Ladies first, and last, for Saudi hotel

For a country that goes to such great lengths to segregate unrelated men and women, it took Saudi Arabia a long time to hit on the idea of women-only hotels.

For a country that goes to such great lengths to segregate unrelated men and women, it took Saudi Arabia a long time to hit on the idea of women-only hotels.

The kingdom8217;s first hotel exclusively for women opened on Wednesday, offering plush lodgings with a full-range of health and beauty facilities for ladies to pamper themselves away from the accusing eyes of a male-dominated society.

8220;Inside this physical structure, we are all women. We even have bell-women. We are women-owned, women-managed and women-run, from our IT engineer to our electrical engineer,8221; Executive Director Lorraine Coutinho told Reuters.

8220;This is meeting a very big demand. There are women8217;s hotels all over the world, from Berlin to the United States to everywhere,8221; she said.

Saudi Arabia is one of the most conservative countries in the world, where tradition and hardline clerics restrict women8217;s movement, preventing them from meeting male friends in public, driving cars or employment in many jobs.

New rules announced in January allow women to stay in standard mixed-gender hotels without a male family member in tow, but bureaucracy and conservative family values mean few have been able to make use of their new-found freedom.

The Luthan Hotel 038; Spa is owned by a group of 20 Saudi princesses and businesswomen, but it was left to seven princes headed by Sultan bin Salman, a son of Riyadh8217;s powerful governor, to officially inaugurate it on Wednesday evening.

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8220;This meets the Saudi woman8217;s need for a place to stay as she moves around her country,8221; he told a large pack of male journalists who stomped around rooms delicately adorned with incense candles, rose-red fabrics and bas-reliefs of cherubs.

Prices range from 350 riyals per night to 979 riyals, with weekend 8220;spa break8221; rates for around 2,000 riyals, though the hotel is located some distance from central Riyadh.

8220;This is a good response to those who always say women aren8217;t taken care of here. Even in the West there are women8217;s places where men can8217;t go,8221; said Mohammed al-Adhil, deputy head of Riyadh Chambers of Commerce.

The few female journalists who came along liked the hotel but not the fact that men dominated the opening ceremony.

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8220;It8217;s a pioneering idea. There was a big need, since you don8217;t need a 8216;mihrim8217; male guardian with you,8221; said Iman al-Samra of al-Rai TV.