Originally Posted by
gkbiiii
I don't understand the OP choice of hotels: Saudi does has a world class Waldorf Astoria hotel, (this is among the grandest hotels, I have seen anywhere in the Gulf!) which I don't understand why he and the chairman of his company did not stay at? Why be cheap, when you are providing lodging for your own most senior level of management?
Jeddah Luxury Hotel Photo Gallery - The Qasr Al Sharq
Hi, We are in Riyadh, so hotels in Jeddah are 11 days walking distance from the office where we work.
As for the other points that you've mentioned. I, being HH loyal guest, recommended HGI to him before knowing how bad it was.
Also, it's not being cheap. We are small company and we have 3 people on the ground since last December. If our customer was paying us for the travel expenses I would have stayed in Ritz which became available last month. Until we get the contracts here, we are trying to stay in reasonable places for $100 a night.
DoubleTree is under the same management and the night there cost ~$200, also the distance to the office is big. There are no other Hilton properties in Riyadh.
Later in the year they will open full service Hilton hotel, but that's about 2 hours away from downtown in the morning rush hour.
Our side benefit is that every weekend the company is paying for our weekends in Dubai. That's about $800 for a flight + hotel.
I'd rather stay in reasonably priced hotel in Riyadh on weekdays then hit Dubai on the weekend, than spending even 1 weekend day in Riyadh (since December I've spent 2 weekends in Riyadh). You have no idea how dreadful it is. Unless you like to lay on the bed starring at the ceiling all day long.