International Finance Corporation
• Inmogolf SA
• Tivoli A/S
• Albany Assets Ltd

Recent work includes:

• sale of the Sheraton Belgravia Hotel;
• negotiating the management contract on behalf of the Odyssey Arena, Belfast (Northern Ireland's Millennium Project);
• advising on operator and consultant selection and negotiation of a management contract for a resort to be built on a Caribbean island near Honduras;
• preparing and negotiating a standard form of lease for the letting to an international boutique operator of three up-scale hotels in Montenegro.

Associated Areas of Expertise

Due diligence Read more >

Hotel management contracts Read more >

Hotel operator selection Read more >

Legal affairs Read more >