Saudi Arabia has laid out its ambition to build a hotel of such magnitude, allure and luxury, that travelers from the world over will come to see it. In Dubai, the emirate has the two Atlantis resorts, between them almost 2,000 rooms. In the US, historic hotels such as The Plaza sit in New York and mega-resorts fill the Las Vegas strip. But in Saudi a set of three boutique hotels will be the “global bucket list” destination of choice.

Leyja is the latest project from NEOM — three hotels of 40 keys each in the mountain area near the Gulf of Aqaba. “Human connection” brand Habitas has been confirmed as the operator, and its founder and CEO has promised he will create something people will flock to.

The three hotels are called the Wellness Hotel, Oasis Hotel and Adventure Hotel. All three will open by 2028. NEOM declined to give a price tag for the project when asked, twice.

In June of this year, Habitas CEO Oliver Ripley got a $400 million investment from the kingdom’s Tourism Development Fund to deploy a “circuit” of Habitas properties around Saudi Arabia. This followed the success of Habitas in AlUla, which is seen as one of the country’s most luxurious resorts.

The brand’s future outposts will likely be placed near the Red Sea, Jeddah, and Riyadh, said Ripley in a Bloomberg interview.

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