Hayat Al Riyadh Washam Hotel

While the hotel has some excellent features (more of that in a moment), the first impression a guest has is the front desk reception staff. They were terrible: unfriendly, unhelpful, unwelcoming....and most of the time not even there (the front desk is empty and loks like a ghost hotel most of the time). This is a shame, because the place has a lot going for it: enormous room (although the first room we went to was actually small, but we asked to change and the replacement was big enough to fit an army), good sauna and gym area, and an excellent, very tasty breakfast. Generally a sound choice, and reasonable distance between the fort and souq 2-3 km to the south and the city centre a few kilometres to the north. Convenient also for the (eastern) railway station, less than 10 minutes drive. They just need to get much, much better trained staff at the front desk who can smile and serve guests!

It used to be a luxury hotel. The room is comfortable, but average and approximate renovation was implemented. Wifi is poor. TV with only arabic channels. Only Saudi plug then difficult to charge phone for foreigner. Breakfast middle east style only. Expensive bar with little choice. Make the room upon request only. Not much restaurants or activity at walking distance.

Quite an odd experience, not really an hotel for european travellers but great people, great food and close to the good bits in the older area. It isn't in the opulent bit in the north up near the towers

The hotel is nice and clean but the problem is water there’s a time no water at the bathroom at all

It is the hotel belonging to the worst reception staff among the hotels I have stayed in. I have never seen such an understanding that moves slowly and does not fulfill customer demands. They spent 20-25 minutes for check-in and 25-30 minutes for check-out. Moreover, they could not fulfill our request for a simple invoice. The cleanliness of the hotel is good, but if you want to have your room cleaned, the notification options on the door are useless. You have to notify the reception. The internet does not pull anywhere and does not work. The breakfast is simple and good. There is also a hotel music going into the rooms, which is annoying.