Thai-headquartered Minor Hotels has signed the NH Riyadh Prime Square Hotel, bringing its NH Hotels & Resorts brand to the Middle East for the first time, the Bangkok-based group announced in a press release.
The 121-key property is scheduled to open in 2030 within Prime Square, a mixed-use development by Heyazah Real Estate Development in Riyadh’s King Fahad District on King Abdullah Road, one of the capital’s established commercial corridors.
The hotel will comprise 80 King Rooms, 25 Deluxe King Rooms and 16 NH Suites, alongside an all-day dining restaurant, a specialty restaurant, a rooftop pool bar and lounge, a swimming pool, a fitness centre and meeting facilities.
“Saudi Arabia continues to represent one of the most compelling hospitality markets globally, driven by strong economic growth, increasing visitation and ambitious national development plans,” said Amir Golbarg, chief operating officer for Minor Hotels Middle East & Africa.
Adel Ahmed Al-Saif, chief executive officer of Heyazah, said the signing reflects the developer’s “commitment to developing destinations that combine strategic location, quality design and long-term commercial value”.
Prime Square is planned as an integrated urban destination around a landscaped plaza with retail, cafes and restaurants, close to the Al Wurud and STC stations on the Riyadh Metro.
Heyazah, founded in 2005 and part of Ahmed Al-Saif Holding Group, has around 621,000 square metres of completed developments in Saudi Arabia and more than 1.1mn square metres under development.
NH Hotels & Resorts, founded in Spain in 1978, operates more than 210 hotels across Europe and the Americas. Minor Hotels has more than 640 properties in operation and under development across 66 countries.
Why it matters for the trade
NH’s arrival gives the Saudi capital something it has been short of: a recognised European upscale brand pitched below the luxury tier that dominates the Riyadh pipeline. Most international signings in the Kingdom have clustered at the top end, which leaves corporate bookers and mid-market leisure operators with limited branded inventory in the city.
A 121-room NH on King Abdullah Road, with metro access at both ends of the development, is squarely aimed at that gap. For European agents and TMCs, the brand familiarity matters. NH is a known quantity across Spain, Italy, Germany and the Benelux, and its presence in Riyadh lowers the perceived risk of booking clients into an unfamiliar market.
The property also sits within GHA DISCOVERY through Minor’s loyalty programme, which gives it distribution reach into a recognition scheme many Gulf-based corporates already use. The 2030 opening is a long lead time, but it lands as Riyadh builds towards Expo 2030 and the 2034 FIFA World Cup, when branded midscale and upscale supply will be under the most pressure.