HotelChatter

Tags: Park Hyatt Hotels / Hotel Openings / Saudi Arabia Hotels / → All Tags

A Pretty (But Pricey) Park Hyatt Opens in Jeddah

Where: Al Hamra District , Southern Corniche, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, 21432

The Park Hyatt group have just added a new hotel in Saudi Arabia, with the Park Hyatt Jeddah opening up for business. As well as a five-star hotel there are also a Red Sea marina, club and spa in the complex so it sounds like a good vacation hotel, but they're also looking to get business travelers with fancy meeting facilities and a location close to Jeddah's financial district.

Creating this resort involved reclaiming land from the Red Sea, but Park Hyatt promises that they made sure to "retain the delicate surrounding marine life", and we sure hope that's true. Of course, the result is that the place has great views over the Red Sea and also to the famous King Fahd fountain which sprays water 1,000 feet into the air.

Park Hyatt Jeddah has 142 rooms, many of which overlook the Red Sea, and they all have 42" flat screen TVs, broadband internet and rain showers. They're not advertising any opening specials but rack rates start from 1650 riyal ($440) a night for the smallest rooms, with the huge royal suite going for 15,350 riyal (over $4,000). In other words, there are no budget nights to be had at the Park Hyatt Jeddah, but you're almost guaranteed a Red Sea view.

Tags: Hotel Openings / Hotel Hype / Raffles Hotels / Saudi Arabia Hotels / → All Tags

Raffles Makes Mecca Pilgrimage Comfortable, Full of Ice Cream

The Raffles group is still planning to open another exclusive-sounding hotel, and it's going to be in the holiest Islamic city of them all. The Raffles Makkah Palace is due to be opened in November 2009.

If you're on a pilgrimage, this is the ultimate in luxury stopovers: Apparently the Raffles will be just a three minute walk from the Kaaba within the Al Masjid al Haram, the spot where everyone will be headed.

The hotel itself will occupy the 11th to 26th floors of the Abraj Al Bait Complex, and is slated to include 198 suites. Something that impresses us no end is that there'll be an average of three staffers per suite and 24-hour butler service, so finding refreshments after a wearying pilgrimage will be no problem at all.

On the culinary front, the Raffles Makkah Palace has a couple more ways to impress us. There'll be a dedicated chocolate room in the restaurant with pralines and truffles made to order, as well as an icecreamery offering personalized ice cream creations. Whatever chocolate and ice cream you want? Talk about religious experiences.

Tags: Women-Only Hotels / Saudi Arabia Hotels / Hotel News / Hotel Openings / → All Tags

A Hotel Where Every Night is Ladies' Night

Where: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 11545

For a country that goes to such great lengths to segregate unrelated men and women, it took Saudi Arabia a long time to hit on the idea of women-only hotels.

So begins this Reuters article about the Luthan Hotel & Spa, owned by 20 Saudi princesses and businesswomen, who believe the property is meeting a very big demand in the city of Riyadh.

Reuter's reports that the rooms, which start at $93 a night, are "delicately adorned" with incense candles, rose-red fabrics and bas-reliefs of cherubs. What's more, every person employed by the hotel, right down to the bellhop, is a woman, allowing for those of the female persuasion to pamper themselves away from "the accusing eyes of a male-dominated society."

Oddly, mostly male journalists attended the hotel's inauguration by seven princes, leaving one female journo in attendance to tell Reuters, "You know what they're saying about this place..."

No. What?

"...That it's a hotel for lesbians."

Um, okay...

Tags: Hotel Packages / Waldorf-Astoria Collection / → All Tags

Arabian Luxury at the Qasr al Sharq

Where: North Corniche Road , Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, 21462

If you're becoming a fan of the Waldorf-Astoria Collection of hotels--think back to our hype on the La Quinta Resort last week, also a part of this group--then we've got another deal for you that's just a touch more exotic.

Over in Saudi Arabia, the Qasr Al Sharq or Palace of the Orient hotel in Jeddah is also a member of the Waldorf-Astoria Collection. It's an exclusive place of just 46 suites and they're offering a four-night package at the moment which pretty much fits the idea of staying in a palace.

For just over US$5000, you'll get four nights in a junior suite and on your way into Saudi, VIP arrival at the airport--that means you get to skip the main customs queue and then get whisked away by limousine to the hotel. On arrival you'll get Arabic coffee, juices and dates (we presume they mean the edible kind and not a selection of men or women to choose from); a butler-served breakfast is included each day and you'll also get a personalized guided tour of old Jeddah.

There are a bunch of other cool packages being offered by the Waldorf-Astoria Collection right now and we were pleased to see that these even include a deal at the original Waldorf Astoria in New York, if heading to Saudi Arabia is too far for your long weekend.

Related Stories:
· A Desert Getaway to the La Quinta Resort and Club [HotelChatter]
· Hotel Openings: Hilton's Arabian Palace [HotelChatter]
· Waldorf-Astoria Collection Offers [Official Site]

Tags: Hotel Openings / → All Tags

Hotel Openings: Hilton's Arabian Palace

Hilton is set to open their first ever palace hotel in Saudia Arabia on May 15.

The Palace of the Orient, or Qasr Al Sharq, hotel will have only 46-suites (the largest guest suites in the region), personalized butler service and "unimaginable interior design aspects."

Facing the Red Sea on the main Corniche, the palace is a nine-storey triangular shaped granite building with oriental architectural design. The palace comprises of two palace suites - each covering half a floor with two master bedrooms, a private sitting room, a large formal majlis, large dining room and kitchen, and a private health club that includes a gym, sauna and Jacuzzi.

The ceiling is done Trump-style in 60kg of gold leaf which took some poor workers six months to apply. The floors of the hotel were done in different types and colors of marble across the world, and 1,200 crystal vases from Italy are placed throughout the hotel. Beds will have 600 thread count cotton linens from Venice and each duvet cover is stiched with one million threads of gold embroidery. As for the butlers, there will be 17 of them on call 24 hours a day.

If you can't afford all this opulence, then the regular Jeddah Hilton is just next door.

Related Stories:
· Opulence Reigns [AME Info]

Tags: Hotel News / → All Tags

Usually an Oasis, but Not Yesterday

Where: Golden Belt Road, Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia, 31952

Saudi security forces rescued dozens of Westerners who had been held hostage by Islamic militants early Sunday in a compound filled with foreign oil workers, although at least 16 people were reported killed during the armed standoff in the Persian Gulf city of Khobar. —reports Craig Whitlock, "Hostages Freed After Deadly Attack," Washington Post

This compound was actually Oasis Residential Resorts.

The Oasis includes 200 villas, 48 apartments, 195 studio apartments plus the Oasis Tower Hotel and Oasis Luxury Suites. They are less than an hour from Bahrain, and 30 minutes from the  King Fahad International Airport in Dammam.

The 25 hour attack was the second this month against the Saudi oil industry. Two hundred forty-one people were evacuated from the Oasis complex.  

more ›