Fifty of the largest hotels in the world are situated in just 13 countries, one of which is Saudi Arabia. As part of its ambitious Vision 2030 initiative, Saudi Arabia is striving to diversify its economy and create a vibrant society through heavy investments in tourism-related infrastructure; the kingdom intends to welcome as many as 100 million tourists per year by 2030.
To accommodate a massive increase in international visitors, Saudi Arabia is dramatically ramping up its hotel development activity. According to the TOPHOTEL Projects database, Saudi Arabia has nearly 80 hotel projects scheduled for completion by 2023, which represents a threefold increase from the year prior. These projects encompass more than 63,000 rooms. Saudi Arabia also led all Middle East countries in hotel development through the second quarter of 2022 with more than 37,000 rooms added.
Below is a look at four of the most impressive hotels in Saudi Arabia, as well as one mega hotel that has been in development since 2015.
The Ritz-Carlton in Riyadh
The Ritz-Carlton in Riyadh is a luxury resort hotel with 492 guest rooms and suites, as well as a pair of grand ballrooms and several conference rooms totaling more than 62,000 square feet of combined space to host events. Other amenities include an indoor heated pool with floor-to-ceiling windows that offer picturesque garden views and a gentleman’s-only spa for business travelers.
Visitors can also visit one of many fine dining restaurants to sample culinary delicacies from the Middle East, as well as China and Italy. Select restaurants in the hotel include Al Orjouan, Azzurro, and Sweets of Arabia. There’s also Strike Bowling Alley, a high-end sports lounge with American bar fare favorites, and the Turquoise Cigar Lounge, which features a walk-in humidor.
The Ritz-Carlton in Riyadh has received several awards since opening in 2011. World Travel Awards named it a World’s Leading Palace Hotel every year from 2011 to 2016 and awarded it Saudi Arabia’s Leading Conference Hotel every year from 2014 to 2018. It was also a TripAdvisor Travelers’ Choice Winner every year from 2012 to 2018.
Abraj Al Bait
The Abraj Al Bait is a government-owned complex in Mecca that consists of seven skyscraper hotels with more than 5,300 rooms. While the rooms are situated in different buildings, they are part of the same complex, making the Abraj Al Bait the sixth-largest hotel in the world based on room capacity, behind the Sands Cotai Central, CityCenter, MGM Grand Las Vegas, Venetian Resort Las Vegas, and First World Hotel.
Abraj Al Bait is also the second most expensive building in the world, with a construction cost of $15 billion. It was built on the site of the Ajyad Fortress, an historically significant 18th-century Ottoman citadel that was demolished in 2002. The Makkah Clock Royal Tower is the tallest of the seven skyscraper hotels. Completed in 2012, the 120-floor, 1,972-foot tower is home to the Fairmont Makkah and features the largest clocks in the world on each side of the top four floors. The clocks, located 1,480 feet from the ground, are 141 feet x 141 feet.
Crowne Plaza – Jeddah Al Salam
A five-star luxury resort in the heart of Jeddah, the Crowne Plaza is a 20 minute drive from the King AbdulAziz International Airport and overlooks the Jeddah waterfront. The building design combines traditional Arabic aesthetics with contemporary features both on the exterior and interior. Hotel amenities include an indoor spa and outdoor swimming pool, fitness center, and six meeting rooms that total more than 490,000 square feet of space.
Narcissus 88 Hotel Jeddah
The Narcissus 88 Hotel Jeddah is another of the beautiful luxury resorts in Saudi Arabia’s economic and tourism capital. The five-star, 79-room boutique hotel, situated in the Hamra neighborhood opposite King Fahd’s Fountain, is perfect for both families and business travelers, as it features family-friendly suites, as well as five boardrooms, two ballrooms, and two function rooms.
The hotel also has a pool, spa, and two restaurants on site in addition to a rooftop terrace that offers sprawling views of Jeddah’s city center.
Abraj Kudai
When completed, the Abraj Kudai in Mecca will be the largest hotel in the world. Funded by the Saudi Ministry of Finance and designed by the Dar al-Handasah Group, the Abraj Kudai is a planned 10,000-room luxury mega hotel believed to cost about $3.6 billion. The 45-story hotel will also have 70 on-site restaurants, four rooftop helipads, a shopping mall, food courts, and an extravagant ballroom. Five of the 45 floors will be open only to the Saudi royal family.
The unique design of the hotel sees 12 towers rise from a 10-story podium, which features most of the aforementioned amenities as well as a bus station. Plans for the fortress-style hotel were first announced in 2015, but financial troubles halted construction. The Saudi government allocated funding to resume construction in 2017, but there have been few updates on the status of the project in recent years.