I do recall the expression “The suits are here!” It was a derogatory term for visiting managers! Apparently I’m now one. My temporary accommodation in Riyadh is a 3 Star hotel.
You probably can’t see the English version of the hotel name.
As you can see, I’m living in a hotel for suits! :-)
What they really mean is it is a hotel that consists of furnished suites. Now there’s nothing fancy about this hotel. Manuel from Fawlty Towers is a small Pakistani and appears to do all the work. This isn’t actually much because when he isn’t gently and slowly pushing the dirt from one side of the corridor to the other he’s either sucking tea or off getting food for the two Saudi receptionists. They mostly sit looking bored or chat to friends on their mobile phones. The apartments might be furnished but they are certainly not serviced! I’ve been here a week and in that time I’m the only one who has entered the room.
My apartment is a rectangular shape with a small lounge/kitchen followed by a bathroom and then the largest room, the bedroom.
The lounge room has a fridge in one corner that has one temperature (frozen). I discovered this when I left a bottle of water in it only to discover I’d be drinking ice. The kitchen has a sink, oven and hot plates. But there are no cooking utensils, plates or cutlery. I guess the locals bring their own? I also noticed there were a large number of take-away menus on the counter a reception. At the other end of the room is a TV and sat-box. I haven’t turned it on knowing there will be nothing of interest.
Saudi TV is dead boring and highly censored, which is why almost every house has a large satellite dish on the roof to receive slightly more interesting transmissions from the adjacent gulf states. I hope you can appreciate the irony that on one hand Saudi Arabia restricts what can be transmitted locally and on the other many of the foreign TV stations are owned by wealthy Saudi’s.
The bathroom is certainly better than the one I had when living in Iran. The smell from the drains isn’t nearly as bad although I have noticed my sinuses clear when bending over the drain in the hand basin to shave or clean my teeth.
Water dribbles out of the shower head; but at least it is hot! I consider myself blessed not to have a squat toilet. These days I have great difficulty squatting and I’d be likely to loose my balance and fall over! I’m also pleased I bought a roll of toilet paper with me otherwise it would be the wet backside tick after using the hose.
The bedroom is huge and so is the bed.
It’s so wide I can sleep sideways. There are two window mounted air conditioning units that groan, rumble and wheeze as if they are on deaths door. It’s too hot to not have one on so I usually leave the lounge air-con on when I go to bed. The distant moaning sends me to sleep!
did you notice the mat at the foot of the bed. It’s a prayer mat although I’m not using it for that purpose.
It’s Friday, the local equivalent of Sunday and I went for another walk around the local area as it was rather quiet (quiet being a relative term). After playing chicken with the traffic I reached the local shopping area. It’s just a row of shops either side of the road. the first thing I’ve noticed about Saudi Arabia is the very large number of fast food outlets. the locals seem to be addicted to them. And there are some very large Saudi’s. My guess is they have an obesity problem and probably a looming diabetes crisis. It was ironic that my walk took me past several adjacent sports shops with all the latest gear (Saudi’s love to shop). They may not exercise and if they can’t hit the ball with that new racquet then it’s not a problem because the next series of shops sell designer spectacles. That was followed by a series of photocopying shops and translation shops. Next were travel agents, car rental companies and banks.
Actually I haven’t attempted to try my UK plastic card in an ATM in case it gets swallowed. I’ll have to find a time when the bank is open so I can reclaim the card if that happens.
It’s not possible for me to open a local bank account because I’m in the country on a Business Visa. A Work Visa and Iqama (identity card) are required. As I do not have a bank account it’s not possible for me to cash a local cheque. My employer has realised this and offered to pay part of my salary in cash and transfer the remainder back to the UK. One potential problem solved.
It’s obviously possible to live quite cheaply in the country as many of the migrant workers from North Africa, the indian sub-continent and the Philippines are on much less money than me.
to my surprise the hotel has free and unlimited wireless internet access. I was anticipating having to pay. Both internet and phone charges appear to be quite low (probably not if you’re a Pakistani hotel bellboy).
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