240-Room Red Sea EDITION Resort Opens On Shura Island, Saudi Arabia

Literally who is visiting this resort? It must entirely be people based in KSA.

Well, after the comedy festival, perhaps, Dave wants to go to the beach, ya know, there aren't great 'beaches' in Ohio, after all...

I went to Nujuma and loved it. Sure there's no alcohol but the service was top notch and rooms were quite nice (esp compared to STR or Ritz Maldives). I would go back there, but for a similar cash price I'm not sure I'd pick this EDITION given it's ~3x the size roomwise.

“ Let me emphasize that I’m writing about this not because I think everyone should immediately plan a trip to Saudi Arabia, but rather because I find this whole development to be sort of fascinating, and am curious how it evolves.”

This statement is getting tired.
Why even write about them when you have to copy and paste this same statement in every post?

There are many countries that are just as bad, if not worse, yet this specific qualifier is reserved for SA. Would love to see a similar statement when talking about a certain genocidal state north of Saudi Arabia.

@ Sisyphus -- Contrary to what you might think, the reason I add that disclaimer isn't exclusively (or even primarily) for ethical reasons. There are a couple of reasons you may not be considering.

First, there's no alcohol at these resorts. I realize that might not be an issue in the region, but a lot of people do like to drink when they travel, and that's a non-starter for those people. And if you don't believe me, just look at every post I write about Saudi Arabia, and how people say something along the lines of "hard pass, no alcohol."

Second, the reality is that this entire development is in the very early stages. It's hard to know to what extent you're showing up at a constructive site vs. a fully finished product. So I don't want to encourage people to travel somewhere, only to then be disappointed by what the actual state of development may be.

Missed opportunity for KSA not to host this week's Gaza Peace Summit here rather than Egypt hosting in Sharm El Sheikh -- I guess because there was a slim chance Bibi would attend.

Note this isn't meant to be political at all, just a observation that it would have been a great opportunity for media attention.

Yes, I agree, it would have been the perfect opportunity to showcase and promote their tourism islands and resorts but KSA projects are all now entirely dependent upon the whim and decision of a notoriously short tempered man - perhaps he was just too engrossed in the latest fantasy life computer game as to pay proper attention as to what's really going on outside his "Kingdom"

And what is your future policy and attitude about the Saudi regime Ben? Are you going to fly/review Riyad Air (if you are eventually "invited" by Tony Douglas to do so?). Are you prepared to take a holiday to the more relaxed and cosmopitan Jeddah with your family?

I went to St R. as Nujuma was only open to staff working at the Red Sea projects (soft opening). It was completely finished and really lovely. Similar to you, the staff were excellent.

The snorkelling whilst expensive was amazing too.

@Ben Schlappig

Take a long look in the mirror and ask yourself if you even believe what you just wrote.