Nicky O Is Home To Celebrity Sniping

When developers signed Nicky Hilton to their new South Beach condo-hotel project, the young star brought them exposure that real estate publicists only dream of: a Vanity Fair mention, architectural renderings in People, even encouraging words from David Letterman.

Now the venture is awash in another byproduct of fame: sneering celebrity gossip.

Los Angeles architect Nizar Idrisi accuses the 23-year-old of taking credit for his designs of the Nicky O hotel, and he's eager to dish to the media.

''I've never seen her lift a pen. I've never seen her draw anything,'' Idrisi said Monday.

His story has the makings of a juicy tabloid tale, including heated e-mails from Hilton's inner circle, catty comments about the star's poolside behavior, even a connection to the O.J. Simpson murder trial.

It's not clear if the allegations will dent the promotional story line behind a 95-room hotel set to open New Year's Eve on Ocean Drive. From the start developer Robert Falor acknowledged paying Hilton for licensing her name to the hotel, and the project's website says Thomas Schoos and other designers are creating the rooms.

Hilton markets purses and apparel under her own label, and Falor describes the heiress as the creative force guiding the Nicky O's fashionable look -- from cupcakes on the pillows to the kind of jacket a bellhop will wear.

''When we have a meeting, she's always there. And she comes up with great ideas,'' said Chris Falor, Robert's brother and partner.

Though she occasionally sent him magazine clippings as design suggestions, Idrisi said he saw a much less engaged Hilton.

He recalled a meeting with would-be suite designers at the Royal Palm hotel where he and other executives huddled at an outdoors table while Hilton and a friend sunned themselves at the other side of the pool.

''Every once in a while she would wave to us,'' Idrisi said.

Like much celebrity sniping, this one began on a blog. Hotelchatter.com posted Idrisi's allegations on Friday. By Monday, the story had ricocheted across the Internet. ''Nicky Hilton's Hotel Design Scandal'' read the headline on the Faded Youth blog.

Idrisi claims he agreed to a discounted fee of $12,000 in exchange for the media exposure from a hotel linked to Paris Hilton's younger sister. But Idrisi wasn't mentioned in press accounts about the newest Hilton hotel.

''I'm going to be designing all the guest rooms -- actually, everything,'' Hilton told E! News in July. Entertainment Tonight noted Hilton was designing all the interiors and showed a sketch of the lobby that Idrisi said was his.

Idrisi claims the Falors promised to mention him in all press releases about the project, a $15 million redo of the Breakwater and Edison hotels with unit prices start at $500,000. He said he teamed up with Faye Resnick -- an interior decorator who gained fame through her friendship with Simpson's murdered ex-wife, Nicole Brown -- to create the look of the Nicky O and a second one in Chicago.

Resnick, Hilton's godmother, allegedly fumed at attempts to disguise her central role in the project until after the first wave of publicity had passed.

''It is unrealistic for the press to believe that Nicky designed these hotels entirely on her own,'' Resnick e-mailed Hilton manager Paul Fisher July 5, the day before the project's announcement.

Idrisi provided the e-mail. Chris Falor blamed the dispute on Idrisi misleading Resnick, and said Resnick now is satisfied with her role in the venture. Falor said Idrisi mostly provided technical help to Resnick, and has since been dismissed from the project.

Resnick, along with Hilton's representatives, did not respond to interview requests.

Mark Zilbert, the real estate broker stepping down this week as head of the Nicky O sales campaign, said the Falors made no secret that other designers were working on the hotel. But from a publicity standpoint, they didn't want anything to detract from Nicky Hilton's role.

''When you saw a rendering of the lobby, he wanted everything to say designs by Nizar,'' Zilbert said of Idrisi. ``It just didn't make sense from a marketing perspective.''