The Government of Brunei has denied any involvement in plans to purchase London’s Grosvenor House hotel.
The Brunei authorities issued a strongly worded statement following a report last week in The Times which was picked up by Travel Weekly.
The report, which originated in India, suggested the Sultan of Brunei was poised to buy the five-star Grosvenor House on Park Lane along with New York hotels the Plaza and Dream Downtown.
The statement on behalf of the Sultan made clear: “Neither His Majesty, the Brunei Investment Agency nor the Government of Brunei are involved in any way in the purchase of the Grosvenor House in London or the Plaza and Dream Downtown hotels in New York.”
The claim that Grosvenor House was up for sale by its owner, the Indian businessman Subrata Roy and his Sahara Group, came from Roy’s lawyer in a statement to an Indian court.
Roy has been in prison for more than five months on charges of contempt stemming from a long legal dispute with the regulator of India’s capital markets.