Inside Saudi Arabia’s Billion Dollar Future City
saudi Arabia the newest tourist hot spot when people think of Saudi Arabia they think oil billions in wealth global sporting events Formula 1 races boxing matches under the desert lights this is a country making bold moves on the world stage in 2019 Saudi Arabia opened its doors to tourism for the very first time and what we found so far is not just a rich country but a rich culture with people genuinely excited to share their home with the world i haven't been paid to come here but that is great for you guys because that means I'm gonna give you my honest opinions how are you give Arabic it's so good shukran muslim muslim the room I'm staying in costs $7,500 a night i'm going to tell you the truth is it good or is it a sandy desert no script no payment just my honest take so the real question is is Saudi actually ready for tourism let's find out alan Matlin to Saudi Arabia very happy to be there it's my first time and one thing we've just arrived at the airport guess what we need data but I'm not going to get the SIM card in Saudi cuz I need to get to the hotel i need to be quick time is of the essence so I'm going to use a Hollowfly EIM unlimited data i got it for 11 days in Saudi Arabia i had it as soon as I landed so guys make sure you get Holofly East and whenever you're traveling they're available in over 200 destinations you can get discount with my code Harry Jagard all capitals or use the link in the description it's going to be so much better than just getting a physical SIM card you're going to save so much time and effort and money and you have unlimited data and you can use personal hotspot for your friends this is a nice taxi bloody hell it's like a really cool color i actually really like this color of taxi saudi Arabia has gone through so much change in the last few years i'm excited to see whether it can compete in the tourism market and I'm going to be testing that out does it have the opportunity to provide tourism for people is it at that stage yet because they're pushing hard remember like I said it only became a country where you could visit in the last decade or two and they've rapidly been pushing with projects like Neon and obviously they get a lot of tourism for the Mecca for the I think it's called Haj so let's see if they can also provide that for Western tourists who aren't necessarily coming on a pilgrimage we'll find out i'm going to give you my very honest and authentic uh opinions of the place i think there is a misconception that Saudi all Saudis have money have a lot of money but I don't think that's true i'm pretty sure it's not true because obviously there's a very big population in Saudi Arabia not all of them have money and obviously there's a lot of migrant workers who are working very hard and probably earn a good wage compared to their home country but let's see what this country is going to be like dan boy guys fast forward a little bit and I have come back into Jedha and we're looking for some Saudi food i want to try Saudi food for the first time so we got to find out where it is i I reckon let's just ask someone this guy looks like he knows excuse me i'm like "Oh hello." No way what are you doing here what are you doing here mate just thought I'd treat myself to a nice little holiday to Saudi Arabia oh [ __ ] well I'm making a YouTube video so should we go find some Saudi food well before we get some Saudi food I'm going to get dressed up like Kieran in the top tab tab i I don't know what it is kieran's got the Emirati version cuz he got it in Dubai i'm going to get the Saudi version so we're going to be from different countries all right let's figure out where to get it from now we actually do need to ask someone from Saudi Arabia not guy from England and how much did yours set you back $32 okay for everything including the uh the little crown thing okay and you said you spilled coffee on it and it like regenerated yeah so I think it's got healing capabilities all right well there we go i think we found our spot oh my god salam alaikum how are you halak could I get um like this oh yes yes helloam how are you fine size only size this leg he needs the girl size size this z small brown not not children same yeah yeah um I'm not sure are you from Saudi Arabia brother no where are you from bangladesh oh Kamonacha ah yes good good balawi very good very good i think the same black white white I think okay i reckon you suit a full burka that's for women brother and this is for kids okay so you can customize it they're the little waist coats they put on the performing monkeys so there's lots of different colors i assume that everyone gets white hello this legs yeah sure we'll try it yeah it's good very very good this time it's got a little welcome no chen chen very handsome okay one piece how much 75 70 last 7 good quality this original Dubai style saudi style okay yeah this is UAE Emirati there we go okay you get a little the boy in strip pajamas huh australia um Afghanistan australia britannia do I know coming from Saudi Arabia okay saudi is good nice yes yes wow mashallah mashallah good good only this is Sa good oh yeah tam tam yes okay oh wow how are you fine this goat very good very good alhamdulillah