Where did the King of Saudi Arabia live? The delegation of the king of Saudi Arabia made a cash desk for Moscow hotels

During the visit, the delegation of the King of Saudi Arabia will live near the Red Square. Already today to rent a room in the "National", Four Seasons or St. Regis will not work: in one of the hotels, journalists were told about the full load, which, according to employees, happens extremely rarely. Reservations will reopen after October 8th.
Some hotels had to cancel planned weddings and banquets; the main task now is to strengthen security: you can get into the building only after presenting a guest card.

Sergei Kolesnikov, vice president of the Federation of Restaurateurs and Hoteliers, told Kommersant FM that this is a normal practice:
“These events do not take place spontaneously, regardless of who comes: Saudi Arabia, the United States, the President of the Russian Federation or high-ranking officials. The representative of the special services selects not just a hotel, but specific rooms, this happens in a week or two. After the advance group, special regime events are held the day before arrival: the room is checked again so that there are no misunderstandings.

The organizers of the visit paid special attention to the convenience of the guests. The king of Saudi Arabia is known for his whimsicality: on his March trip to Indonesia, he took about 500 tons of luggage, two Mercedes-Benz S600 cars and even two electric elevators; apparently, the Saudis did not come to Moscow lightly either. Especially for the delegation, the hotels change the furnishings of the rooms: the usual European furniture is sent to the warehouse, and in return they spread carpets brought from Riyadh; in addition, pork dishes will be excluded from the menu of hotels.

This is far from all that hotels can do for the sake of customers, said Kirill Ryabkov, Marketing Director of Quintessentially Russia concierge club:
“I worked at the Hyatt hotel where Madonna lived, and we made a separate room where she did yoga. The room had to be connected to her presidential suite, it was a must. One Australian pop star demanded that there must be a certain scent of lilies where she passes.

The delegation of Salman Al Saud has a thousand people, and apparently they were lucky with the accommodation. Although it happened that wealthy guests bought the best rooms from the guests, Yunis Teymurkhanly, the owner of the Helvetia Hotel in St. Petersburg, told Kommersant FM about this case:
“The delegation, it seems, from the Emirates, was satisfied only with the presidential number: it was sold to someone from Russian oligarchs, and representatives of the Arab sheikh approached the Russian with a request to give up this number. He categorically refused, bidding began, and in the end, when it had already reached astronomical figures, the oligarch’s wife could not stand it, saying: “You don’t want it, but I want it, I’ll buy goods in France for this difference.”

Prices in best rooms Four Seasons with an area of ​​500 sq. m. start from 1 million rubles. per day., but this is not a problem for the delegation: moreover, according to some sources, the Saudi prince Al-Walid, the king's nephew, owns a share of this hotel chain.

Interlocutors of Kommersant FM say that special conditions, in which the king of Saudi Arabia will live, cannot be called a whim: it is, according to experts hotel business, a guarantee of their complete safety.

Trouble began on arrival. King of Saudi Arabia Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, who arrived in Moscow on a state visit, when getting off the plane at the capital's Vnukovo airport, discovered a breakdown of his escalator ladder.

The golden ladder escalator has recently accompanied the Saudi monarch during his official visits. So, on March 1, 2017, Indonesian observers paid special attention to this detail. They noted 1000 escorts in the retinue of the king, and the weight of his luggage was estimated at 500 tons. Two weeks later, reporting on the luxurious trip of the Saudi king to Japan, the RT channel noted that the visit of the monarch was served by two golden escalators, 10 planes, 500 limousines. 1,200 luxurious hotel rooms were then prepared to accommodate the royal retinue in Japan.

The cost of living for the King of Saudi Arabia Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and his retinue during a visit to Moscow from October 5 to 7 can be up to $ 3.3 million, according to a study conducted for RBC by OneTwoTrip travel service specialists.

Earlier, RIA Novosti reported that Saudi king and a thousand people of his retinue will occupy all the free rooms of five-star hotels around the Kremlin and Red Square. They will stay at the Four Seasons (Moscow), Ritz Carlton, St. Regis Nikolskaya and National. In particular, the delegation fully rented the Four Seasons Hotel. The cost of only the presidential suite in it is 1 million rubles.

“Depending on accommodation, 1,000 guests will need from 500 to 1,000 rooms. Including accommodation in all Four Seasons rooms, as well as suites at the Ritz Carlton, St. Regis and National get about 326 rooms, that is, to accommodate the entire delegation, at least 430 more rooms of a different category in these three hotels are needed, ”the experts calculated.

If we take into account the cost of not only suites, but also standard and superior rooms, as well as an extra charge for group accommodation from 10 to 50%, then the total cost of living Saudi delegation may range from $2.2 million to $3.3 million, experts say.

According to Kommersant, especially for the arrival of the king, the situation in some rooms will be changed: carpets will be added, furniture will be changed. “The cost of such a transformation is difficult to calculate. We can talk about tens of thousands of dollars,” OneTwoTrip experts say.

According to Kommersant, Saudi Prince Al-Walid, the nephew of the King of Saudi Arabia, owns a stake in the Four Seasons hotel chain. “Without a doubt, this will make adjustments to the final price,” says the study received by RBC.

Some drop in the ratings of specific hotels due to the impossibility for regular guests to check in for this period “will be more than offset by the income from the accommodation of delegations,” Vyacheslav Sapozhnikov, editor-in-chief of the Hotelier.PRO industry portal, told RBC. According to him, the reputation of hotels - "long-playing moment."

Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud's visit to Moscow after the incident at Vnukovo-2 airport. When the king got off the plane and began to descend the escalator ladder, it broke down and the monarch had to go down on his own. As RBC adviser to the President of Russia, Elena Krylova, the delegation of Saudi Arabia brought the escalator ladder with them, but she could not specify the cause of the breakdown.

During his visit, the King of Saudi Arabia held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The press service of the Kremlin reported that the build-up of bilateral cooperation in trade, economic, investment, cultural and humanitarian spheres will be discussed, and joint documents will also be signed.

The retinue of the king of Saudi Arabia during his visit to Moscow will occupy all the free rooms of five-star hotels around the Kremlin and Red Square, including one of the hotels - completely. This was reported by Business FM on October 4.

The visit of the royal person will last from 4 to 7 October. Already now in the area of ​​Manezhnaya Square, Lubyanka and Kuznetsky Most there are no free rooms in five-star hotels such as Four Seasons, St. Regis and National - those in which the delegation from Saudi Arabia will stay. In total, the Saudi mission will number about a thousand people. And for the king himself, all the rooms of the Ritz Carlton hotel were purchased until October 7th.

For the first time, two additional questions were included in the survey of metropolitan travel agencies organized by BANKO following the results of the summer season, the answers to which made it possible to find out retail preferences in the field of MICE tourism and work with VIP clients.

According to the site Yunis Teymurkhanly, owner and general director of the Helvetia hotel in St. Petersburg, such measures are dictated by the requirements of protocols for the placement of persons of this level. “As a rule, figures of this magnitude stay at official residences on the territory of the visited states, where maximum security can be ensured. But the final choice of accommodation facility is determined by the protocol of the two countries. The monarch's delegation may have its own security concerns and transport accessibility. In addition, the possibilities of the kitchen in Four hotels The Seasons and Ritz Carlton go above and beyond what a public residence would normally provide for guests of this caliber. The king will probably invite politicians and journalists to his place. In this case, his own chefs can provide food not only for a large delegation, but also for guests,” the expert said.

On October 4, an unusually high density of traffic police officers could already be observed on the roads of Moscow, which is likely due to increased security measures. According to Vadim Prasov, vice-president of the Federation of Restaurateurs and Hoteliers of Russia, there will certainly be traffic problems in the center, but Moscow, as a capital city, is used to this. “The delegation is really large, and none of the status guests wants to live in “three rubles”. Hoteliers, of course, will not have any objections,” commented the expert.

On Booking.com, rooms at the Ritz Carlton hotel on October 8 can cost from 35 to 112 thousand rubles per night. The hotel has 334 rooms.

Recall that earlier this year, the Saudi king undertook a 31-day trip to Asia, in which he was accompanied by 459 tons of luggage, including two elevators and two Mercedes-Benz S600 cars, as well as a retinue of 1,500 people. The monarch is 81 years old.

Salman Al Saud is the first Saudi monarch to visit Russia. Preparations are being made for his visit with great care. Special greeting billboards even appeared at Vnukovo Airport

King of Saudi Arabia Salman bin Abdul Al Saud. Photo: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters

The Saudi king flies to Russia. Salman Al Saud will be the first Saudi monarch to set foot on our soil. Can we say that the arrival was delayed and what to expect from the Saudi delegation?

For several days now, billboards with Russian text and Arabic script have been hanging near Vnukovo Airport: “We welcome the custodian of the two Islamic shrines in Russia,” and in the background is a smiling King Salman Al Saud. In Russia, the monarch was tired of waiting. Previously, Putin met only with Crown Prince Mohammed in 2004 in Moscow and two years ago in Sochi. And finally, the king himself. Why only now?

Professor of the Department of International Economic Relations of the Institute of Asian and African Countries, Lomonosov Moscow State University Lomonosov“This is connected with many things, because when the crown prince was here, we agreed, say, to create a joint fund in the field of oil. There are very large funds involved, more than $1 billion should be invested by both sides. Among other things, the king of Saudi Arabia is well aware that it is necessary to negotiate with Russia on Syrian issues. The king should test the waters, how far our ties with the same Iran go, and whether Iran will claim some special role in Syria after the end of the military operation against ISIS.

Salman is 81 and rarely travels outside the country. According to Arab media, after suffering a stroke, the monarch suffered a lot. It is believed that the king suffers from Alzheimer's disease. However, Salman's condition does not cancel the status of the meeting.

Associate Professor, Department of World History, Russian State University for the Humanities“We had the English queen in 1994, but the Saudi king is coming for the first time. So, everything will be widescreen. There will be a guard of honor, there will be a whole range of pompous protocol events. They can even do a mini tour. It all depends on the state of health of the king, it is not so much the guards as the doctors that are important there. Yes, respectable age, plus he is a sick person. Ours, too, probably, some in the Central Clinical Hospital prepared a ward just in case, it’s just that it’s not advertised. ”

All the rooms of the Ritz Hotel were purchased for the king-Carlton through October 7th. Not just a delegation is flying: the whole color of the country. For example, during the March visit to Japan, the king traveled to Tokyo on ten planes and transported 450 tons of luggage. Former Russian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Andrey Baklanov talks about the intricacies of the Saudi protocol:

Andrey Baklanov former Russian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia“The Saudis, they are distinguished by such a particularly painstaking approach to preparing and conducting high-level visits. Everything must be planned and then, according to this carefully thought-out scenario, carried out. They first send to the country where the event will take place, a large advanced group, which works in different areas of the program. It accompanies a fairly large number of family members of the ruling dynasty and officials - employees of the ministry and departments, and business representatives, and simply people who carry out technical service.

The king's visit will be such that one can only sympathize with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who will also arrive in Moscow.