Named Query with like in where clause

You can't have the % in the NamedQuery, but you can have it in the value you assign the parameter.

As in:

String city = "needle";
query.setParamter("city", "%" + city + "%");

You can also use CONCAT function

@NamedQuery(name = "Place.getPlaceForCityAndCountryName",
     query = "SELECT p FROM Place p WHERE " +
        "lower(p.city) like CONCAT(:city,'%')");