Saudi Hotel to Reopen; Princes to Be Moved to Al-Hair Prison: Reports
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The luxury Riyadh hotel used as a prison during Saudi Arabia’s so-called crackdown on corruption will reopen for business next month, according to a company employee and its website.
Dozens of princes, senior officials and top businessmen were detained and confined in the opulent Ritz-Carlton Riyadh as the government launched the purge in early November. The hotel was closed to normal business.
On Monday, an employee at the office taking bookings for the hotel, who declined to be named, told Reuters by telephone that bookings by the public would be accepted from Feb. 14.
The hotel’s website now accepts bookings from Feb. 14, quoting a rate for its cheapest room of 2,439 riyals ($650) a night.
According to the report, Saudi authorities were close to winding up a major part of the crackdown, which would allow them to return the Ritz-Carlton to normal operations.
However, other reports suggest that the hotel will reopen as the kingdom plans to transfer its Royal prisoners to al-Hair prison, which is known to be the largest of five high-security Saudi prisons established in the past decade.
