Hayat Al Riyadh Washam Hotel

It's good overall but it's pricy for what you get. The rooms al alright with some flaws, especially that i got a no window room. I would only recommend it if you have business at that area of Riyadh where you need to live near it. The staff though was really friendly and that's a really positive thing about it

We upgraded to a suite on 5th floor and it had room but was otherwise plain. King bed was fine and new enough. No table for eating but a large vacant dining area. Bathroom had supplies for one person, including towels. In a suite? Nice window (hard to find in some hotels) and a view of some of the plain city. AC works good. Breakfast was full of choices but for a western person, lacking in basics like a way to heat or toast bread. Cold cereal available with scalding hot milk only. Room for breakfast is not for dinner but you can get room service from their kitchen. We walked to the Fish Market that is 8 minutes or so away for fresh seafood, and it was good enough for two evening meals. Neighborhood is close enough to old ;center' attractions like the National Museum but otherwise an unfriendly place to spend time. Uber is slow to arrive, like 15 minutes or sometimes longer, but it does work. If I were to come again, I would choose a newer area, pay more for the hotel and transportation but feel better about the overall experience.

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!