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From the Martinez to Claridge's, hostilities rage between five-star hotel mogul Paddy McKillen and Qatar
Former Qatari prime minister Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani and Irish developer Patrick McKillen are at loggerheads.© Studio Pachamama

Running Story
From the Martinez to Claridge's, hostilities rage between five-star hotel mogul Paddy McKillen and Qatar

Former Qatari prime minister Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani has been at loggerheads with his one-time business partner, the Irish developer Patrick McKillen, since 2022 over a globe-spanning constellation of five-star hotels, including the Maybourne Riviera in France, Claridge's and The Connaught in London, and the Maybourne Beverly Hills in California. The high-stakes power struggle, worth upwards of $1bn, is dividing the small world of ultra-luxury hotels.

From the Martinez to Claridge's, hostilities rage between five-star hotel mogul Paddy McKillen and Qatar
Former Qatari prime minister Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani and Irish developer Patrick McKillen are at loggerheads.© Studio Pachamama

Luxury hotels
Patrick McKillen continues to disrupt Maybourne's Paris project

Having won both arbitration cases against his former hotel group, the ultra-luxury hospitality magnate continues to harass its new owners, the Qatari royal family. Now, he's mortgaged one of their main ventures in the French capital, just as they are in the process of selling new exclusive properties.

LogoSubscribers only France Entourage 11.06.2026

Patrick McKillen's last battle against Qatari royals

The Irish developer won an initial arbitration case last summer over the value of his stake in the ultra-luxury Maybourne Hotel Group, which he sold to the Qatari royal family. He is now fighting a second case over his fees as manager of the group's luxury hotels.

LogoSubscribers only Qatar, United Kingdom Entourage 12.02.2026

Creeping power struggle within family office of Qatar's former PM

Former Qatari Prime Minister Hamad bin Jassem Jabr al-Thani, a shareholder in luxury groups including the hotel operator Maybourne, is advised by a number of financial and property experts who are currently battling it out for influence.

LogoSubscribers only Qatar Families 20.01.2026

Qatari royals to expand hotel empire in Italy

Hamad bin Jassem Jabr Al Thani's family office is negotiating the purchase of several establishments. His partner and relative, former emir Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, already controls two luxury hotels in Rome.

LogoSubscribers only Italy, Qatar Families 07.10.2025

Spotlight
Qatari royals deployed UK investigator in battle with Irish hotelier

In its standoff with former owner Patrick McKillen, luxury hotel group Maybourne, owned by Qatar's former Emir and former PM, hired a British private investigation firm to discredit his opponent.

Former Qatar Prime Minister HBJ hired a British consultancy firm to work behind the scenes to destabilise Patrick McKillen.
LogoSubscribers only Qatar, United Kingdom Entourage 30.09.2025
Former Qatar Prime Minister HBJ hired a British consultancy firm to work behind the scenes to destabilise Patrick McKillen.

Spotlight
Qatar homes in on Ritz Paris in wake of Al-Fayed abuse scandal

In the firing line of former Harrods employees who were sexually abused by Mohamed al-Fayed, Qatar, which is now the owner of the prestigious London department store, looks set to turn against the family of its ex-business partner.

Qatar has coveted the Ritz, the jewel in the Al-Fayed family crown, for many years.
LogoSubscribers only France, Qatar Entourage 19.06.2025
Qatar has coveted the Ritz, the jewel in the Al-Fayed family crown, for many years.

Spotlight
Irish hotelier and Qatari royal engage in bitter battle of narratives

With London arbitrators set to rule this summer on their dispute over luxury hotels, Qatari royal Hamad bin Jassem and Irish businessman Patrick McKillen are stepping up parallel manoeuvres to try to discredit their opponent.

Patrick McKillen and HBJ, the two luxury hotel magnates engaged in a bitter court and media battle.
LogoSubscribers only United Kingdom Entourage 01.05.2025
Patrick McKillen and HBJ, the two luxury hotel magnates engaged in a bitter court and media battle.

In police custody for Go Sport, Michel Ohayon faces further problems at the Sheraton Roissy

Remanded in custody on the evening of 2 April over his management of the now shuttered Go Sport brand, the French businessman is in parallel fighting to retain control of Financière Immobilière Bordelaise, which manages his luxury hotels and is currently in receivership.

LogoSubscribers only France Entourage 03.04.2025

Spotlight
Ritz Paris hit with first complaint from Al-Fayed victim

Since the BBC's September 2024 revelations that the Egyptian luxury mogul repeatedly abused women working for his companies, the department store Harrods, now in Qatari hands, has so far been the only one subject to legal complaints.

