Dar Tantora The House Hotel: First In

Character and identity

Set across the road from AlUla's oasis in northwestern Saudi Arabia, Dar Tantora occupies a labyrinth of restored mud-brick and stone houses inside the old town, reimagined by Egyptian architect Shahira Fahmy. Thirty rooms (with ten more coming) sprawl across a warren of ochre walls, reed ceilings, hand-painted doors, and jute floors layered with oxblood rugs. The all-day restaurant Joontos plates Saudi and Levantine sharing dishes in an open courtyard; Maqha, a rooftop café, drapes itself across staggered roofs. A rooftop lap pool faces the oasis on one side and mountains on the other. After dark, more than 1,800 candles are lit by hand, and service runs through a WhatsApp butler.

Who's it for

Bottom line

What you're really booking is the architecture and the ritual: candlelit mud-brick rooms, a hand-led welcome ceremony, and a location plugged directly into AlUla's old town rather than secluded from it. Splurge on a Dar Al Hareer room for the terrace and daybeds, plan the trip for cooler months given the lack of air conditioning, and arrive while the property still feels freshly opened.