Saudi king booked entire hotel on his trip to US

Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz has booked an entire 222-room hotel for his 3-night stay to the United States, paying around US$1,000,000 for hotel rent alone. Before his arrival, the Saudi government has instructed the hotel to cover itself in gold with fleet of luxury cars and even red carpets laid down in the parking lot of the hotel. Eyewitnesses say they have seen gilded furniture wheeled into the Four Seasons hotel in Georgetown, Washington DC this week. One regular told Politico, "Everything is Gold. Gold mirrors, gold end tables, gold lamps, even gold hat racks."

"Red carpets have been laid down in hallways and even in the lower parking garage, so the king and his family never have to touch asphalt when departing their custom Mercedes caravan." One source said, "a full buyout of the entire property was reserved for the visit. Guests who had booked to stay at the Four Seasons during the royal visit have apparently been moved to other luxury hotels in town." A call to the Four Seasons confirmed the hotel is all sold out until Sunday.

King Salman, who ascended the throne in January, has a habit of displacing commoners for his own comforts; this summer, during a sojourn to the French Riviera, his eight-day stay forced the closure of a popular French beach, enraging locals. Salman rolls deep, with a reported 1,000-person delegation joining him for his seaside August vacation. The trip to Washington DC is also his first visit to the United States since taking the throne, and his first time seeing Obama since they met in January.

This comes as there have been growing outrage by many Arabs who are turning into social media in anger at the oil-rich Arab states for their reluctance to provide shelter for even a single Syrian. The outrage has been spreading both across the Arab States and elsewhere after devastating photos of a Syrian boy who drowned trying to get to Europe. A hashtag, "receiving refugees is the people's demand," was started by people in Saudi Arabia and features a number of harrowing photos and powerful cartoons, the Quartz newspaper reported citing Arab spring activist Iyad El-Baghdadi.

Saudi King closed entire French Riviera when he visited there this summer, provoking local outrage

El-Baghdadi tells Quartz via email that while it's very difficult to judge "what people feel on the ground," the social-media response highlights the groundswell of outrage at the inaction of the region's governments. Other hashtags include "Syrian child drowns" and "hosting Syrian refugees is a GCC [Gulf Cooperation Council] obligation." Some highlight the temerity of Gulf leaders criticizing Europe’s response to the burgeoning refugee crisis, while others chide leaders for only donating money to humanitarian organizations instead of actively taking in refugees.

http://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-advice/saudi-delegation-reportedly-buys-out-four-seasons/story-fn6yjmti-1227513768809

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/09/04/saudi-delegation-reportedly-buys-out-four-seasons-for-dc-visit/

http://www.politico.com/story/2015/09/four-seasons-king-salman-visit-red-carpet-213324

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3223163/King-Saudi-Arabia-books-room-Four-Seasons-hotel-Washington-D-C-trip.html

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/09/03/saudi-king-salman-visit-president-obama-royal-fashion-and-goes-big/71655868/

http://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/04/saudi-king-salman-to-visit-dc-books-entire-hotel.html

Reply 1

Adam_90

This is the world we live in, if you have power and wealth, anything is possible. While the poor man dies trying to reach Europe, in order to find a better future and shelter, the rich man stays in hotels when ever it pleases him. The disparity between the rich and poor has never been greater, the rich will remain rich and will continue to be rich, as long as the poor man is poor. This is the world, this is how it works!

Reply 2

MatureStudent36

I'm struggling to see what point you're trying to make.

Very rich leader of a country books entire hotel.

Uou do know that when other leaders come visitor they do the same.

Reply 3

UniMastermindBOSS

Who cares? I would bomb that ****hole and take their oil, then let the Syrians have what's left.

Reply 4

Zarek

[QUOTE=UniMastermindBOSS;59150547]Who cares? I would bomb that ****hole and take their oil, then let the Syrians have what's left.
Good business for the hotel. This sort of obscene wealth occurs in US and UK too. Why don't you think about some political answers rather than your interesting bombing solution.

Reply 5

atom y humber

Arab money. Can't risk paparazzi taping that bonga bonga party.

Reply 6

Skip_Snip

So that means we could guilt-free bomb that hotel, as no decent citizens will be inside it :colone:

Reply 7

The Free Radical

The problem is neither the fact that he is rich, nor that he spends his money, it's the way the house of Saud got it.

By stealing resources which should be commonly owned.

Reply 8

The Good Doctor

Lol. To each their own.

Reply 9

FXX

Original post by MatureStudent36

I'm struggling to see what point you're trying to make.

I thought the fourth paragraph in the OP was pretty clear tbh...

Reply 10

MrFartFace

The man does with his money as he sees fit, yes we question his judgement but don't know what we'd do if we had billions upon billions in our bank accounts, and frankly, most of us never will. Yes he should allow Syrians to come into his country but it is HIS country and he'll do with it whatever he wishes It just so happened that his family became royalty in a country with huge natural resources, but the fact is that they're finite, so what will he do when they're finished?

Reply 11

saeed97

Original post by UniMastermindBOSS

Who cares? I would bomb that ****hole and take their oil, then let the Syrians have what's left.

Original post by Skip_Snip

So that means we could guilt-free bomb that hotel, as no decent citizens will be inside it :colone:

Terrorists

Reply 12

Skip_Snip

Original post by saeed97

Terrorists

They are.

Reply 13

saeed97

Original post by Skip_Snip

They are.

Yes indeed you are my boy.

Reply 14

driftawaay

These criminals shouldnt be allowed on western soil.

Reply 15

Doctor_Einstein

Original post by driftawaay

These criminals shouldnt be allowed on western soil.

How come?

Reply 16

MatureStudent36

Original post by FXX

I thought the fourth paragraph in the OP was pretty clear tbh...

Westerner expresses concern on social media that refugeess don't want to travel huge distances to seek refuge in a **** hole when Europe is on the doorstep.