Set to open before the end of the year, the AlUla hotel will employ around 120 people. The property will feature three fine-dining restaurants, a café, and a full-service spa and pool, with many of the buildings connected by an overhead art canopy focused on wind movement and natural light. Hegra is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Chedi Hegra will have 35 rooms it will link to other structures nearby including a disused railway station and the Hegra Fort, among other buildings. Visit for more information.Saudi Arabia will section off part of its ancient Hegra site in AlUla to become a luxury hotel operated by GHM under The Chedi brand. Free and open to all, the second edition of Desert X AlUla runs from 11 February to 30 March 2022. Drawing inspiration from the vernacular architecture of AlUla, Palestinian-Saudi artist Dana Awartani’s concave geometric sculpture references Nabataean tombs and mimics the shapes of surrounding mountains and rock formations. For example, Swiss artist Claudia Comte’s progression of imposing architectural walls, Dark Suns, Bright Waves each carries a larger algorithmic pattern relating to the waveforms that shape the sound and surface of the desert. The oasis pertains to ideas of finding prosperity or heaven, while the mirage is a universal symbol of the mysteries of imagination and reality,” she says.Įach of the 15 Saudi and international artists presented in the exhibition spent time in the AlUla region, developing ambitious and innovative site-specific responses. “The desert concepts have long been tied to ideas of survival, perseverance, desire and wealth. Both intrinsic to desert history and culture, the two ideas have taken on complex worldwide significance over time, says curatorial advisor to Desert X AlUla 2022, Reem Fadda. Rooms start from $700, including taxes. Visit /alula for reservations.ĭana Awartani Desert X AlUla 2022, photo by Lance GerberĪ collaboration between the Royal Commission for AlUla and Desert X, a foundation founded in 2017 in California’s Coachella Valley, this year’s site-specific biennial explores ideas of mirage and oasis under the theme of Sarab, which means mirage in Arabic. Immersive art installations can also be discovered around the property, including Mohammed Ahmed Ibrahim’s Falling Stones Garden.Įmbodying the brand’s pillars of music, wellness, adventure, culture, learning and culinary, programming at Habitas AlUla incorporates art and culture walks, canyon trekking, yoga, meditation and breathwork. Additional facilities include a spa retreat, gym and yoga room. The photogenic infinity pool is a popular central gathering place surrounded by beautiful sandstone cliffs. Habitas AlUla’s on-site restaurant Tama (from the Aramaic word “here”) sources local ingredients grown and produced using sustainable agricultural methods for its dishes which takes guests on a culinary journey across Saudi Arabia and the Middle East. Expect to see plenty of Arabian design motifs and Sadu rugs but don’t come looking to watch television as there are none on property. Designed in traditional Middle Eastern style tent-like suites span three tiers - Celestial Villas, Alcove Villas and Canyon Villas. Guests are welcomed to Habitas AlUla with a unique bracelet and asked to set an intention to mark the spiritual journey that lies ahead during a ceremonial two-minute silence. The site, which lies along the original pilgrimage route to Mecca, was a hub of cultural exchange for millennia, and so, what better setting for an immersive hospitality experience? A place of extraordinary human and natural heritage – 200,000 years of unexplored history to be precise – AlUla is home to the ancient city of Hegra, a UNESCO World Heritage Site built by the Nabataeans (one among several nomadic Bedouin tribes that roamed the Arabian Desert) over 2,000 years ago.
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