Armani Hotel, Four Seasons, Park Hyatt, Raffles and more, Diriyah Gate is poised to be one of the most luxurious hospitality destinations in world.
Diriyah Gate, which is located outside Riyadh, will have a total of 38 hotels upon completion. Speaking to Hotelier Middle East at this year’s Arabian Travel Market 2022 (ATM), Talal Kensara said the heritage site will stand as Riyadh’s luxury hospitality hub.
He explained: “When it comes to the hotel side, our focus is on luxury and upper-luxury side, we want that segment of the market to only be available in Diriyah. That’s part of our value proposition. That will always remain the plan
“If you’re going to Riyadh and you want to stay in an ultra-luxury hotel, the place to do that will be Diriyah.”
Luxury hotel flags at Diriyah Gate
Diriyah Gate properties include Address Hotels + Resorts and Baccarat Hotels & Resorts. Campbell Gray Hotels and Resorts will have a property in the Bujairi district, as will a 100-key Capella Hotels and Resorts property.
Legendary French F&B player Fauchon will open its first Fauchon Hotel in the Middle East and an 80-key retreat from Hilton’s LXR Hotels & Resorts will make its debut in Saudi Arabia.
Orient Express, Raffles, Park Hyatt, The Ritz-Carlton, Rosewood, and Marriott’s The Luxury Collection are the remaining brands in Diriyah Gate itself. To the west of Diriyah at Wadi Safar will be an Oberoi and a Six Senses. The first opening will be Marriott’s Luxury Collection property, opening in 2022 with 141 keys.
Diriyah Gate and Riyadh working together
With no brands below the five-star level coming into Diryah Gate itself, Kensara said Diriyah will work together with Riyadh hospitality for a more rounded set of hospitality offerings.
He said: “We have been highly selective with all our hotel brands. If you look at Diriyah on its own, it may look like it’s missing accessible hotel brands, but from a wider Riyadh perspective, it is not. We are only 20 minutes from the airport and 15 minutes from downtown.
“Very close to Diriyah are a range of affordable and smaller hotels. People can stay there but very easily experience Diriyah all the same. Wider Riyadh and Diriyah hospitality complement one another in that way.”
Hotel mix at other Saudi giga-projects
Another part of Saudi Vision 2030 is The Red Sea Project. Like Diriyah Gate, it will have a multitude of luxury brands present, including Jumeirah, Raffles, EDITION and Grand Hyatt.
The project will also house four-star properties, CEO John Pagano confirmed to Hotelier last year. He said: “The Red Sea Project is about positioning itself towards the upper end of the luxury spectrum, but we have a broad distribution. Forty percent of our products will be in the four-star and four-star-plus segment, there will be 50 percent in the five-star traditional luxury and 10 percent in the hyper-luxury space.”
Meanwhile, AlUla, also in Saudi Arabia looks to stick to just luxury hospitality, using the four-star segment for business hotels only.
Phillip Jones, chief destination marketing and management officer at the Royal Commission for AlUla, told us: “We want to show AlUla to as many as we can, but for those who come, they need to have a luxurious experience. It’s a place for silence, wellness, immersion and reconnection, we can’t have thousands of people running around.
“We’re still going to be able to support the local community, but we’re doing that through luxury and hyper-luxury hospitality.”
