Ritz-Carlton announces Riyadh hotel

Ritz-Carlton is to open its first hotel in Saudi Arabia this month, the luxury operator said yesterday. The hotel in Riyadh, which has 493 rooms, is near the capital city's diplomatic quarter. The property was "envisioned as a royal guest palace for visiting dignitaries and heads of state", Ritz-Carlton said. Analysts say that luxury hotel operators are keen on Riyadh to cater for demand as the city gains in regional and international prominence. Fairmont and Four Seasons also plan to open hotels in the city. Average room rates in Riyadh increased by 6 per cent in August to US$223 (Dh819.07) compared with the same month last year, while Jeddah had a 5.3 per cent increase to $216.32, according to data from the research company STR Global. The hotel, which has 600-year-old olive trees imported from Lebanon, is scheduled to open on October 24. The Ritz-Carlton Abu Dhabi, Grand Canal, is expected to open at the end of this year or early next year, Ritz-Carlton has said. "We will potentially look at Abu Dhabi with a second property because we think the market is a very promising market in the long term," Pascal Duchauffour, the vice president of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company for Europe, Middle East and Africa, said recently.