Ritz-Carlton in Riyadh rolls out red carpet for Donald Trump visit
The Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania are staying, spared no expense to welcome the couple.
According to viral tweets, the luxury hotel projected five-storey high portraits of Trump and King Salman onto the hotel facade.
We've arrived at the palatial Ritz hotel in Riyadh where Trump will be staying. Very Vegas. But with some extra exterior lighting. pic.twitter.com/9Xibrezo2w
— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) May 19, 2017
Trump is on an eight-day foreign tour, his first since taking office, that will take him next to Israel and the Palestinian Territories and then to Europe, reports sister publication Arabian Business.
In Riyadh, large billboards of Trump and King Salman lined the highway from the airport, reports CNN.
Room rates at the Ritz in Riyadh start at US $282 or SAR 1,059 a night. HotelierMiddleEast.com previously reported that, quality hotels in Riyadh struggle to maintain ADR and occupancy in line with last year due to lower MICE and corporate activity caused by drop in oil prices, and public and private sector spending. Both occupancy and ADR continue to decline resulting in a cumulative RevPAR drop of -22% in the first two months of 2017. Riyadh has a strong opening pipeline in 2017 which will further put pressure on RevPAR. 2017 RevPAR is forecasted to close below 7% versus 2016.