OpeningsRafflesTrojena, Saudi Arabia
A first look at Raffles Trojena
A ring-shaped mountain resort inside NEOM’s Trojena ski destination — about as far from a colonial grand hotel as Raffles gets.
Expected 2027 Not bookable yet
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First look
Raffles Trojena is slated for 2027 inside NEOM’s Trojena, the mountain destination Saudi Arabia is building in its northwest. The reported design is a ring-shaped resort with 105 guestrooms, sitting in Trojena’s Discover cluster. Both the NEOM newsroom and Accor press have named it.
There is no dedicated official-site page yet and it is not on the brand’s Opening Soon list, so the details could still shift. A mountain Raffles is a genuine departure for a brand defined by tropical and city grand hotels. What we will be watching for is whether the ring-shaped concept is more than a render, and how an alpine-style resort in the desert highlands actually performs once Trojena comes online.
What we’ll be watching
Whether Trojena is actually ready to receive guests. NEOM cancelled the destination’s dam and artificial lake contract in March 2026, structural steel for the ski village followed, and the 2029 Asian Winter Games have been relocated to Almaty. Raffles itself hasn’t been cancelled — but a ring-shaped resort at 2,300 metres depends on a working destination around it, and right now that destination is in visible trouble. We’ll be watching whether the 2027 date means anything at all.
Whether the ring design survives contact with the build. LAVA’s annular concept — 105 rooms arranged around a perimeter, three floating tiers, circular apertures in the roof — won an architecture award as a render. What it costs to construct at altitude in the desert highlands of northwest Saudi Arabia, on a project that has already seen major contractors walk away, is a different question.
Whether this is really a Raffles or just a flag on a giga-project. The brand’s whole identity is built on colonial-era grand hotels in Singapore, Paris and the Seychelles. A ring-shaped mountain resort inside NEOM is a genuine departure — neither urban nor tropical, neither restoration nor heritage. We’ll be watching whether the butler service and culinary ambition that define the brand actually travel into a setting the brand has never inhabited before.
Whether the ski and outdoor programming has any substance once it opens. The farm-to-table restaurant, rooftop pool and bike workshop sound coherent on paper, but Trojena was pitched around skiing and a freshwater lake — the lake contract has been cancelled. Without the surrounding winter-sports infrastructure, what’s left is a dramatic building in a remote mountain location. That might be enough; it might not.
Photos
Renderings and press imagery, courtesy of the hotel. Details may change before opening.
Before it opens
When does Raffles Trojena open?
Raffles Trojena is slated for a 2027 opening, per announcements from both NEOM and Accor. That date should be treated as provisional: the wider Trojena destination has suffered major construction contract cancellations in early 2026 — including the dam and artificial lake infrastructure — and the 2029 Asian Winter Games have been moved away from the site. The hotel itself has not been cancelled, but the surrounding build is far behind where it needs to be.
Where is Raffles Trojena located?
It sits in the Trojena destination within NEOM, in the Tabuk region of northwestern Saudi Arabia, at an altitude of around 2,300 metres. Specifically, it will be part of Trojena’s Discover cluster, one of six zones in the planned mountain resort destination.
Is this Raffles’ first mountain resort, and who operates it?
Yes, this would be Raffles’ first mountain property — the brand’s portfolio is built around urban grand hotels and coastal resorts, so a high-altitude desert-highland resort is a genuine first. It is operated by Raffles Hotels & Resorts, the luxury brand under Accor, in partnership with NEOM’s Hotel Division.
How many rooms will Raffles Trojena have?
The announced plan is 105 guestrooms, arranged around the perimeter of a ring-shaped structure at 2,300 metres. Three tiers of rooms face inward toward a central landscaped green space, with the roof featuring circular apertures for natural light.
Who designed Raffles Trojena, and what facilities are planned?
The architecture comes from LAVA (Laboratory for Visionary Architecture), the annular design won a 2025 International Architecture Award from the Chicago Athenaeum. Reported facilities include a farm-to-table restaurant, a rooftop restaurant with a pool, an in-house cinema, and a bike workshop with co-working space, alongside the brand’s signature butler service. No spa details have been announced yet.
Will Fat Voyage score Raffles Trojena?
We publish a Fat Score only once a hotel is open and real guests have stayed and written about it — drawn from luxury travel communities, editorial publications, and verified guests, never paid placements. This is a first look, not a verdict; we’ll score it once there’s enough independent signal to be fair.