alhamdulillah can I see a mirror this is I can't really see my peripherals yes my friend same same how much for the total 120 complete 120 complete only cash you know what that's a deal shakran here's my sugar daddy my Saudi sugar daddy treating you to your first tub 11 12 1350 we're 650 short is this okay brother sorry it's all we have okay oh thank you so much brother that's very kind of you he gave us six discount cuz that's all we have okay wait wait wait i'll have his I do look a bit stupid with this so I got to take this off maybe wait what's that it's my shirt yeah definitely tell I'm going to be quite hot as well yeah you're going to be Kieran's butt naked under there yeah I'm completely uh I'm general butt naked all right step one is a complete we are now blending in we're getting lots of attention so they always correct it ah Saudi Saudi way yes oh okay okay his is a lot nicer than mine arabic museum museum yes jeda ah you work there oh nice amazing amazing his uh his is extremely nice yours is all crinkled mate yeah cuz it's been in my bag for like 3 days emirati from Dubai yeah museum ah okay google mapi museum okay nice nice i'll take a nice Hello Shukran name for restaurants yes yes uh you know Sa the best in Ye okay shukran shukran wow very uh very friendly people in Saudi very like confident they'll come up to you and uh we're getting a lot of attention we've walked for 5 minutes and we're getting Well Arabic is better than I thought it was no it's just cuz I've been in Syria so I I I can I don't know what they're saying but I'm guessing all right this is amazing this is the gold souks similar to Dubai but very clean very nice don't think we're going to be buying much gold but we're going to be looking around you speak English english that's the only problem with Saudi no one speaks English so this is the current leader of Saudi Arabia i'm guessing this is his father don't quote me on that you guys are going to let me know in the comments but here's the man that is pushing all the the new projects like Neon and the new infrastructure and pushing tourism and bringing Saudi to the forefront of tourism from the brief time I'd spent in Jedha so far there wasn't a whole lot to do however anyone who watches my videos knows that I travel to places because of the people and the Saudi people had certainly made up for that they were very friendly very welcoming and kind and that really made it for me but we'd only just got started and I wanted to experience the luxury side of Saudi and luckily enough the Ritz Carlton invited me to stay at one of their best hotels and the best suite which costs an eye watering amount today I am staying at the Ritz Carlton Jedha this is for sure the best hotel in Jedha maybe the best hotel in Saudi Arabia the room I'm staying in costs $7,500 a night this is for sure the best hotel review I've ever done let's head inside the Ritz Carlton Hotel roll on the red carpet oh I can smell the oud from here this is a bit of luxury mate it's nice you've been used to this oh smells good and uh we got the the leaders the rulers of Saudi not the leaders the rulers of Saudi because it's ruled by the family the shakes I believe marhaba how are you i'm good how are you keill I'm good mul is it okay if I'm filming yes yes okay uh I've got the booking reservation here thank you uh you have one room or two one room one room how many rooms do you have here uh 240 rooms 240 oh nice wow this is your first time first time yeah i've actually never been to any Ritz Carlton before what about Jama this is the first time in Ja no we've just been staying in an Airbnb oh I see not as not as nice as the Ritz Carlton we got some we can do some some fitness oh so it's part of the Marriott we have in the second floor we have the spa and the gym uh this uh the gym is 24-hour open and for the spa it's open from 6:00 a.m looks nice to Yes till 10:00 p.m for the spa there is a jacuzzi and sauna team oh nice but we have the sauna outside also it's a free sauna outside really cuz of the weather shop in uh the Middle East you take your father's name yes so your that's your grandfather but is it very long name uh yes very long you have your father's father's father uh actually our family come from you know Prophet Muhammad yes his uncle is our like grand grand you're related to the Prophet Muhammad wow no way wow so you're like famous oh my god i've met the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him's granddaughter wow this is amazing okay we are checking in we actually got upgraded to the Royal Suite which is $5,000 a night 75,000 US oh okay i was wrong $75,000 a night this is one of those moments where you have to pinch yourself and yeah just appreciate that this is ridiculous i would never be spending this much on a hotel room but when you get upgraded you can't say no jesus Christ this is the nicest hallway I've ever seen we got a chandelier in the hallway this carpet like I'm always thinking about the the amount of cleaning they must do on this carpet oh wow so we got double doors this is the f I think this is the first hotel room I've ever stayed in with double doors oh my god wow this is like an actual apartment it's bigger than apartment this This hallway is bigger than any hotel room