Russian officials have prepared an impressive reception for the 81-year-old monarch of Saudi Arabia, Salman Abdel-Aziz Al Saud, who arrived in Moscow on a state visit the day before. V the Russian capital These days, the widely advertised Week of Saudi Arabia Culture is taking place in New Manege, an exhibition of national art of this country opens, the whole city was hung with posters in Arabic, and on the way from Vnukovo-2 airport the king was greeted with billboards with his own photographs.
Moscow welcomes the king on a scale that foreign leaders rarely receive. The Saudi delegation, with its grandiose travel style, has taken over the entire Moscow Ritz-Carlton, according to The Washington Post. And this is not surprising, because the monarch of the richest Arab country is used to traveling with appropriate ceremonies: for example, for a visit to Japan this spring, the king and his delegation needed 10 planes, 500 tons of luggage and 1200 rooms in the best hotels... And to Indonesia, the king brought 1,500 attendants, including 25 princes, and 450 tons of things, in particular, two Mercedes-Benz S600 cars and two escalators. Such a special personal ladder also came to Russia, but refused to work on Russian soil.
On the days of the visit of the King of Saudi Arabia, all the vacant rooms of the most fashionable hotels around the Kremlin and Red Square were occupied by his retinue. The five-star Ritz-Carlton, Four Seasons, St. Regis, "National" in the area of Manezhnaya Square, Lubyanka and Kuznetsky Most there are no empty seats - such a situation with a complete lack of rooms is rare. All issues are sold out until October 7th.
A representative of one of the hotels said that the hotel management had to cancel several events that were planned for these days. Pork dishes were excluded from the hotel menu. And the decor in many rooms was changed to a more familiar one for guests - in oriental style... Moreover, for several high-ranking members of the delegation, their favorite carpets were brought specially from Saudi Arabia, RIA Novosti reports.
The cost of a double room in this hotel starts from 41 thousand rubles per night. A room with a view of Manezhnaya Square costs 59 thousand, with a view of the Kremlin and Alexander Garden - 137 thousand. The most expensive and spacious rooms (about 500 square meters) cost about a million rubles per day.
In total, the Saudi delegation numbers about a thousand people, and all of them had to be accommodated in hotels in the immediate vicinity of the Kremlin.
It was not just a delegation that flew to Moscow, but the entire flower of Saudi Arabia. As the former Russian ambassador to Saudi Arabia Andrei Baklanov told BFM, “The Saudis are distinguished by a particularly painstaking approach to the preparation and conduct of visits top level"." Everything should be scheduled and then, according to this carefully thought out scenario, be implemented. They preliminarily send a large forward group to the country where the event will take place, which works in different areas of the program. He is accompanied by a fairly large number of family members of the ruling dynasty and officials - employees of ministries and departments, business representatives and just people who carry out technical service, "Baklanov says.
The cost of living for the King of Saudi Arabia Salman bin Abdel Aziz Al Saud and his retinue during a visit to Moscow from October 5 to 7 may be up to $ 3.3 million, according to a study conducted for RBC by travel service specialists OneTwoTrip.
Earlier, RIA Novosti reported that saudi king and a thousand of his entourage will occupy all the vacant 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 the presidential suite alone is 1 million rubles.
“Depending on the accommodation, 1,000 guests will need from 500 to 1,000 rooms. Includes accommodation in all Four Seasons rooms and Ritz Carlton Suites, St. Regis and National, it turns out about 326 rooms, that is, to accommodate the entire delegation, at least another 430 rooms of a different category are needed in these three hotels, "the experts calculated.
If we take into account the cost of not only suites, but also standard and superior rooms, as well as the extra charge for group accommodation from 10 to 50%, the total cost of accommodation for the Saudi delegation can range from $ 2.2 million to $ 3.3 million, experts say.
According to Kommersant, especially for the arrival of the king, the furnishings in some rooms will be changed: they will add carpets, change the furniture. “The cost of such a transformation is difficult to calculate. We can talk about tens of thousands of dollars, "- experts at OneTwoTrip say.
According to Kommersant, the 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," - said in a study received by RBC.
A slight drop in the ratings of specific hotels due to the inability for regular guests to check in for this period "will be more than offset by income from the accommodation of delegations," Vyacheslav Sapozhnikov, editor-in-chief of the industry portal Hotelier.PRO, told RBC. According to him, the reputation of hotels is a "long-lasting moment".
Salman bin Abdel Aziz 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 ladder-escalator, he broke down and the monarch had to go down on his own. As RBC Adviser to the Administrative Officer of the President of Russia Elena Krylova, the delegation of Saudi Arabia brought the escalator ladder with them, she could not clarify the cause of the breakdown.
During his visit, the King of Saudi Arabia talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Kremlin press service reported that they will discuss building up bilateral cooperation in the trade, economic, investment, cultural and humanitarian spheres, and also that joint documents are to be signed.
Meeting the Guardian of two Islamic shrines, as the kings of Saudi Arabia are often called, on the one hand, is easy, and on the other, difficult. Easy, because they always bring everything they need with them, including servants, but difficult, since Saudi monarchs are not only some of the richest people on the planet, but also the most demanding. Moreover, not so much because of their exclusivity and wealth, but because of old age (Salman is 81 years old) and poor health.
The first visit of the Saudi monarch to Russia, which has already become the rule, was no exception. According to tradition, we can say that Salman ibn Abdul-Aziz al Saud brought with him a thousand and a half retinue and everything necessary for a four-day visit, from carpets with furniture to servants who know the habits and tastes of their master and replace individual hotel employees. Salman settled a couple of hundred meters from the Kremlin, in the Four Seasons Hotel Moscow, better known to Muscovites as the Moscow Hotel (demolished and rebuilt in the last decade).
