More scandal in London surrounding the little-loved Arab playboy elite that make London’s super-luxury hotels a temporary base for part of the year.
On May 1 this year, a millionaire Kuwaiti playboy, Sultan Aldabbous, 38, was found dead in a private suite at the Dorchester Hotel, one of London’s favorite hidey-holes for visiting celebrities, world leaders and royalty.
Staff entered his room after a relative called to say he had dropped a phone while mid-conversation.
An inquest in London has now found that Mr Aldabbous died after a cocaine binge, and the hunt is on to identify a ‘bearded man’ seen ‘coming and going’ from his room who may be implicated in the death.
Two other men initally arrested after the death were released without charge.
Detective Constable Cat Bell told an inquest into the death at Westminster Coroners' Court that the bearded man had been seen entering and leaving Mr Aldabbous's room twice between 4pm and 5pm, before leaving again at 5.07pm.
"Shortly after this, the hotel received a phone call from a woman who claimed to be a family friend or member and she asked the staff to check on his welfare," DC Bell explained.
"This came about as he appeared to be unwell.
"She had received this information from another friend who had been on the phone to him at the time and heard him fall with the phone line going dead.
"Drugs were found next to the body. This included cannabis resin and medication such as anti-depressants."
There was no sign of a struggle or the room in disarray, she added.
The Dorchester has long been a favorite of wealthy Middle Eastern businessmen and tourists—in fact, the Sultan of Brunei liked the place so much, he bought it.
The Middle East’s wealthiest men now own almost all of the other iconic hotels in London; Saudi Prince al-Waleed bin Talal has bought the Savoy and the Barclay brothers sold their stake in Claridge’s, the Berkeley, and the Connaught to the Qataris, who trumped the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority’s £1.6bn offer.
The Dorchester’s pricey Promenade bar has been described as “a public space with privacy designed in—the height of the sofas, and the faux-marble pillars, make it difficult to see who is talking to who” and is a popular place for foreign plutocrats to do business.
Alain Ducasse runs the three Michelin-starred restaurant in the hotel.
The Dorchester is one of several popular locations for the Arab playboys who flock every summer to escape the intense heat of the Middle East, and spend vast amounts of money on, amongst other things, Western debaucheries.
Daniel Hallworth, a fixer who specializes in the temporary importation of cars to Europe for Arab clients, told The Daily Beast in September that the playboys who descend on London each summer are here to party.
“They come to London to let their hair down, because life back home is actually very strict and quite dull. They don’t get to fly around and do crazy things. They come over here for the summer to have fun before they go back home and get married.”
The alleged behavior of some of these Arab princelings was recently in the news in the U.S., after Majed Abdulaziz al-Saud was reportedly accused of attempting to force an employee to give him oral sex.
This came just weeks after Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad al-Thani of Qatar’s ruling family fled the U.S. after being accused of racing his yellow Ferrari through LA while staying at the Beverly Wilshire hotel.
Westminster Coroners' Court ruled Sultan Aldabbous, 38, died from a combination of cocaine intoxication and underlying heart disease.
His passing is unlikely to stem the tide of wealthy Arab playboys looking to party and cut loose in London's finest hotels.