I usually stay in this is ridiculous we have multiple rooms 1 2 3 4 five rooms nah this is stupid this is crazy what the hell what the hell am I going to do in this room this is ridiculous this is a meeting room this is like so grand look at the the artwork on the on the ceiling we have views of the ocean jeda ocean i'm going to get literally lost in this room this is some kind of service room oh we have a we have a I think this is like the butler's kitchen probably we have a coffee machine fridge i'm not going to be doing any cooking in here but there's also some some nuts and stuff in here okay one toilet we're going to do a toilet count because I'm guessing multiple toilets what is in here the hell it's like a secret room i'm scared to go in i think this is uh I don't even know if I'm supposed to go in there i feel like we've got the they we've come into like a conference center a TV here kieran where are you my office all right we'll check out this room next oh my god no way this is insane we have an office as well oh hello this is amazing uh it's not quite big enough could we get a bigger one no I'm joking we need a bigger one no there's another one or another bedroom from here this Okay sure oh wait there's a secret room i would never have found that one to the kitchen oh yeah okay oh no we already came this way oh wow oh so this is Is this a second bedroom oh there we go Kieran be perfect so how's the AC condition it's okay with you the temperature is fine you know what Charles it's perfect it's very good so this is a second bedroom we haven't gone to the main bedroom yet how long we both just sitting up yeah i feel like that would be more my style to stay in that room okay also you can open also the balcony this is the So I haven't been in this room this is the lounge it will be like What the hell humid this is ridiculous it will be humid this is not meant for for English people this is for Saudi princes only wow this is the balcony area you got views of Jedha oh wow it's quite big city amazing yeah so Ritz Carlton is part of the Marriott brand so this is like the top tier of Marriott marriott is a nice brand anyway i love I love staying in Marriott when I can but not the Ritz Carlton that very rarely happens this is too big man this is way too big golden like the Saudi style i guess this is like it's not my typical style it's very grand you know lots of wood lots of golden features but it's very very opulent that would be the perfect word to describe it random pillars and then I guess this is the grand bedroom the master suite king bed there's breakfast you can order we're going to have breakfast in in the room tomorrow so we'll go through that later in room dining I'm going to show you guys the restaurant we have that included as well and the spa we actually have a spa treatment so they've upgraded to this they've given us a few extras i would never usually pay this much $75,000 of course not but I guess this is uh one of the perks of being a YouTuber which is very nice and then walk-in wardrobe and this incredible Oh my god even the bathroom is as big as a normal um hotel room with a golden bath some razor toothpaste and a huge shower wow this is amazing shower hello Got all of the things you would need luxurious bath items and a toilet with a nice little bday and a bubble garden i think I'm going to use the bday you know because that's what luxury does to you and then the the thermostat so we can keep it nice and cold and I'm not sure if uh I'm going to get lost in here i'm not sure if Charles is going to be with us all the time but uh it's very helpful to have someone show us around this is ridiculous yeah I know i don't I don't even know what to do with the place i also forgot there's probably more rooms that I haven't found yet but this is another room another bathroom so there was three bathrooms in total maybe there's another one i don't know but that would be stupid if there's another one all in all for sure without a doubt no questions this is the best room I've ever stayed in maybe the best hotel I've ever stayed in we haven't seen the rest of the facilities yet so I can't really say whether it is but I think this is my favorite room this is what I've always dreamed of having is an insane office where you can just do business m all right now back in the room doing some work of course guys you know me always working hard kieran what are you working on over there just editing some videos it's nice to have Wi-Fi here cuz outside I've got no data you don't have data outside well I do i'm using Hollfly EIM got you there guys now honestly I am using Hollowfly Eim whilst I'm here they have unlimited data in over 200 destinations including Saudi Arabia so I got the 11-day e SIM and so it's so nice i can actually personal hotspot to Kieran so he can also have data and what I love about it the main thing is that soon as you arrive you can have data as soon as you land on the tarmac and you don't have to get a physical SIM card you also don't get ripped off by your provider that you have at your in your home country so the main thing is it's seamless you have unlimited data in over 200 destinations and they have very good support 24/7 if you have any issues at all so if you guys want