Saudi King Arrives DC to Meet Obama, Books All 222 Rooms At 'Four Seasons Hotel' for 3Nights

In anticipation of King Salman bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia’s stay, the Four Seasons hotel in Georgetown has done some redecorating — literally rolling out red carpets in order to accommodate the royal’s luxurious taste.


Eyewitnesses at the property have seen crates of gilded furniture and accessories being wheeled into the posh hotel over the past several days, culminating in a home-away-from-home fit for the billionaire Saudi monarch, who is in Washington for his first White House meeting with President Barack Obama tomorrow.

“Everything is gold,” says one Four Seasons regular, who spied the deliveries arriving at the hotel. “Gold mirrors, gold end tables, gold lamps, even gold hat racks.” Red carpets have been laid down in hallways and even in the lower parking garage, so the king and his family never have to touch asphalt when departing their custom Mercedes caravan.

 The guests staying at the 222-room hotel for the next couple of days are all part of the 79-year-old king’s entourage of Saudi diplomats, family members and assistants, one source said; a full buyout of the entire property was reserved for the visit. Guests who had booked to stay at the Four Seasons during the royal visit have apparently been moved to other luxury hotels in town. A call to the Four Seasons confirmed the hotel is sold out Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights.

King Salman, who ascended the throne in January, has a habit of displacing commoners for his own comforts; this summer, during a sojourn to the French Riviera, his eight-day stay forced the closure of a popular beach, enraging locals. Salman rolls deep, with a reported 1,000-person delegation joining him for his seaside August vacation.

Salman's entourage arriving at Andrews Air Force Base on Thursday:

The king will reportedly discuss a number of rather pressing issues with the Obama administration including Riyadh's involvement in Yemen, where, as we detailed on Thursday, a former US counterterrorism "success story" is now on the verge of splitting into two separate countries. Of course the Iran nuclear deal will also come up, especially in light of the fact that, as The New York Times noted earlier this week, "Republicans are considering legislative options to counter the deal, including the possible reimposition of sanctions the agreement is supposed to lift," now that the President has secured the support he needs to sustain a veto of a GOP challenge.

Perhaps more importantly, the two leaders will also discuss Syria and oil prices, with the latter issue now having a rather outsized impact on America's shale producers as well as on US majors' capex plans. Needless to say, the real question from a geopolitical perspective is whether Obama and King Salman come to any closed-door agreements on Syria where, as Al Jazeera delicately puts it, the US and Saudi Arabia are set to orchestrate a "managed political transition."

Source: Zerohedge