Qasr Al Sharq finally opens

Originally billed to open in March, Hilton International’s first palace hotel finally opened today. Promising “unmatched levels of luxury, exclusivity and Arabian hospitality”, the hotel, the Qasr Al Sharq is being billed as the ‘Palace of the Orient’. The palace is a 9-storey building facing the Red Sea; it has 2 Palace suites, 8 Royal suites, 12 Executive suites and 24 Junior suites, all with the lavish modcons you’d expect. If you’re staying, make sure you admire the ceilings… there’s 60kg worth of gold leaf up there, which has been painstakingly applied over a 6-month period.