to get Holllight ESIM use the link in the description below or use the code Harry Jagard all capitals to get 5% off and let's carry on with the video alhamdulillah inshallah inshallah inshallah mr har good morning come in come in come in so as you can tell guys breakfast is served to the room here if you want thank you so much okay so we got we got the healthy breakfast don't know where Kieran is kieran wake up now all right we got avocado on toast asparagus tomato some oatmeal orange juice fruit some bread and then Kieran's stuff by the way we ordered this last night so if you're wondering why our meals are a little bit different this is Kieran's unhealthy option and this is my healthy option amazing thank you i can serve it for you yes sure thank you wait okay go wait I'm checking no worries i can do it no no no no thank you so much thank you i can do it now yes you can you can i'm just playing with you it's no worry it's my stupid English humor thank you so much do you usually serve this room here yes sir wall is very serious so do you famous people stay here yes sir this is our house with the bigger rooms did the prince stay here do you think one time yes sir really yes sir he stayed in this room yes sir in this room so I slept in the same bed as the prince yes sir oh my god okay we are having breakfast i thought I'd get dressed up for the occasional camera get out of here what the hell we're not even trying to get interaction the ultimate cheat code for engagement they love it the people here love it like a few people have said about how like we're potentially taking the piss but they actually love it so I'm sure there will be comments saying you're being disrespectful but you know what i find that I find that laughable wearing these dresses in sorry the the th in um UAE is actually banned for foreigners so I understand if it's if it's part of their customs it's not allowed but in Saudi it's allowed so I'm going to do it and they love it they absolutely love it it's cultural assimilation at its finest so anyway I haven't explained where we are we are at the Cornesh Jeda Cornesh this is like a running track I think and then they have the cycling it's actually really cool i a lot of people told me that Saudi is not very not very walkable like the Middle East is known to be not very walkable a bit like America where you can't really walk around this specific area I guess was designed to have that and that's the modern style this is like a newer area there's lots of building building going on there's like a beach there's lots of hotels so really cool and uh it comes alive at night so the sun is is about to start to set and everyone in the day it's dead and then in the night it becomes very busy so we're going to get lots of local interaction so one thing I think might people might be interested in is what's the LGBTQ scenario scene like in Saudi Arabia and I personally don't know much about that but we went to a gay club we went to a gay club last night and it was packed kieran is part of that community so do you want to do you want to speak on their behalf uh yeah so it's widely accepted here in Saudi Arabia like when I first came here I thought there's going to be issues but like if you walk to the beach there's loads of guys in hot pants like you know people will believe you they will think you're gay he's not gay guys maybe on the weekends i don't know what he gets up to now there is one thing that Saudi people love can you guess coffee i was going to say oil but after oil is coffee a huge thing here they drink coffee into the early hours saudi Arabia has one of the latest bedtimes in the world the third latest bedtime i think it's around average is around 12:30 midnight past midnight and um that's because they bloody drink so much coffee and I love coffee kieran's had seven coffees today this is going to be eight eight coffees we are going for a record today though okay world record look at this guys this is pretty cool so this guys is a little example of how obsessed Saudis are with coffee we got coffee drive-thru coffee drive-thru coffee drive-thru coffee drive-thru coffee drive-thru coffee drive-thru and then Starbucks Tim Horns McDonald's Crispy Cream it's very Americanized you don't have any of anything like this in English bangladesh oh Kamacha balawachi this is cappuccino i am in Saudi Arabia and I'm trying to get some transport but we found a unique form of transport it is a bikes you can rent some bikes maybe some some four-wheelers maybe some six wheelers let's see hello how are you good how are you could I rent a do you have Bugatti or Ferrari cuz I'm a prince so I I need a super car um what's the best one you have where are you from single or two people one people two people this year okay let's have a look maybe this one 185 two horsepower this 150 hour the electric ones how much uh 150 okay okay sure you're going to have to pay cuz I only have Mastercard oh god only what mada mada oh god is that a Saudi thing i don't have mada well somewhere that's meant to be futuristic and they only have whatever that is that seems to be like a Saudi bank they don't accept the visa or master that just goes to show that Saudi might not be ready for tourism yet if they can't even accept Visa or