By
Alex Gore
Last updated at 4:13 PM on 18th February 2012
An Arab royal sheikh said to be worth £40m is to be sued by an exclusive London hotel over a disputed unpaid bill of more than £500,000.
Sheikh Talal Bin Abdulaziz Bin Ahmed Al Abdulla Al Thani rented luxury suites costing up to £3,500 a night over 18 months for himself, two wives and guests.
His total bill at the five star Wyndham Grand in posh Chelsea Harbor, which included a single suite costing £330,739.18 and 14 rooms over five months, came to a colossal £531,807.74.
Runner: The Wyndham Grand Hotel where Sheikh Al Thani left without paying
But the 43-year-old, who is a member of the royal family in the 2022 World Cup hosts Qatar, left without paying and the hotel is now chasing him for an eye watering £648,805.44, including legal costs.
The sheikh has sent three cheques for £266,000, £265,807.74 and £450,000 in a bid to settle the tab but the hotel said the payments have failed to clear.
He is estimated to be worth around £40m and is due to inherit an. incredible £400m from his dad, who died in 2007 and left £7bn to his 33 children in his will.
A lawyer wrote to Sheikh Al Thani on the hotel’s behalf in December 2010 – a year after left the – threatening legal action and the royal is said to have given assurances that he will cough up.
Cough up: The hotel in Chelsea Harbour is chasing Sheikh Thani for £648,805
However, a source told The Sun: ‘He still hasn’t paid. The claimant is about to issue proceeding in the next two weeks.
‘We gave him credit because he was a member of the royal family. He has just postponed the payment.’
It also reported the sheikh hired a fleet of S-class Mercedes from Cromwell Cars, which has an agreement with the hotel, and owes the company £20,000.
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“We gave him credit because he was a member of the royal family. He has just postponed the payment.” ————— You mean you gave him credit because you smelt more money, more money, more money!! Forget about being a member of the royal family, payment is due before services rendered. Unless, of course, a credit card has been left behind the desk. Now you have to chase over half a millions pounds and £20,000 for the car hire company. Also need to inform the sheikh that writing cheques that bounce is an offence in the UK. Perhaps we can get him extradited?! We have quite an excellent record in that regard……
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Why was he not arrested immediately by the police,and put in prison,until he did pay the full amount ?
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Something tells me the manager will soon be an ex manager.
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How funny! Man lives with his two wives in a hotel for 18 months without paying the bill. As already mentioned we non-‘royals’ would have to hand over our credit card and be checked upon prior to getting to the lift. Try finding him in Qatar, they all have the same name, wear the same outfit, o’ yes are all related to their royals, how funny!
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Have they got the right bloke?, He was probably a road sweeper in Qatar 🙂
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Probably got tired of the new English Royal tradition of the wives spending 4 hours at the hairdressers so fled the country in exasperation
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I bet his real name is Norman Smith and he lives in a small terrace in Croydon
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THERE WAS I THINKING POLYGAMY WAS ILLEGAL IN THIS COUNTRY…
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All this hotel are likely to get will be two vertical fingers in the Churchill manner.
‘On the other hand’, someone’s hotel career will be heading south if the dodgy Qatari refuses to cough up.
That no doubt will be just the beginning of the response of rich opportunists’ conduct following the coalition, and Ken Clarke in particular’s, ideas on justice.,
There isn’t any need to worry if you are rich enough, in typical Tory style.
Remember the world has seen not one dodgy banker jailed over the massive rip off on British taxpayers, so this is very unlikely to be the last example.
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No sympathy for the Wyndham Grand at all. They should have treated him same as everyone else, credit card details up front billed him each month.
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