Hossam Al Gendy, general manager of Holiday Inn Jeddah Al Salam hotel, talks about one of the best hotels in Jeddah, the only international brand hotel in the South of Jeddah and with one of the best spas in Jeddah. The hotel is considered to be the second largest hotel in Jeddah, with more than 355 rooms.

He said, "Holiday Inn- Jeddah Al-Salam was built over 35 years ago. Initially, it was designed and built next to the old airport and the housing for Hajj pilgrims. At the time of building, it housed 319 rooms. Recently, we have increased it to 355 rooms. After this, it will be the second largest hotel in Jeddah.

This hotel has a very strong infrastructure, as it was built long time ago. We are upgrading the hotel starting from 2015 and the coming years. Our major concern is the safety of our guests, so we have started with the restoration of the fire protection system and fire alarms. Our second step is to renovate the hotel. Almost 25% of the hotel has been renovated and work is in progress. In the next couple of years, the entire hotel will be renovated. Previously, 30% of our clientele was the airline crew, as it is situated on the Ring Road, which is directly next to the airport. 35% was reserved for the Al-Hamra people visiting the holy city.

The past 2 years, we have changed our business ideas by concentrating more on business and corporate accounts to increase the number of corporate accounts dealing with our hotel. We are next to the industrial area. Our head office of the old company is in downtown. That is why we are investing in this hotel to introduce all the missing modern amenities in the hotel."