In an effort to give new freedom of movement to women in Saudi Arabia, the country recently opened its first women-only hotel. Harsh Sharia law prohibits women from traveling to any mixed-gender location without a male relative in tow, but the Luthan Hotel and Spa, which went into operation on March 19 in the capital city of Riyadh, is owned, managed and run by women, and offers one of the few public places where women in Saudi Arabia can go unaccompanied by men, according
to Reuters.
The hotel, with prices ranging from $100 to $1,000 per night offers a full range of health and beauty services for women to pamper themselves. A group of 20 Saudi princesses and businesswomen own the property, which is entirely staffed from bell-desk to electrical engineer with women.
Despite the hotel’s aspirations, males predictably dominated the inauguration ceremony. One female journalist who attended lamented that the hotel is already being dismissed as a place for lesbians.
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