ENNISMORE TO PUT DOWN ROOTS IN JEDDAH WITH FIRST SO/ HOTEL SIGNING

SO/ is set to make its stylish debut in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with the 2023 opening of SO/ Hotel & Residence, Jeddah Tahlia.

Ennismore, the fastest-growing lifestyle hospitality company, announces its first SO/ development in Saudi Arabia, SO/ Jeddah Tahlia, with Al Ameen Distinctive Company for Urban Development LLC opening in Jeddah in 2023.

SO/ Hotel & Residence, Jeddah Tahlia will be housed in a ground-breaking newly built standalone development, combining guest rooms, suites, serviced apartments and five new restaurants offering unique dining experiences. The property will offer 147 spacious, stylish keys, including 40 hotel rooms, 77 one-bedroom apartments,19 two-bedroom apartments and 11 three-bedroom apartments, ideally positioned for extended stays in the vibrant city. Other amenities will include over 3500 m2 of flexible space, which will be curated to reflect the hotel’s innovative cultural and events programming and state-of-the-art wellness facilities.

SO/ is a coveted collection of hotels defined by avant-garde design and intrinsically linked to the world of fashion. Each SO/ is inspired by the world’s most influential fashion icons, muses, brands and houses, and SO/ Hotel & Residence, Jeddah Tahlia, is no exception, with an artistic direction created in collaboration with locally rooted creatives and visionaries. Moreover, Kristina Zanic, one of the region’s leading designers who counts some of the UAE’s most sought-after destinations among her portfolio, has been entrusted to make a statement with the property’s interiors.

The hotel is perfectly suited to both business and leisure guests, between key areas including Jeddah’s Business District, the Corniche and Tahlia Street – the city’s premier luxury shopping district. Set to be the only lifestyle hotel and serviced apartments in Jeddah, boosted by a unique fashion-led statement design, the hotel breaks away from the region’s current traditional luxury hospitality landscape.     

Louis Abi Abboud, Deputy Head of Middle East, Africa and Turkey at Ennismore, said: “We are pleased to be partnering with Al Ameen to bring the first SO/ branded development to Saudi Arabia. This project will be the first of its kind in Jeddah by combining design, fashion and unique culinary experiences expected to shake up the market and offer extended-stay travellers a unique lifestyle hospitality experience for the first time.”

Khalid Abdul Ghaffar, CEO of Al Ameen Distinctive Company for Urban Development LLC, said: “The SO/ Hotel & Residence, Tahlia Jeddah is the newest generation of hotels and is themed around fashion. It will offer the city of Jeddah a new, young and elegant experience in hospitality with a complete range of modern amenities. It will add heat to the city’s food and beverage landscape with its fresh and trendy dining concepts. The hotel’s reception area will play host to a boutique coffee shop, whilst the plaza on the mezzanine level will offer a range of curated gastronomic experiences, including an Italian-Mediterranean restaurant, a contemporary Levantine offering and an Asian hot spot, among others. The roof terrace on the 6th floor is set to become one of Jeddah’s WaW destinations, offering elevated surf and turf cuisine and an extensive shisha collection set against breath-taking views over the city’s skyline.”

Al Ameen Distinctive Company for Urban Development LLC is the owner of the first SO/ Hotel in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; it is a subsidiary of the Al Nahla Group.

Al Nahla’s land portfolio extends over 15 million square meters across the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). It is one of the largest private real estate owners and developers, with many ongoing developments in Jeddah. Al Ameen is the development arm of the AL Nahla Group’s real estate projects across the KSA and is a strong partner to Ennismore, with whom many future hospitality projects are planned.

Upcoming next is the star project of Al Ameen – the Golden Triangle, a mixed-use development strategically located between King Road and Tahlia Road and will house several Accor hotels and residences, yet to be announced.