A brand-new barefoot luxury hotel that holds space for reflection and rejuvenation, the Desert Rock Resort in Saudi Arabia's Red Sea destination is a mind, body and soul experience unlike any other on the planet.
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It’s not very often that one can use the word “otherworldly” in the context of a hotel and it actually rings true; but that is exactly what makes the new Desert Rock resort on Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea coast so special. Dug into the cliffs of the Hejaz Mountains, cantilevered over the wadis and embedded in the desert floor, it feels like a futuristic Dune-esque movie set, but it is as grounding as it is escapist.
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“We wanted Desert Rock to be a spiritual experience, because that’s what this majestic site demanded,” recalls Paolo Ferrari, the Canada-based designer whose eponymous studio developed the interior concept for the Oppenheim Architecture-designed property. “We wanted to create something that would make the guest completely disconnect from the outside world and be fully present in the moment.”
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Ferrari and his studio designed the resort’s public spaces, suites and villas during the peak of Toronto’s Covid lockdown. The accommodation ranges from Wadi Villas, boasting spacious living areas and private pools, to Cliff Hanging Villas perched high in the hills and Mountain Cave Suites, where cliffside pools suspended on the edge of the massif are a real thrill. While the designer could not visit the site in person, the developer Red Sea Global’s detailed research and his own experience of working on projects across the Middle East gave him the intelligence he needed to imbue the sprawling 30,000 square-metre resort with a sense of place. The rock-cut tombs of the Nabatean civilisation in Hegra, Saudi crafts, and local makers who are reinventing historic artisanal practices all became a part of Desert Rock’s creative playbook.
“We designed the environments to recede so that they never overwhelm or detract from the site’s inherent natural beauty,” explains Ferrari. “We did so in part by using a select palette of site-appropriate, mineral-based materials, which allows the spaces to reflect their surroundings but not directly mimic them.” These earthy finishes include plaster, limestone, bronze, and wood. Over 200 unique furnishings and fixtures, from the sand-cast steel knockers that adorn guest-room doors to built-in bed frames and sunken sofas, tip their hat to the region’s historic building traditions. Reformulated in new ways, these details root the hotel in the landscape.
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Each element is thoughtfully integrated into the undulating terrain, whether it’s the spa, with its oversized slanting roof inspired by the wadi, restaurants that feature a primordial blend of volcanic rock, limestone shelves and open fires, or the guest hub, which frames a rugged rock formation within its glasshouse-style lobby. “It’s about minerality, authenticity and reconnecting with the most elemental qualities of nature,” concludes Ferrari. desertrock.sa; paoloferrari.com
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