Gajanan

discussion section, post, and conclude that we need not resolve the dispute. 3According to plaintiffs’ expert, a “boutique hotel” is generally a hotel with fewer than 250 rooms that is operated “with a certain type of personality, decor, lifestyle,” and is not affiliated with a brand. AGPME owned the Steinhart Hotel, Hotel Diva, and Hotel Union

Square; KPH leased the Kensington Park Hotel; Mangal owned the Country Hearth Inn; and Gajanan owned the Buena Vista Inn. 5The Engage entities are Engage Hospitality LLC, Engage with Hospitality SF LLC, and Lombard Hospitality LLC.

3 Norbert Mede, who was retained by plaintiffs as an expert on the operations of boutique hotels, specifically with regard to ensuring that hotel taxes are filed and paid, testified that it is common for the owner of a boutique hotel to hire a management company to run the hotel, and opined that Engage was qualified to run the hotels here. He also opined that Engage had hired a qualified controller in hiring Hernandez. Hernandez was informed that his duties included paying the San Francisco transient occupancy tax, the tourism improvement district fee, and the Moscone expansion district fee (the hotel taxes).…