Luxury hotels, minibars and the ongoing feud between Rebecca Vardy and Coleen Rooney

A luxury hotel, a minibar tab and an argument between two women who can’t seem to see eye to eye.

Yes, you guessed it. Wagatha Christie is back.

The dispute between Coleen Rooney and Rebecca Vardy returns to court this week, exactly five years after social media posts sparked a high-profile libel battle.

During the High Court trial in 2022, media around the world watched and were fascinated by the details of author Agatha Christie’s detective novel.

Rooney accuses wife of her football teammate of leaking her private information to media, ultimately win.

Vardy was ordered to pay 90% of his rival’s legal costs, which now total more than £1.8 million.

The showdown returned to court this week as Vardy tried to reduce the fee.

It’s a saga worthy of a soap opera, and one that makes the most of British heritage charm Along with footballers wives and girlfriends. It has spawned several documentaries. It’s not over yet.

“We’ll be back again sometime next year to go through the fees line by line, which is an agonizing process,” said Jonathan Coad, a media lawyer who has followed the case from the beginning.

“This is ridiculous,” he added. “This is the last place you want to be.”

Here’s what we know one week after the infamous Wagasa brawl.

Coad said this week’s hearing was a “close” one, but in the end “the winner appears to be Colleen again”.

Vardy’s lawyers argued there were a number of reasons why the amount she had to pay should be reduced.

But in Tuesday’s rulingSenior costs judge Andrew Gordon-Sack dismissed a number of Vardy’s charges.

He found there was no wrongdoing by Rooney’s legal team and that the decision was made “all things considered, I have to say, just now”. However, this means that reducing the amount Vardy should pay “is not an appropriate situation”.

The next day, a judge ordered Vardy to pay Rooney compensation. £100,000 this month.

This is not an additional debt she already owes. Vardy has paid out £800,000 so far, with the £100,000 being a further payment towards the final total bill.

“Vardy took the risk. It didn’t work out and now she’s paying another £100,000,” Codd said.

In 2022, the world’s media descended on London as Rooney and Vardy arrived at the High Court, accompanied by their husbands.

Even the American media was caught in the act as they tried to understand why two “football wives” were going head-to-head.

Neither woman showed up this week, leaving their lawyers to fight for their rights.

Of course, this means less media circus outside the courtroom. And inside, where I was, there were fewer fireworks than last time.

Of course, the British tabloids are still buzzing. The headline news this week is definitely Metro, which is calling the whole thing “Wagatha Thrifty.”

But the atmosphere at this hearing was much calmer. There was no cross-examination and the argument was less heated – although the two KCs still put up a good fight.

Even under the best of circumstances, costs hearings are boring. Even when celebrities are involved, anyone can get very excited about the intricate details of billing rates.

That being said, there are some interesting details.

One of the high-profile reports involved a stay at a five-star hotel in London.

Vardy’s lawyers said Rooney’s full legal costs in the 2022 case included a lawyer “staying at the Nobu Hotel, incurring substantial dinner and drink charges and minibar charges”.

The hotel brand was spun out of high-end Japanese restaurants and bills itself as “one of the top luxury lifestyle hotel chains.”

But on Tuesday, Rooney’s lawyer Robin Dunn said the expense claims were “factually inaccurate.”

“Yesterday morning, The Sun headlines There’s minibar charges involved,” he said.

“This has been reported over and over again around the world on Twitter or on

He said a “shabby” hotel was initially booked for the lawyer.

But he said there was no Wi-Fi on the first night and no showers available, so the lawyer moved to Nobu after Rooney’s agent said she could get a discount.

Rooms at Nobu normally cost £600 but were charged £295, which he said was the same price as a Premier Inn room.

Others claimed the cost of food and minibar was £225.

But Dunn insisted the minibar bill for two bottles of water was actually only £7 and said the lawyer did not eat at the Nobu restaurant during his stay.

Vardy’s team also claimed Rooney’s use of London law firm Stuart was “unreasonable” and that she should be looking for a law firm closer to where she lives in north-west England.

But this argument was rejected by the judge.

“This has been a high-profile case and attracted extensive national and international media coverage,” Gordon Thacker said on Tuesday.

“Defamation remains a specialist area and most firms specializing in defamation are based in central London.”

He added that hiring lawyers in central London was a “reasonable option” given the scale of the claim and the “reputation at stake”.

The judge also dismissed Vardy’s claim that Rooney consulted her lawyers 30 times, costing her nearly £500,000, as unreasonable.

He said Vardy’s actions – particularly the destruction of evidence – “added complexity” and “clearly demonstrated that the rates exceeded the guidelines of the most experienced counsel”.

But he did say less experienced attorneys should be charged lower hourly rates.

This battle is far from over.

This week’s hearing discussed matters of principle. A line-by-line assessment of costs will now take place, as soon as next spring.

It is still possible that Vardy ends up paying less than the £1.6m she was instructed to pay, but some rulings have yet to be made.

Ironically, as Codd points out, both sides will be investing more money in this latest fight.

The judge’s parting shot may have just a hint of anger.

“All parties need to continue to address this issue and put it behind them.”