In mid-November last year (2024), real estate company Tilal Real Estate announced “one of the largest real estate projects in the Eastern Province” of Saudi Arabia, a €1.5 billion urban development called Heart of Khobar. The project covers a total area of 268,813 sqm in the Al Rawabi neighbourhood in the north of the Saudi city of Al Khobar. A few days after that first announcement, Tilal Real Estate launched another: its agreement with Ennismore Hotels, a global hotel company owned by Accor, for the development and construction of one of the new hotels in the urban development, the 25hours Hotel Heart of Khobar.
Whilst no images have emerged, other than the one that accompanies this article – courtesy of Ennismore Hotels – we know that the 25hours Hotel Heart of Khobar “will feature 170 guestrooms and suites, as well as 80 serviced apartments for extended stays”. The concept of this new hotel project will, of course, be in line with 25hours Hotels’ motto of “you know one, you know none”, which translates as “even if you know one, you don’t know the others”, in reference to the unique aspect of each of the brand’s different hotels. The brand boasts of creating “individualised, made-to-measure hotels with personality”, decorated with “original art, quirky props, and curated objects [that] are layered with the brand’s signature humour and attention to detail to tell a unique story”.
According to Abdulrahman AlBassam, CEO of Tilal Real Estate, the Heart of Khobar development will be “a cohesive, integrated community supporting the concept of live, play, and work in one place”. By this he refers to the urban village concept, which is the design and construction of neighbourhoods that include residential buildings, commercial space, hotels, and leisure and entertainment facilities. But AlBassam goes further, saying that Heart of Khobar is being developed in line with the idea of “humanising cities and enhancing walkability”. Finally, AlBassam points out that this urban development aligns with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, and the idea of “placing the eastern region among the most desirable Saudi cities to live in the world”.
Louis Adi Abboud, development director and deputy head of Middle East, Africa and Turkey at Ennismore Hotels, concludes: “innovative and full of character, we are thrilled to be entrusted with setting the tone in this new and authentic development”. It should only be added that 25hours Hotel Heart of Khobar is scheduled to open in 2028.
Sources: Journal des Palaces, Saudi Gazette, Ennismore.
Images: Ennismore Hotels and 25hours Hotels.
