The mesmerising golden deserts and sandstone canyons of AlUla are home to a third luxurious place to stay: Shaden Resort, a stylish enclave filled with exquisite design and detail. Here, the modern touches expected by today’s luxury traveller are integrated with traditional Arabic hospitality. A highlight of Shaden Resort is Myazu, a superb modern Japanese restaurant whose Riyadh outpost recently ranked 18th in the Middle East’s prestigious 50 Best Restaurants list, the highest-placed eatery in Saudi Arabia. Open in the cooler months and closed for summer, Myazu takes Japanese cuisine to the next level with intricately presented dishes.
Augmenting AlUla’s luxury hotel scene are two further hotels opening soon – The Chedi Hegra and Dar Tantora The House Hotel. The first is an atmospheric hotel built responsibly into Hegra at the historic site of the old Hijaz Railway Hegra station, which stood on the 1,320km line built in the early 1900s to transport pilgrims to holy destinations. Steam engines from those early days can still be seen at the station today. The boutique hideaway will preserve the site’s original stone structures and respect the surrounding UNESCO-designated area. Dar Tantora in the heart of Old Town, meanwhile, is named after AlUla’s landmark sundial, or tantora. Using little electricity, the hotel instead relies on lanterns for light and natural airflow to cool rooms, thus demonstrating how sustainability is a central philosophy of the property. Like The Chedi Hegra, Dar Tantora will preserve its traditional architecture, restoring ancient mudbrick dwellings and walls for a memorably authentic stay that forges a connection between modern luxury and the heritage of AlUla.