Jeddah's Palace: Qasr Al Sharq

By: Hyacinth Mascarenhas

Imagine an escape into a world of oriental bliss, pure gold, carefully handpicked crystal, the most intricate mosaic designs lining the ground beneath you and the finest art to evoke images of true Arabian beauty. Located in Jeddah along the Red Sea, Qasr Al Sharq, A Waldorf Astoria Hotel, is an escape into a world of luxury, indulgence and pampering to make you feel like royalty in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Qasr Al Sharq sets international standards with its architectural nine-story splendor and divine luxury that is sure to tease the senses of its guests, serenading them deeper into the heritage and culture of the Arab world.

Its interior designers worked for months on the hotel, from researching Arabic designs to carefully blending the perfect colors and textures, to create a beautifully Arabian ambience and a uniquely rich feel to satisfy every person’s secret desire to live like royalty.

It has 60 kg of gold leaf running through its decorative ceilings, as well as a Swarovski chandelier adorning its main staircase with about 600,000 crystals chained together and gilded in 24-carat gold. If someone wants to live in pure regal luxury, there is no other place to live in than in a palace meant for royalty with only 46 suites.

The floor is a carefully planned running mosaic covered with different colored marble in a variety of shapes and sizes, handpicked from all over the globe. Its long hallways are decorated with 1,200 Italian-designed vases in more than 25 distinctive designs, five different types of porcelain chine including Raynaud, Rosenthal and Artichaut.

Not only do you walk around the massive palace like a King, you sleep like one as well. Every bed is adorned with 600-thread cotton linen specially designed in Venice, Italy. With a satin-like texture, the gold-threaded embroidery is delicately designed to complement the room’s individual style. Even the duvet cover is embroidered with more than one million stitched threads of fine gold!

Every little detail is carefully picked to contribute to the overall experience of majesty and grandeur. Guests will especially want to treasure the bathroom amenities that this particular palace hotel offers. They include leading international brands Hermes and Acqua de Parma, and a variety of nearly 20 oriental0scented soaps ordered especially for the Palace’s bathrooms.

The palace was originally built for the Saudi royal family, and is now a part of the exclusive Waldorf Astoria Collection, an array of luxury hotels handpicked from across the globe, each with its own unique allure, authentic personality, and inspiring design and architecture.

The Palace of the Orient was announced as the first palace hotel outside the United States to join this prestigious collection in 2006 by Hilton Hotels Corporation. Now scattered across the globe, Waldorf Astoria prides itself with some of the most luxuriously opulent hotels in the world including cities like London, Puerto Rico, New York, Rome, Hawaii, Florida, Arizona and California, and Berlin.

As Saudi Arabia’s fourth hotel, Qasr Al Sharq stands as a symbol of its culture and a royal pillar of incredible indulgence, hospitality and beauty.