Saudi King Salman and his 1,000-strong entourage book out all five-star hotels in central Moscow

Saudi Arabia's King Salman and his thousand-strong entourage have touched down for a three-day visit to Russia, occupying all available five-star hotel rooms.

Narrated

2 min read

The New Arab

05 Oct, 2017

The monarch arrived in Moscow on Wednesday to meet with President Vladimir Putin [Getty]

Saudi Arabia's King Salman and his thousand-strong entourage have touched down for a three-day visit to Russia, occupying all available five-star hotel rooms around the Kremlin and demanding a fleet of limousines.

The monarch arrived in Moscow on Wednesday to meet with President Vladimir Putin and clinch a host of multi-billion-dollar energy and defence deals, despite discord over the Syrian war.

King Salman and his delegation have booked out one entire luxury hotel and many others are staying in nearby hotels which are at full capacity, according to Russia's state-run RIA Novosti.

Local TV station Moscow 24 named the fully-booked hotel as the Ritz Carlton, which is home to 334 rooms – the most expensive of which going for 112,000 rubles ($1,950) a night.

The channel said the Four Seasons, Hotel National and Marriott were also hosting members of the massive Saudi delegation of officials, royal escorts and businessmen.

It estimated the cost of accommodating the entire entourage for the trip would be around 0.25 billion rubles ($4,350,000).

The New Arab's Russia correspondent Ramy Kalyouby said that the royal delegation has hired dozens of high-end vehicles for transport around the Russian capital.

On Thursday, Saudi Arabia signed preliminary agreements to buy S-400 air defence systems and receive "cutting-edge technologies" from Russia.

Under the agreements, Saudi Arabia is set to buy S-400 air defence systems, Kornet anti-tank guided missile systems and multiple rocket launchers.

The two countries also agreed on the production in Saudi Arabia of the Kalashnikov automatic rifle and its ammunition as well as educational and training programmes for Saudi nationals.