Equinox To Enter Saudi Arabia With Luxury Hotel Along Red Sea Coast
The Equinox Resort Amaala will focus on movement, nutrition and regeneration, with amenities like a magnesium salt rooftop pool
Equinox, the luxury fitness and hospitality operator, is making big moves in the middle east, with plans to bring an Equinox Hotel to Saudi Arabia.
The brand has been tapped by Red Sea Global, a developer, to bring forth its vision of year-round integrated wellness that combines a luxurious travel experience with the well-being inspired by the Red Sea and celebrates the local culture.
The upcoming Equinox Resort Amaala, designed by Foster + Partners, will be one of many hotels in the Amaala zone in Saudi Arabia along the Red Sea coast, marking the first phase of development at Triple Bay, where mountains and crystal-clear waters will surround Equinox’s hotel.
“Amaala is a destination that perfectly aligns with our mission of redefining luxury hospitality,” said Christopher Norton, CEO of Equinox Hotels. “Our highly differentiated resort offering will provide guests an unparalleled experience that only a brand like Equinox can deliver. We’re excited to partner with an amazing developer like Red Sea Global that has similar and strong values rooted in sustainability.”
The resort will include programming and amenities that focus on movement, nutrition and regeneration, and will offer 128 posh guest rooms and suites, culinary concepts, a beach club and spa, a magnesium salt rooftop pool and a signature Equinox Fitness Club.
Sustainability will be at the core of the design of Equinox Resort Amaala, which will be powered entirely by renewable energy and operate with a zero-carbon footprint.
Equinox first debuted its hotel concept in 2019 in New York City at Hudson Yards to reinvent luxury lifestyle travel for wellness enthusiasts with a holistic approach. The first Equinox Hotel was supposed to kick off a decade-long plan to develop 30 hotels until the pandemic put those ambitions on hold. With the pandemic in the rearview mirror, Equinox Hotels is ready to proceed.
In a video interview with Hotel News Now last month, Norton revealed that Equinox was planning locations in the Middle East and some key cities in Europe, despite the company viewing North America as its number one development market and having purchased parcels of land in some areas that Equinox Hotels has identified as priorities.
Norton said that branded residences would be included in some future hotel locations, emphasizing that the Equinox brand encompasses many points of life where consumers buy into a lifestyle and have a shared value system around things that are important to them.
