Starwood Hotels Set to Expand Business in Saudi Arabia
Luciana Mangas June 07, 2016
Hotel chain Starwood is expanding business in the Middle East. USA Today reports that Starwood has reached an agreement with Saudi Real Estate and plans to open two new hotels in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in the near future.
The new hotels will be a five-star facility under the Westin brand and a four-star hotel that will belong to the Element brand, bringing the total of Starwood hotels in Saudi Arabia to 18.
The multinational company currently operates two hotels in the Saudi capital with a third, the Aloft Riyadh, scheduled to open on July 1. Another two hotels are currently under development in the area, the Le Méridien Riyadh and Aloft Riyadh King Fahd Road. They are set to open in March 2017 and January 2018, respectively.
While no opening dates have been released for either the Westin or the Element hotel, it has been announced that Starwood will manage the hotels while Saudi Real Estate maintains ownership of the land.
Both hotels will be built in the King Abdullah Financial District, which was created by the government in hopes to attract banks and the country’s financial regulator to the area, but the move has not been very successful. They hope that the hotels will make the area more attractive, developing it into an international business zone complete with visa exemption for foreign workers and direct connections to Riyadh’s airport.
[Photo: Aloft Riyadh Hotel Exterior – Rendering]
