Saudi Arabia offers a wide range of attractions, including luxury hotels with Michelin-starred restaurants, Unesco-listed historic buildings, and desert camps.
One of Saudi Arabia’s top hotels is Dar Tantora, AlUla.
AlUla Dar Tantora
Grainger, Lisa
May 13, 2024, Monday, 12:15 p.m. BST The Times
Only since 2019 has Saudi Arabia become accessible to visitors from other countries. Its leadership, however, have invested billions to modernize its stringent Islamic rules, construct a tourism infrastructure, and make the country more hospitable to tourists in an effort to diversify its income away from oil. Destinations are thus springing up everywhere in this ancient country, including its two beaches (on the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea), its history-rich gorges, its vast deserts, and its renovated medieval city centers. Malls and souks will appeal to shoppers, foodies to trendy coffee shops, glitzy eateries like Scott’s, Sexy Fish, and Jason Atherton’s Social, and outdoor food markets in the evenings that offer delectable delicacies like wood-cooked chicken shish and pastries sprinkled with pistachios. These are the top accommodations in Saudi Arabia, ranging from chic city hotels with spas to hip caravans with food truck eateries and electric bikes.
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1. AlUla, Our Habitas
BOOKING.COM
££ | POOL | SPA | Top activities
It seems like a camp and a trendy hotel at the same time, situated in a canyon among strange sandstone structures that have been sculpted over thousands of years. Scattered throughout the desert slopes, its 96 rooms include modern decor, an outdoor shower, and a canvas-shaded verandah. Electric buggies and fat-tired bikes are available for transportation. Its health offerings are excellent and include free daily yoga, sound baths, meditation, and exercises in the adjacent shady caves or in its cool spa and gym. The spa’s knowledgeable spa therapists use organic local oils, and the food is fresh and Middle Eastern.
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2. AlUla Banyan Tree
BOOKING.COM
££ | POOL | SPA | Ideal for families.
This stylish hotel in the Ashar Valley’s canyons offers villas with one to three bedrooms, some with private pools, and views of the world’s largest mirrored structure, Maraya. Bicycles are provided in each villa so that visitors can move around the sprawling property and visit the coffee shop, Thai and Middle Eastern eateries, and spa. Though its in-house experiences—barbecues under the stars, breakfast delivered on a floating tray to enjoy in your villa’s pool, Bedouin-tent dinners, and outdoor yoga and meditation—are its most notable features, Instagrammers adore the pool, which is situated high in a canyon, between rocks.
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3. Jeddah’s Shada Al Shate’a
£ | POOL | Greatest for low-cost lodging
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This boutique hotel is not only well-located but also fairly priced, close to the Formula One circuit, the Red Sea Mall for shopping, and the second-largest port city in the Middle East. The rooms are cozy, functional, and furnished with regional artwork, such as calligraphy, ceramics, and pillows created by Saudi women (available for purchase on the hotel’s website). Experiences may be organized to nearby Bayadah Island for hikes or the historical buildings of Al Balad. The lobby, filled with local furnishings, is a favorite hangout for coffee and sweets.
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4. Kingdom Centre, Riyadh’s Four Seasons Hotel Riyadh
EXPEDIA £££ | SPA | POOL | Finest for luxury in the heart of the city
This hotel, which occupies floors 30 to 50 of a 99-story skyscraper that is among the tallest in Saudi Arabia, is emblematic of the kingdom’s wealth as well as its faith (the building’s top is shaped like a crescent moon, which is associated with Islam) and beliefs (the spa is exclusively for men, but there is a gym and treatment room for women). The hotel’s international-style rooms provide views of the city, and its restaurants, which include a seafood grill and a Pierre Hermé bakery, as well as a glass bridge at the top that may be reserved for a romantic meal for two.
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Advertisement 5. St Regis Red Sea Resort, Red Sea
BOOKING.COM
£££ | SPA | POOL | Best for a beach vacation
The first of the new Red Sea development islands to open to tourists (with 50 resorts predicted to start in the region by 2030), this seems like something that may be in the Maldives, but is in reality 22km off the coast of Saudi. The island boasts both dune and overwater houses, created by the great architect Kengo Kuma, all set out in relaxing tones with natural woods, rattans and cotton, and with views over the beautiful seas and diverse marine life. The four restaurants feature foods from Arabian delicacies and burgers to Japanese dishes, while the bars creative non-alcoholic beverages. There is a sophisticated spa, and enormous kids’ club — and butlers for every property. Swimsuits and shorts are seen as respectable attire here, which is unusual for Saudi Arabia.
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6. Jeddah’s Shangri-La
BOOKING.COM
£££ | POOL | SPA | Top for Formula One Fans
This traditional luxury hotel, which is a part of the 64-story Burj Assila, Jeddah’s highest structure, has comfortable rooms, white marble baths, and sleek service. It is all chrome and polished grey marble. Its location, right off the corniche and with a view of the Formula One circuit, is its USP. Guests facing the sea can watch the races from their balcony. Its clever eating choices include Chinese and Lebanese eateries; the terrace has a large outdoor pool with views of the sea; and the non-alcoholic bar provides delectable tea and mocktails. Its spa has separate treatment rooms, saunas, and gyms for men and women.
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7. Jeddah’s Al Balad Hospitality Hotels
BOOKING.COM ££ | Heritage’s Best
Whole ancient homes are being turned into hotels as part of a larger Ministry of Culture effort to renovate Jeddah’s Al Balad old town. House of Jokhdar, Kedwan, and Al Rayess are the three that have opened so far. They are all exquisitely renovated and were constructed utilizing traditional techniques. Coral blocks are used for walls, wooden beams are used for ceilings, tiles and hand painting are used for flooring, furniture is inlaid with shells, and bathrooms are outfitted with opulent 21st-century finishing. The closest one can go to living like a king in Saudi Arabia is a private restaurant in one home where visitors from all the houses may savor delectable meals.
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8. AlUla Dar Tantora
POOL | Best for Immersion in Culture £££
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The Old Town of AlUla, a tangle of mud-brick homes encircled by a wall for protection, was in ruins for many years. Thirty of these homes, all properly restored yet modernized, make up the historic boutique hotel Dar Tantora, which gets its name from the sundial in its center. Every en suite room is unique; some are cozy with small courtyards or terraces, while others are roomy with high-beamed ceilings, genuine murals, and ethnic furnishings. The coffee shop offers traditional cardamom-infused thimbles of deliciousness; the restaurant, situated in a shaded courtyard, serves international favorites; and the pool boasts stunning views of the canyon cliffs. It is very romantic at night when everything is illuminated by candles, even though the rooms are a little dim.
Dartantora.co