Which hotel would the Saudi crown prince, believed to be the richest man on earth, stay at if he visited South Korea?
Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is scheduled to visit South Korea on Thursday and has reportedly chosen to stay at the Lotte Hotel in central Seoul, which has a suite that runs 22 million won (US$16,565) per night.
According to comments from the hotel industry on Thursday, the crown prince asked major luxury hotels in Seoul last month whether they could secure more than 250 rooms for him and his guests. He eventually ended up choosing Lotte Hotel, where it was easy to secure the number of rooms he needed.
The party traveling with the prince is expected to stay in the Main Tower of the main building of the hotel and at the Executive Tower, a new building.
The most likely room the crown prince will stay in is the executive royal suite. Major state guests who have visited South Korea in the past have usually stayed in this room. For example, former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, former French President François Hollande and Microsoft founder Bill Gates have all stayed in that very room.
There is one royal suite each in the Main Tower and Executive Tower. The price for one night is 15 million won at the Main Tower and 22 million won for the room in the Executive Tower.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is known as the “unofficial world’s richest man.” His estimated fortune is said to exceed US$2 trillion.
The crown prince’s upcoming visit to South Korea is aimed at finding South Korean companies interested in working on Saudi Arabia’s futuristic city development, called Neom, estimated to be worth US$500 billion, and to explore further investment destinations.
He is scheduled to stay in South Korea for one night and two days.
By Yu Sun-hui, staff reporter
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