São Paulo – Saudi Arabia has recently opened the world’s first camel hotel. Called Tetaman (or “Rest Assured,” in English), it has 120 open-air rooms in the desert, 50 employees, and offers several services, such as bathing and grooming, food, and safety.
The daily rate cost around SAR 400, equivalent to about USD 106. Payment is made per night, and check-out is at 12:30 pm. News on the camel hotel appeared in several newspapers in the Gulf region, such as Gulf News and The National.
Tetaman was conceived by the Saudi Camel Club, and according to a spokesperson, the services are of a five-star hotel. They serve meals and hot milk, groom the animals, clean the stable rooms, and ensure they are warm overnight.
The hotel’s idea is to facilitate the logistics of camel owners and club officials during the yearly King Abdulaziz Camel Festival, the largest camel competition in the world.
The camel festival began on December 1 in Riyadh and ends in mid-February, bringing together camel owners and enthusiasts from the Gulf, United States, Australia, France, and Russia.
The event attracts around 100,000 visitors a day and seeks to preserve the camel’s role in Saudi Arabia’s Bedouin tradition and heritage. Camel breeding is a multi-million industry, and Competitions like this take place across the Gulf region.
Translated by Elúsio Brasileiro