Great Scotland Yard Hotel in London, a part of Twenty14 Holding owned by Kerala born Abu Dhabi based businessman, Adeeb Ahamed has found a place in Forbes Middle East’s newest list of ‘Top 10 Heritage Hotels with Owners from the Middle East.’ These hotels showcase the culture and history of their home countries and their value go beyond their net worth and are more focussed on their founders and the stories behind them. Quite a few businessmen from the Middle East are behind these hotels, particularly in London and Paris.
One of London’s most historic and cherished landmarks, The Great Scotland Yard Hotel is a unique conglomeration of tradition, history, and modern luxury. This 152-room luxury heritage hotel which is nearly 200 years old was opened to the public last year for the first time and spent almost 1100 crores for restoration. In Tudor times, the hotel worked as a deputation abode for the Kings of Scotland and it was selected as the headquarters of Metropolitan Police force by Home Secretary Sir Robert Peel and later relocated to a new location. The current hotel has a grand five-storey Imperial Red brick and stone façade with an arched main entrance, raised ground floor with high ceilings, ornate pediment and tall windows with feature brick and stone detailing. The hotel is managed by Hyatt Hotels and Resorts.
Abeed is also the Managing Director of Lulu Financial Group and under his leadership, today it is a global non-banking financial institution with 132 branches around the world and over 1,500 employees onboard the enterprise.
The twenty 14 Holdings which Ahamed is also the managing director is the hospitality investment arm of Lulu Group, which, since its founding in 2014, has managed to acquire more than US $650 million worth of assets worldwide. He is also married to UAE based billionaire businessman MA Yusuf Ali’s daughter, who owns Lulu Group.
The rankings were based on the following criteria, including the number of rooms, the price per room, date of establishment, government classification, history, and famous regular guests.
Other prominent names featured include Egyptian businessman Mohammed Al Fayed, owner of Ritz Paris who purchased it for $30 million in 1979, Saudi based Al Waleed bin Talal/ Kingdom Holdings- Katara Hospitality who took over the Savoy in 2010, Mandarin Oriental owned by Olayan Family and will reopen in spring next year, Emirati Khalaf Ahmad Al Habtoor/ Al Habtoor Group-owned Hotel Imperial which he took over in 2016.