Master i've got an idea all right here we go i can't contribute to this cuz I left my wallet at home but there's an ATM over there and they're going to accept good old cash aren't they okay let's do it shuklan would you like a lift free two free where are you going yala yala yalabina sit down all right they gave us a minute for free okay wa okay yeah completely understood every word you said okay the [ __ ] patrol nice to meet you shafibuk thank you thank you how do you do oh you speak Muslim muslim oh inshah inshallah uh in what britana manchester United or City aston Villa oh Aston Villa yeah okay okay uh $5 nice to meet you brother i am in Jedha Saudi Arabia and we are actually going to a beach club they have beach clubs in Saudi Arabia now let's see what it's like apparently it's free and apparently it's new here we go free entrance you're from Palestine palestine palestine yeah sudan free Palestine sudan sudan south Sudan or South Sudan i've been to J I've been to Juba juba i've been there welcome aam you understand i live around the world yeah exactly okay so tell me can you use the inflatables one person 65 and this one person 75 with drink and and and you want what's how much is 65 75 is 20 bucks per person yeah but I think it includes a drink includes a drink yeah one B for 75 but today I'll go to toilet for free toilet for free are you sure yeah sure what about if I go in the ocean also free free your friend also from uh South Sudan no I'm not where are you from somalia somalia i've been to Somalia i've been to Mogadeshu madishu yeah yeah yeah how is Moadish yeah it's good it's good you like it yeah it's nice but it's hot it's hard to travel a little bit dangerous the Somalians don't like it when I say it's dangerous but it's a good country it's a very good country good people so it's uh I thought it was free but you do have to pay for the for these but you get there's a inflatable assault course there's like a little bar here no alcohol but a little bar and then uh any anything else part of any activities we can do yeah it's okay okay every activity in the world every activity can we go Can we go in the far ocean no no it's not allowed hello it's so good sorry your Arabic it's so good shukran nice to meet you habibi wow who knew you could have a beach holiday in Saudi Arabia well of course kind of makes sense doesn't it but I wasn't expecting this look at this this is This is sick alhamdulillah to min brazil brazil no way and you speak fluent Arabic yeah i'm Saudi Arabia oh nice oh you're not from Brazil no you look like Neymar i'm joking are you Are you related to Neymar nice nice to meet you nice to meet you shout out a need uh Americano i have Americano espresso uh Cortado what's Kotardo kotardo is so good okay yala i like the Saudi music hello hey bro where you from guess where I'm from where do you think um England oh [ __ ] yeah you got it right straight away and you are from Wait East Africa yeah it's Africa yeah okay somalia oh we are very good nice to meet you brother the best nice to meet you bro habibi here he is he's come out of the ocean to give us a coffee and a mojito shukran okay bro no yes no money shukran goodbye thank you bro i love the energy oh that's good perfect temperature as well what may surprise you it's May and it's coming into summer but Jedha is still 32° so it's actually very bearable quite nice actually and um also the biggest misconception of Saudi is that because it's a Islamic country that you can't really go to places like this have your top off like Kieran Scott what am I doing with his tattoos out so it's very relaxed to answer the question whether it's ready for tourism it is ready for tourism it's still not on the same level as Dubai but it's ready for tourism and places like this really shows it off jedha is probably the best place to come when I came here I thought that Riyad was better but since I've come here everyone's told me that Jeda is the best jeda is like Jeda is like that that new girlfriend that you have that's like kind of very attractive and Riyad's like your ex-girlfriend who is kind of like annoying and boring is that a fair comparison can I go on the inflatable it's for 50 50 $13 do I do it all right we are heading out that was actually really cool didn't know you could do that and um it might get a little bit expensive with all the add-ons but I'd say that's a reasonable price you know there's lots of beach destinations that would be a lot more expensive in Europe and stuff so you got everything you need here and looks like they're still making it adjustments to it so let's head to the next destination all right kieran's insisting that we go to this Asia World apparently it's an amazing theme park here i don't know if that's going to be worth it but we'll check it out wow all right fair enough saudi you're really uh they've got a DJ this could be the best place oh my god there's lots of families here but guys I think Saudi have outdone themselves here this is pretty sick out of all the places I've been to this is like up there so they got food places all around this This has so much potential to be an insane rave but no alcohol unfortunately but I like how you got to respect how Saudi are uh keeping their integrity time will