The former Hilton Frankfurt Gravenbruch is in crisis. EU and US sanctions against the owner make the rescue more difficult. The insolvency administrator has “never experienced a case like this”.
Luxury hotel in Gravenbruch: Previously popular accommodation for politicians and celebrities. Photo: Gökay Gürsoy/HB
Düsseldorf, Neu-Isenburg. The peace and quiet is actually one of the advantages of the luxury hotel Frankfurt Gravenbruch. The 225-room hotel in Neu-Isenburg with a swimming pool, spa and tennis courts is located around 15 kilometers from the gates of the banking metropolis. A place where you want to stay.
But now the calm is almost unbearable.
The lobby is deserted. Only a few employees scurry through the corridors. Wherever guests check in, there is no tourism. Politicians and stars such as Bill Clinton, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Harry Styles have stayed in Gravenbruch. The German national football team has also often taken up residence here. But the hotel has not accommodated a single guest since mid-August.
The co-owner of the hotel, Iranian businessman Ali Ansari, is on the EU and US sanctions lists for allegedly supporting the Iranian leadership. Therefore, the US chain Hilton, which operated the luxury hotel until the end of August, canceled the contract. The companies behind the hotel are insolvent and their assets are frozen. The future of the workforce is now decided by authorities – not the market.
The provisional insolvency administrator Joachim Kühne says: “I have never experienced a case like this in my entire career.”
According to reports, Ansari has built up a real estate fortune worth around 400 million euros in Europe. This also includes the Hotel Gravenbruch, which Ansari partly owns directly.
Empty lobby: The hotel has stopped accepting guests since mid-August. Photo: Gökay Gürsoy/HB
Gravenbruch is not the only case: Ansari is reportedly also the owner of the “Hilton Frankfurt City Center”, whose contract Hilton has apparently also terminated. Evidence suggests that the contractual relationship ends on November 1st - from then on, rooms can no longer be booked via the Hilton website. Ansari's British lawyer Roger Gherson did not respond to questions from Handelsblatt.
The European Union (EU) imposed sanctions against Ansari on July 30. She accuses Ansari of supporting the Iranian government. Ansari acquired “significant assets through a network of companies, including real estate in the EU and the UK, on behalf of individuals linked to the Iranian leadership, including Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei.” This is what it says in the relevant EU implementing regulation.
No bookings via Booking
Great Britain had already imposed sanctions against Ansari in autumn 2025. In January 2026, the EU classified the Iranian Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization.
At this point in time, the hotel first began to feel the impact financially: the measures are said to have persuaded the hotel platform Booking.com to remove hotels with suspected connections to Ansari from its offerings. Gravenbruch was also dropped from booking.
Things got even tougher in July: On July 10, the US Treasury Department sanctioned Ansari as a “major donor” to Khamenei. US companies should end business with Ansari's company Smart Global Limited, one of the shareholders of the hotel in Gravenbruch, by August 9th.
Ali Ansari: The EU has imposed sanctions on the Iranian businessman. Photo: imago images/ZUMA Wire
Hilton therefore came under pressure, terminated the contract in Gravenbruch and moved out at the end of August. The Hilton logos appear to have been removed or covered with black tape.
Powerless insolvency administrator
Only a week before the EU sanction, on July 23rd, the Offenbach am Main district court had initiated preliminary insolvency proceedings for the two companies behind the hotel. Joachim Kühne from the law firm CMS Hasche Sigle was appointed as the provisional insolvency administrator.
In this role, Kühne would actually have to pay bills, place orders or hire service providers. But he is unable to do that. The reason: The German sanctioning authorities have frozen the companies' assets.
“We have to report every intended payment to the Bundesbank, which checks the process and only then releases the payment,” explains Kühne in advance of a hotel staff meeting. This makes it extremely difficult for him to “make important operational decisions”.
In addition to the Bundesbank, the Federal Office of Economics and Export Control (BAFA) is also involved in the release of economic resources. The Central Office for Sanctions Enforcement (ZfS) of the General Customs Directorate also investigates frozen assets.
» Read also: “Deep structural crisis”: Insolvency administrators are increasingly becoming reorganizers
A spokesman for the ZfS told the Handelsblatt that nothing could be said about specific individual cases. BAFA also “did not want to comment on any individual export processes with a view to operational and business secrets”.
“Ansari has no influence on my actions”
Kühne emphasizes that he has been given the position of the so-called strong provisional insolvency administrator. This means that he has complete control over the assets, while the management is left out.
“Despite everything, the authorities are of the opinion that Ansari can still exert influence,” says Kühne. He cannot understand this concern: “Mr Ansari has no access to the assets I manage and no influence on my actions.”
From the authorities' perspective, the connection to Moris Mashali could be problematic. Werner Kleber, managing director of the company that owns the hotel in Gravenbruch, runs another company together with the Iranian-born Brit.
According to Bloomberg, Mashali co-founded Ziba Leisure Limited with Ali Ansari. According to the US Treasury Department, the company is now called Smart Global Limited. She holds shares in the hotel in Gravenbruch.
Mashali told Bloomberg that he was only acting as a lawyer and advisor for Ansari and had no relationship with Khamenei. Kleber told Handelsblatt that he had never worked directly with Ali Ansari.
Who is behind Allsco GmbH
The hotel is owned by Allsco GmbH, which, according to the latest annual financial statements, has total assets of more than 85 million euros. One of the three shareholders is Ansari himself, who holds 5.2 percent of the company. There is also Ansaris Smart Global Limited, which is registered on the Caribbean island of St. Kitts and Nevis, which is known as an offshore financial center. She owns 4.9 percent. With 89.9 percent, a Luxembourg company that was only founded in spring 2025 is the largest shareholder.
According to the commercial register, this company also owns Allsco Gravenbruch Hotelbetriebsgesellschaft mbH, the operating company of the hotel.
The future of the hotel lies in the hands of the authorities. Joachim Kühne, provisional insolvency administrator
Attorney Kühne sees above all an opportunity for the hotel: “We want to sell the hotel to an investor so that the 140 employees have a professional future again,” says Kühne. Therefore, he initiated a sales process right from the start of the procedure. “There are also serious interested parties.”
However, a sale is only possible if the authorities agree. “A few weeks ago I asked the authorities whether they would agree to sell the hotel,” says Kühne. “I have not received a response to date.”
If there is no solution, “the money from the insolvency estate will be enough for about a month.” Kühne expects the insolvency proceedings to open on October 1st. “The future of the hotel is in the hands of the authorities.”
No longer a Hilton hotel: the logo was apparently pasted over. Photo: Gökay Gürsoy/HB
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Robin Eisermann is head of the hotel's works council. “Before the sanctions, we had a really strong forecast for this year,” says Eisermann. “I am a chef and have been unable to do my job since the sanctions.” This is how it is for all departments in the house. “The employees are now worn down.”
More: Booking.com boss: “Sometimes guests book cheaper directly with the hotel”
First publication: September 29, 2026, 3:59 p.m.
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