Florida Hotel Sues BP Over Oil Spill Claim

A landmark Tampa Bay area hotel claims BP has failed to pay an oil-spill claim of more than $5 million.

The Don Cesar Resort Hotel on St. Pete Beach filed a lawsuit against BP Exploration and Production Tuesday in Houston, where the oil company is based.

The suit claims BP reneged on an agreement to pay the hotel $5.2 million for lost business after the Gulf of Mexico oil spill in April 2010. No oil reached the west-central Florida coast, but businesses suffered because of uncertainty over the spill and the false perception that beaches were fouled.

The suit said the hotel accepted BP’s written offer of compensation last fall, but the company has so far failed to pay.

BP officials did not immediately return a call seeking comment Wednesday.