Saudi king fills two luxury hotels with entourage on visit to Moscow

The 1,500-strong entourage of Saudi Arabia’s King Salman Bin Abdulaziz has filled two luxury hotels in Moscow for the monarch’s historic visit to the Russian capital, Bloomberg reported on Friday.

The Saudis “made themselves at home,” said the news website, with their own carpets, catering staff who know exactly how to make the coffee and around 800kg of food. A Saudi aircraft is flying between the two capitals daily to bring supplies for the duration of the visit.

The hotel bill for the stay is expected to reach around $3 million, excluding room service charges, meals and spa treatments, but all did not go smoothly for the 81-year-old King Salman on this, the first occasion that a Saudi ruler has visited Moscow. As he left his aircraft late on Wednesday, his special, apparently gold-plated, escalator jammed and he had to walk down to the waiting fleet of limousines, which whisked him into the city centre, flanked by Russian police outriders.

According to Bloomberg, the two countries have already agreed an arms deal and discussed ways to cooperate further on stabilising the oil market.