I guess the restaurants wish they had got something in writing. But hindsight is always 20/20 vision. I can only assume, but I suspect they were simply told that the Pearl was going to be different, and they had no reason to believe that changes in policy such as licences to sell alcohol would be removed with so little warning, and perhaps so little consideration. In the same way people buying (or should I say leasing) property in the Pearl were assured they would get 99 year visas which still have not manifested. The Pearl was supposed to be different, special, slightly offset from the rest of Qatar.
I guess the restaurants wish they had got something in writing. But hindsight is always 20/20 vision. I can only assume, but I suspect they were simply told that the Pearl was going to be different, and they had no reason to believe that changes in policy such as licences to sell alcohol would be removed with so little warning, and perhaps so little consideration. In the same way people buying (or should I say leasing) property in the Pearl were assured they would get 99 year visas which still have not manifested. The Pearl was supposed to be different, special, slightly offset from the rest of Qatar.