A British Healthcare consultant was forced to spend the night in a Qatari police cell after posting a negative TripAdvisor review.
Craig Barratt, 49, from York, had written on TripAdvisor that the Ritz-Carlton was “not safe for western women” following what his wife Sarah described as sexual harassment at the five-star property in July 2024.
The couple believe hotel managers reported the review to Qatari authorities without their knowledge, leading to Mr Barratt being prosecuted for defamation under the Gulf state’s strict cybercrime legislation.
“I didn’t know if I was ever going to see him again,” Ms Barratt, 34, said of the ordeal, which she called “the worst three days of my life”.
The pair are now seeking answers from Marriott International, the American company that owns the Ritz-Carlton brand.
The incident occurred on July 30, 2024, when Ms Barratt, who suffers from anxiety, was relaxing by the hotel’s outdoor pool while her husband was away on business in Saudi Arabia.
Two men on nearby sun loungers asked her to photograph them, but she grew uneasy when they requested she use her own phone and send the image via WhatsApp.
One of the men then attempted to discover her room number.
Craig Barratt was prosecuted in Qatar for writing a defamatory TripAdvisor review
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“That’s when he said that he was going to come to the room and sleep with me, that I was going to fall in love with him and I was going to enjoy it,” Ms Barratt recalled.
The couple had been regular guests at the property, with Mr Barratt holding Marriott’s highest loyalty tier, “ambassador elite” status, after a decade working as a consultant advising governments, much of it in Qatar.
Following Mr Barratt’s complaint, a hotel manager reportedly pleaded with Ms Barratt to remain at the property and assured her she would be safe.
At 9.45pm that evening, the manager messaged to confirm the two men had departed.
The Marriott have said there is no CCTV evidence to support the Barretts claims
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However, three days later, Ms Barratt encountered them stepping out of a lift in the hotel lobby.
“I felt this overwhelming disappointment that we had been lied to,” she said.
When the couple confronted the men, they simply laughed, triggering a severe panic attack for Ms Barratt.
A heated dispute erupted in the lobby as the Barratts directed their frustration at hotel management, who claimed CCTV footage from the pool showed no evidence of men approaching Ms Barratt.
Police attended and advised the couple their only option was filing charges at a local station, which they declined.
Mr Barratt then wrote his TripAdvisor review, stating: “Local predators are allowed to harass guests with impunity.”
The couple departed at 4am.
Upon returning to Britain, the Barratts pursued complaints with Marriott, seeking an apology and financial compensation.
They continued visiting Qatar without problems until June 2025, just 10 days after their York wedding, when Mr Barratt was stopped at passport control and handed Arabic documents.
These papers revealed he had been convicted months earlier under cybercrime laws, receiving a seven-day prison term, deportation order and a fine of 20,000 Qatari riyals, approximately £4,000.
The court found he had damaged the hotel’s reputation, citing both the TripAdvisor post and WhatsApp messages in which he called the manager a “terrible man”.
An initial legal challenge failed, prompting an appeal to Qatar’s highest court, the Court of Cassation.
Last October, Mr Barratt arrived at Doha airport after a work trip, unaware his appeal had been moved forward by a week and dismissed.
Though his prison sentence was overturned, the deportation stood.
Border officials refused to let him board his British Airways flight, insisting he must be formally deported.
He was taken first to a police station, then transferred to a remote deportation centre where he was the sole westerner among hundreds of migrant workers.
The deportation order has barred Mr Barratt from Qatar, resulting in his lucrative consulting contract not being renewed.
The couple say they have been financially devastated, Mr Barratt has sold his car, other belongings are being auctioned online, and they estimate they are three months from losing their home.
“I was doing very well, I was working very hard, I had a great reputation,” he said.
The Barratts want Marriott to acknowledge the incident occurred and compensate them for the career damage, believing Ms Barratt has been “gaslit”.
A Marriott spokesman said the company “does not tolerate harassment” and that a review found the claims “were not substantiated by the available evidence.”