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02-12-2018, 06:10 AM
RIYADH: Riyadh´s Ritz-Carlton welcomed back guests with Arabic coffee and dates Sunday, as it reopened for business more than three months after becoming a gilded prison for Saudi elites in an unprecedented anti-graft purge.
Liveried staff milled around under the ornate chandeliers of the hotel lobby, greeting a trickle of arrivals as they checked into rooms ranging from 2,489 riyals ($664) a night. The polite welcome was a far cry from the scene on November 4 when police cars surrounded the five-star hotel and its imposing gates clamped shut as Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the detention of princes, ministers and tycoons, in a campaign that sent shock waves through business circles. Many of the high-profile suspects, including flamboyant billionaire Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal ? dubbed the Warren Buffett of Saudi Arabia ? were released in recent weeks in exchange for what officials called financial settlements.
As service resumed at the hotel Sunday staff appeared to have been instructed not to talk to journalists about the purge. ?Everything is normal,? said a smiling hotel employee. ?We served guests then, we are serving guests now.
The only difference is the front gates are open.? The opulent hotel, originally built for guests of the royal family, is a far cry from a gritty prison cell ? boasting instead majestic suites and pastel-hued hallways awash with bronze statues and glittering chandeliers. A source inside the hotel, which hosted US President Donald Trump during a visit last year, earlier told AFP that all detainees had been removed from the property.The hotel´s executive chef has created a new menu this week for its restaurants, with a ?grand buffet? planned next weekend around its large indoor swimming pool, the local Arab News daily reported.
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Liveried staff milled around under the ornate chandeliers of the hotel lobby, greeting a trickle of arrivals as they checked into rooms ranging from 2,489 riyals ($664) a night. The polite welcome was a far cry from the scene on November 4 when police cars surrounded the five-star hotel and its imposing gates clamped shut as Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the detention of princes, ministers and tycoons, in a campaign that sent shock waves through business circles. Many of the high-profile suspects, including flamboyant billionaire Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal ? dubbed the Warren Buffett of Saudi Arabia ? were released in recent weeks in exchange for what officials called financial settlements.
As service resumed at the hotel Sunday staff appeared to have been instructed not to talk to journalists about the purge. ?Everything is normal,? said a smiling hotel employee. ?We served guests then, we are serving guests now.
The only difference is the front gates are open.? The opulent hotel, originally built for guests of the royal family, is a far cry from a gritty prison cell ? boasting instead majestic suites and pastel-hued hallways awash with bronze statues and glittering chandeliers. A source inside the hotel, which hosted US President Donald Trump during a visit last year, earlier told AFP that all detainees had been removed from the property.The hotel´s executive chef has created a new menu this week for its restaurants, with a ?grand buffet? planned next weekend around its large indoor swimming pool, the local Arab News daily reported.
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/World-TheNewsInternational/~4/pXqJv0p4l-4
أكثر... (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/World-TheNewsInternational/~3/pXqJv0p4l-4/279886-riyadh-s-luxury-prison-reopens-after-graft-raid)