While Saudi women have gained permission to stay at hotels by themselves, that doesn’t avoid the possibility of harassment while they’re at a hotel. AFP is reporting that a new hotel, exclusive to women, has now been opened in Riyadh. This reminds me of the ‘women-only’ boarding houses, hotels, and apartment buildings that were still prevalent when I was in university.

I don’t have any issues with this move. It’s a smart business decision, will make a lot of money, and will offer a sense of security that many Saudi women want. As it is not required that Saudi women stay in women-only hotels (though I’m sure that some will be pressed to do so by their families), I don’t see any particular negative in this.

Mideast’s first women-only hotel opens in Saudi Arabia

The Middle East’s first women-only hotel was officially opened in the capital of the ultra-conservative kingdom of Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.

Prince Sultan bin Salman bin Abdul Aziz, secretary general of the Supreme Commission for Tourism, attended the inauguration of the Luthan Hotel and Spa in Riyadh.

Saudi Arabia, which applies a rigorous doctrine of Islam known as Wahhabism, strictly enforces the separation of the sexes in public, and the 25-room hotel said it can offer its female-only guests 150 types of spa treatments as well as fine dining and conference facilities.
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