The billion-pound battle over Claridge’s hotel from Belfast to Qatar

theguardian.com:

As the Covid-19 pandemic ripped through London in spring 2020, the revolving doors at Claridge’s stopped turning and its art deco lobby fell silent.

The 220-year-old luxury Mayfair hotel, whose guests have ranged from Mick Jagger to Winston Churchill – and which was a favourite lunch spot of Queen Elizabeth II – fell foul of government guidelines that ordered venues to shut as part of efforts to halt the spread of the virus.

Like most hotel businesses, Claridge’s – and the Maybourne Hotel Group that owns it – claimed furlough cash to fund wages for its waiters, porters and managers as the pandemic choked off business.

All told, Maybourne entities, including its Connaught, Berkeley and the not-yet-opened Emory hotel, claimed up to £12m, according to records obtained by the Guardian.

Meanwhile, work continued on the £800m renovation of the quartet, including a luxury subterranean spa at Claridge’s, to enhance the value of the jewel in the crown of its royal proprietors.

Maybourne is part of the growing empire of prestige assets belonging to the phenomenally wealthy ruling elite of Qatar, the gas-rich emirate due to host the upcoming football World Cup.

Its ultimate beneficial owners are the former emir of Qatar Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, sometimes known as HBK, and the businessman and former prime minister Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber al-Thani (HBJ), who together have masterminded Qatar’s investment in the UK, including deals to buy Harrods and the financing of the Shard.

HBJ made headlines recently when the Sunday Times revealed that he had given €3m (£2.6m), including cash stuffed into a Fortnum & Mason bag, to King Charles – then the Prince of Wales – for his charity. The cash was handed over in three lots between 2011 and