Dallas Family Office Joins $1 Billion Saudi Hotel Development

30 March 2026

A Dallas investor is planting a sizable flag in Saudi Arabia’s expanding hospitality sector.

The Patel Family Office teamed up with Saudi-based Abdel Hadi A. Al-Qahtani & Sons on a $1 billion plan to develop 50 hotels across Saudi Arabia by 2029, the firm said Thursday. The Dallas Morning News reported that the partners will operate under a new brand, Ayara, in what ranks among the largest hotel investments in the country to date.

The venture is targeting the Kingdom’s growing corporate travel segment, with plans to construct between 5,000 and 7,000 rooms in key cities and regions including Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam, the Red Sea region and the planned Neom development. The focus is on branded, standardized business hotels, according to the publication.

The deal lands as Saudi Arabia accelerates its Vision 2030 agenda, a sweeping effort to diversify its economy beyond oil. Tourism and business travel are central to that push, with the government aiming to draw more than 150 million annual visitors by the end of the decade. Events such as Expo 2030 and the 2034 FIFA World Cup are expected to supercharge demand for beds, according to the outlet.

Patel’s move reflects growing institutional appetite for exposure to the Kingdom’s real estate build-out, where state-backed infrastructure spending is reshaping the development landscape. Investors have increasingly gravitated toward hospitality as a relatively clear path to participate in that growth, especially in segments tied to recurring business demand. According to Patel Family Office Vice Chairman and managing partner Lakshmi Narayanan, the Ayara venture “will play a critical role in meeting that demand.”

The family office, which owns more than 400 hotels globally and 27 properties across Texas, is hoping that mid-market lodging will be a part of Saudi Arabia’s next phase.

The move by the Patels comes as Saudi Arabia began allowing foreign individuals and entities to buy property beginning this year, with purchases allowed in Riyadh and Jeddah, and global financial firms such as Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and HSBC began moving regional headquarters into Riyadh’s King Abdullah Financial District over the past three years.

— Eric Weilbacher