The hotel was closed for four days to other visitors, including even those who live there permanently. The Saudis also rented all 334 rooms in the nearby Ritz-Carlton for 14 million rubles a day, booked rooms in the neighboring National and Marriott.
Fans of statistics have calculated that living in Moscow alone will cost Riyadh at least 250 million rubles. For a Saudi monarch, this is very little. If only because his summer rest in Moroccan Tangier this year cost his subjects $ 100 million.
In addition to furniture and carpets, King Salman brought to Moscow a special gilded escalator with which he travels around the world. The same one, in whose work on Wednesday at the airport "Vnukovo 2" there was some kind of failure. The escalator stopped halfway, so the monarch had to go down, as they say, on his own. Naturally, Salman moves around Moscow in his cars. By the car fleet that arrived in the capital of Russia from Saudi Arabia, you can find out all the brands of the most expensive and luxurious limousines.
The king and his entourage eat exclusively Saudi products. Every day, a special plane brings 800 kilograms of food and drinks from Riyadh.
It is difficult to name the exact number of Saudi aircraft that arrived in Moscow on October 4. There are obviously many of them. It is known, for example, that in March, King Salman flew on an official visit to Japan on 10 airliners, which brought almost half a thousand tons of luggage.
When it comes to travel abroad, Salman is no different from his predecessors. King Fahd (1982-2005), for example, loved to relax in Spanish Marbella. The number of his retinue sometimes reached two or three thousand people. In 2002, he flew to the seaside resort on 7 planes: the royal entourage of four hundred traveled in five, and the other two carried exclusively food, armored limousines and luggage. On average, King Fahd left about $ 100 million in Marbella over the summer season. However, in 2002 he set a record and left the Spaniards almost a third of a billion.
This time, the Saudis will not have time to fork out such an amount in Moscow, but it is already clear that Russian side She earned decent money on the arrival of the king, even regardless of the business contracts that are discussed during the visit.
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Calculated: the accommodation of the Saudi king with his retinue in Moscow hotels cost $ 3.3 million
Kremlin Press Service
Travel service OneTwoTrip has calculated that the accommodation of the delegation of the King of Saudi Arabia in five-star hotels in Moscow cost $ 2.5-3.3 million.
The king's delegation of 1,000 people stayed at the Four Seasons, Ritz Carlton, St. Regis, National, the report said. From 2.2 million to 3.3 million dollars were the cost of living in all rooms of the Four Seasons hotel, as well as in suites, standard and superior rooms at the Ritz Carlton, St. Regis, National.
The cost of a three-night stay in only one Four Seasons, the rooms in which were purchased for the delegation in full, could be $ 738,000, excluding price adjustments for group bookings. The hotel has 180 rooms: 139 rooms, 39 suites, 1 presidential suite and 1 royal suite. The cost of living in the last two is at least 1 million rubles, a night in a "standard" room, depending on the view from the window, from 35 to 60 thousand rubles, in a suite from 80 to 200 thousand rubles.
In addition, they suggested in the service, especially for the arrival of the king, the decor in the rooms was changed: they added carpets, changed the furniture.
The 81-year-old King of Saudi Arabia Salman Ben-Abdel Aziz Al Saud arrived in Russia the day before. He met with Russian President Vladimir Putin. According to Kommersant, following the talks between the leaders of Russia and Saudi Arabia, agreements were reached on the purchase of S-400 Triumph anti-aircraft missile systems by Riyadh. In addition, a contract was signed for the organization of production in Saudi Arabia of Kalashnikov assault rifles and a memorandum was signed on the purchase and localization of heavy flamethrower systems TOS-1A, anti-tank missile systems"Cornet-EM" and AGS-30 grenade launchers.
The King of Saudi Arabia is renowned for his love of luxury. During a recent visit to Indonesia, he was accompanied by 1,000 people, and his luggage weighed about 500 tons. Salman Al Saud's visit to Japan was carried out on 10 planes. He brought with him 500 limousines and two golden escalators.
During his visit to Moscow, the retinue of the King of Saudi Arabia will occupy all available rooms of five-star hotels around the Kremlin and Red Square, including one of the hotels - completely. This was announced by Business FM on October 4.
The royal visit will last from 4 to 7 October. Already, in the area of Manezhnaya Square, Lubyanka and Kuznetsky Most, there are no vacant 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 Saudis' mission will number about a thousand people. And for the king himself, all the rooms of the Ritz Carlton were bought up until October 7.
In the questionnaire for a survey of the capital's travel agencies, organized by "BANKO" on the basis of summer season, for the first time two additional questions, the answers to which made it possible to find out the preferences of retail in the field of MICE tourism and work with VIP clients.
According to the website of Yunis Teymurkhanli, owner and general director of the St. Petersburg hotel "Helvetia", such measures are dictated by the requirements of the protocols for accommodating persons of this level. “As a rule, figures of this magnitude stay in 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 their own security considerations and transport accessibility... In addition, the cuisine at the Four Seasons and Ritz Carlton exceeds that of a government residence that typically provides 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, on the roads of Moscow, it was already possible to observe an unusual high density traffic police officers, which is probably due to increased security measures. According to Vadim Prasov, vice-president of the Federation of Restaurateurs and Hoteliers of Russia, the center will surely face traffic problems, but Moscow, as a capital city, is used to it. “The delegation is really big, and none of the high-profile guests wants to live in“ treshki ”. Hoteliers, naturally, will not have any objections, ”the expert commented.
On Booking.com, rooms at the Ritz Carlton on October 8 can cost from 35 to 112 thousand rubles per night. The hotel has 334 rooms.
Recall that at the beginning of 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.
