Archipelago, the Southeast Asian hotel management group, is bringing its Aston hotel and residences to Saudi Arabia. The company has been named as one of the five global hotel chains to operate and hotels and serviced apartments in the upcoming Islamic World District Area (IWD) of Knowledge Economic City (KEC) in Madinah.
Aston Hotel & Residences KEC will offer 519 hotel rooms and 130 serviced residences. The property is expected to open in 2027. The district aims to maximize its proximity to Haramain railway station, which links Madinah to Makkah and Jeddah by high-speed train.
Located in the southeastern part of KEC, IWD sits adjacent to the Haramain High-Speed Rail Station in Madinah. Spread across 1 million square meters, IWD is designed to align with two key programs of Saudi Vision 2030 — the Pilgrim Experience Program and the Quality of Life Program.
One of Southeast Asia’s largest privately owned hotel management groups, Archipelago has more than 55,000 rooms operating and under development across over 200 locations in Southeast Asia, Oceania, the Middle East, Africa, and Caribbean and Latin America. Archipelago’s Aston brand is one of the leading brands in Indonesia, with a history of more than 27 years in the market.
In the GCC, Archipelago is a long-term strategic partner of Maison Privee, a vacation rental management company in the region. Archipelago is also opening its first two hotels in Makkah, Saudi Arabia in 2026.
“Madinah holds a special place in the heart of every Muslim and, therefore, its religious significance and history ensures that the potential for heritage, medical, knowledge and religious tourism is unbound. We know that this announcement will create a lot of excitement in Indonesia’s travel sector and that there will be great anticipation amongst our millions of Indonesian members and customers to visit the Aston hotels in Madinah,” said Gerard Byrne, managing director, Archipelago.
With more than 50% of Indonesia’s population under the age of 30, an increasing middle class, consistent improvements in aviation and the rising influence of social media, Indonesia has the greatest capacity for outbound growth and pilgrim travel than any other Muslim nation, Byrne said.
Spanning 6.8 million square meters, KEC is a mixed-use project that will deliver more than 18,000 hotel rooms to boost Madinah’s travel industry, as part of the Saudi Vision 2030. Located within the urban boundaries of Madinah, KEC sits about 5 kilometers from the Prophet’s Mosque and is designed as a smart urban development with green spaces, modern infrastructure and educational and healthcare facilities.
“With the continuous support from HH Prince Salman bin Sultan, this relationship with Archipelago allows us to set new hospitality standards in Madinah and will contribute to the Kingdom’s development goals in line with Vision 2030,” said KEC Chairman Amin Shaker.
