The News
Khalaf Al-Habtoor is done with Lebanon — and he’s taking his five-star hotel with him.
The outspoken Dubai-based real estate and hospitality billionaire has invested around $1 billion in Lebanon, sticking with the country through years of security and economic turmoil. But a dispute over the withdrawal of his funds from Lebanese banks last year — and a threat that he would be “slaughtered and killed” — drove him to withdraw from the country, literally.
Sitting at a cafe with his staff — and an unnamed man introduced as an engineer from one of China’s biggest construction companies — he discussed in a video posted to X how the Chinese company has the expertise to slice up the Metropolitan Palace Hotel in Beirut and ship it out on barges. Al-Habtoor appeared to agree the plan was feasible, directing his team to ensure the pieces are moved when the waters are calm. It’s unclear when, or if, he will go through with it — or whether Lebanese authorities will allow the disassembly.