tell whether Saudi will continue to do that guys I keep uh messing up the headdress and the Saudis are very good at or everyone here is very good at fixing it for me the Saudi way but it keeps uh keeps coming undone minwen Minhon Saudi saudia oh nice nice i'm still not 100% sure what this place is it's like a theme park meets a food place meets entertainment zone i think Kevin Hart is playing here tonight and it's getting a little bit busier we came quite early you can get food you can get pictures you can play games so it's kind of like an all-in-one entertainment zone and um I see what they're doing here they're trying to really reach out to like the family demographic and I guess also tourists and it's it's working there's a lot of families here not my kind of thing but Kieran's kind of thing what families kids i'm a family man there's just too many things that like we've I've spent so much on this like I've lost $20 at least on games and then you got things like this ladies first okay guys we have made it to the Saudi restaurant of dreams could we get some food kaba this is the menu this is some Saudi food it looks like it's actually I probably shouldn't say it's similar to Yemen food it's probably very different to Yemen food but I have had a lot of Yemen food so I'm expecting big things okay two people pepsi water diet Pepsi okay cool 10 so we order before we sit down i've never had this before 46 okay sugar daddy Kieran he's paying for stuff cuz I've already paid for the Airbnb oh yeah yeah you owe me mate oh they have Snapchat guys snapchat snapchat oh okay nice all right sending them nudes yeah what are you doing on Snapchat like so one thing that's quite unique about Saudi restaurants is they have these private I'm not going to show you inside in case someone's in there have private seating areas so the family can stay private and not have to maybe they could take off their burka or their hijab in front of their family yala oh now everyone's taking pictures this guy was so worried about the camera earlier now he's Oh wow oh very very sweet smell oh wow i had it i did not like it but that's quite unique welcome to So in typical Arab fashion we are sitting down you eat with your hands very communal and you get your own private area so it's not like the West where you have a table we're doing it like the Arab style i've done this in many countries now so I'm used to it it takes some getting used to but once you get used to it's very nice i'm so bad at eating like this i'm like cuz I'm not flexible i'm like having to like Yeah I would still choose the table over this but when you're in Saudi you eat as the Saudis do oh bloody hell that was quick brother made in like 2 seconds that was literally like 1 minute literally 1 minute i'm a bit worried about how quick that was boss did you microwave that that is huge jesus this is $9 or 9 $15 for everything wow shakran your ticket oh my god it's like 5 kilo of rice yeah I know this is like the Saudi version of Nando but so what it is is big chicken at least half a chicken and I don't think I've ever seen so much rice in my life that is enough carbs to kill me and also there's some looks like potato lots of um seasoning let's go for it oh [ __ ] all right this is a big problem they didn't tell me saudi outfit plus chicken and rice does not go well together you need this looking fresh for Mecca i know i know all right we changed eating positions look at that m that is actually really good so much flavor i would say that is as good if not better than Nando's the rice is very soft okay you do realize though that eating with your left hand is haram oh [ __ ] sorry guys don't cut this out either he needs to be exposed that's anti martial spot position again guys I'm sorry if I'm being disrespectful here i'm really trying my hardest okay maybe we need to set the table i'd say 8 out of 10 we made a good effort guys but we did not finish it all i'm pretty full actually how was that Kieran yeah it was all right i just wish I was hungry we had Nandos like an hour ago so pretty much the same meal yeah they are very similar meals but I would say that this is the authentic Saudi experience now I'll give it a thumbs up oh it's the wrong way around inside out so disrespectful there we go very very nice people doing it for me i got to learn how to do this yeah he's useless isn't it yeah useless oh yala yala yala okay thank you the big question is is Saudi Arabia ready for tourism i would say yes just about they've got everything set up they're doing the tallest tower in the world they've got the tallest mountain in the world finally of course they have these incredible events they've got F1 they've got the World Cup for me personally I wouldn't put it at the top of my lists but that doesn't mean to say it's not a great place to visit i think you should try it the infrastructure is there the cities are modern people are warm generous and genuinely curious about visitors but it's also figuring some things out some things are definitely behind the curtains especially for non-Muslims but I had a great time i will say wearing the th is a life hack for getting unlimited interactions with locals which I love thank you for watching i'll see you in the next
2025-06-02 00:42