The world-renowned hotel is the first establishment directly controlled by the Al-Fayed family to be the target of a complaint.
LogoSubscribers only France, United Kingdom Families 13.03.2025
The world-renowned hotel is the first establishment directly controlled by the Al-Fayed family to be the target of a complaint.

Qatar overhauls The Peninsula Paris hotel management

Katara Hospitality, a subsidiary of Qatar's sovereign wealth fund, has carried out a major overhaul of the management of the heavily-indebted The Peninsula Paris.

LogoSubscribers only France, Qatar Entourage 06.03.2025

Jeweller Piaget dragged into McKillen and HBJ's luxury hotel war

The two-year battle between Qatari tycoon Hamad bin Jassim and Irish businessman Patrick McKillen is having unexpected repercussions on the luxury sector, as Piaget, a subsidiary of Swiss giant Richemont, has discovered.

LogoSubscribers only Switzerland, United Kingdom Entourage 23.01.2025

Property magnate McKillen's hotel war with Qatari royal intensifies

Irish businessman Patrick McKillen had several million euros seized from Hamad bin Jassim's French bank accounts last year and wants millions more from the hotels owned by the Qatari royal with whom he was formerly a partner.

LogoSubscribers only Qatar, United Kingdom Entourage 16.01.2025

Qatari hotel magnates battle it out in Mayfair

With the six-star Qatari Diar-owned Chancery Rosewood hotel due to open next year in Mayfair, former Qatari prime minister Hamad bin Jassem Jabr Al Thani, himself a luxury hotel operator, is extending his holdings in that most exclusive of London neighbourhoods.

LogoSubscribers only United Kingdom Families 17.10.2024

Hotel hostilities: former Qatari prime minister sued in Paris for unpaid fees

The gruelling legal battle initiated in the US and UK between Qatar's former PM Hamad bin Jassem and Irish hotel magnate Patrick McKillen will see a third instalment in Paris next month. McKillen claims his former business partner owes him fees for the construction of a hotel in the French capital.

LogoSubscribers only Qatar, United Kingdom Families 30.05.2024

Spotlight
Hamad bin Jassim vs McKillen: international luxury hotel feud reaches Paris

Irish luxury hotel tycoon Patrick McKillen has sought to seize files related to the Maybourne Saint-Germain, the luxury hotel that former Qatari prime minister Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani is having built on Paris's Left Bank.

Former Qatari prime minister Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani, the Constellation Hotels Holding shareholder and Maybourne Saint-Germain developer, has been at loggerheads with Irish ultra-luxury hotel magnate Patrick McKillen for the past year and a half.
LogoSubscribers only France, Qatar, United Kingdom Entourage 30.11.2023
Former Qatari prime minister Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani, the Constellation Hotels Holding shareholder and Maybourne Saint-Germain developer, has been at loggerheads with Irish ultra-luxury hotel magnate Patrick McKillen for the past year and a half.

Suite satisfaction: Former Qatari PM's cunning plan to outdo Paris hotel rival Cheval Blanc

To make sure its forthcoming Paris luxury hotel, the Maybourne Saint-Germain, stands out from the competition, former Qatari PM Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani's Constellation group is planning a luxury suite the likes of which Paris has never seen before.

LogoSubscribers only France, Qatar Houses 21.09.2023

Former Qatari PM steps back from luxury hotel portfolio

The owner of a dozen five-star hotels in Europe and the United States, former Qatari premier Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani has stepped down from the board of the Luxembourg holding company that runs his hotel empire, handing the reins to one of his sons.

LogoSubscribers only Luxembourg, Qatar Families 31.08.2023

Spotlight
Former Qatar PM works to grow ultra-luxury hotel empire in the US

After establishing five-star hotels in France and the United Kingdom, developer Constellation Hotels, owned by former Qatari prime minister Hamad bin Jassim, is gearing up to expand in the United States. The group is teaming up with the Arnault family for the ambitious project.

The former prime minister of Qatar, Hamad bin Jassim, known as HBJ.
LogoSubscribers only Qatar, United States Families 22.06.2023
The former prime minister of Qatar, Hamad bin Jassim, known as HBJ.

Former Qatari PM selects Ritz Paris architect for Left Bank luxury hotel project

Construction on a luxury hotel is set to begin soon on Paris's Ilot Saint-Germain, a former government building in the 7th arrondissement acquired by Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani's firm Constellation in 2019.

LogoSubscribers only France, Qatar Families 25.05.2023

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Former Qatari prime minister Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani and Irish developer Patrick McKillen are at loggerheads.

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Luxury hotel hostilities

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