A first look at Bab Samhan Diriyah, the debut hotel in Saudi Arabia's massive Diriyah cultural development, covering rooms, dining, spa, and service.
im honestly surprised more hotels dont recognize you from the blog or do research beforehand. its not that hard- and at a certain price point you'd think they would be aware of reviewers? and yet you've experienced plenty of weird service issues over the years
Diplomatic Quarters is where the fun is.
The statue on the bed looks like a snake strangling itself ; I didn't know snakes could strangle .
The OMAAT-themed welcome amenity is cute.
Absolutely wonderful! We cannot wait to go there, But not in summer months.(Going in January) What was the outside temperature there? We were in Qatar & UAE late last month & the temperatures were in the 112 Degrees plus. It was so Hot that getting into Uber from the front Door was a chore, so we just stayed inside.
@ LOVETRAVELLING -- The highest temperature while I was there was 111. At least it was a dry heat. :p
To see more Diriyah en route to Turkmenistan, once could drink tap water in Mexico or stopover for a meal or two in India.
It looks like a nice property. Addressing Mr. Schlappig as “Mr. Lucky” shows that they knew who was visiting.
Nice review! Transport from/to airport? Best options?
@ Steve -- My Riyadh Air business class ticket included chauffeur service. Otherwise there's Uber in Riyadh, and I found that to be reliable.
"One of the unique things about Saudi Arabia (compared to other countries in the region) is that Saudis actually make up a good portion of the workforce. So the front office staff were Saudis, and were super hospitable."
I'm glad they were hospitable, though traditionally this rang alarm bells, since it can go the other way: I remember Saudia used to be half Saudi FAs who refused to do any service
@ quorumcall -- Hah, yes, you're absolutely right. I think there's some nuance there. Ultimately it's nice to be able to interact with friendly locals when visiting a destination, rather than just "imported" labor.
I think there are cultures that are both very hospitable, and that also have a workforce problem when certain kinds of behavior are tolerated. As you'd expect, in the past Saudia's local flight attendants weren't held to very high standards, while at a nice hotel you expect better hospitality.
It's no different than how in the US, you can't actually count on good service in first class, while you'd still expect a Four Seasons in the country to have good service.
This really looked spectacular. I do enjoy that it hold old world charm, unlike much of the region where the older towns have been bulldozed in the name of progress.
Riyadh never held any sway for me before this but it may be worth planning a layover to stay here!
Looks very nice including the welcome recognition!! KSA has come a long way since I worked there for 5 year in the mid 2010's!! The Marriott options were all nicely appointed, but none with that much traditional architecture or finishings! They do like to go over the top when they want too!!😉 Pretty good rate too.