A profile tailor-made for pre-opening
Raffles Hotels & Resorts, Accor’s luxury brand, has confirmed the arrival of Jérôme Pichon as general manager of Raffles Diriyah Gate. He will be responsible for steering the hotel’s entire pre-opening phase, shaping its vision, its company culture and its defining founding moments ahead of welcoming the first guests.
The brand highlights an executive with more than twenty years’ experience in international luxury hospitality. It praises his operational excellence, his team-focused leadership and his commitment to the guest experience, and notes that he has already led several landmark openings for leading brands.
From Kerzner to Desaru Coast, a career defined by openings
A graduate of EHL (1996-2000), Jérôme Pichon has held senior management positions in Dubai at Armani Hotel, The Palace Hotel and The Ritz-Carlton, as well as several key roles in the United States and Europe. He has also worked alongside Philippe Zuber at Emaar.
At Kerzner International, as director of global operations and openings, he helped design the concepts for new resorts. He also supported pre-opening teams, notably for One&Only Gorilla’s Nest and One&Only Nyungwe House in Rwanda. After a spell as general manager of the Arts Club Dubai, he rejoined the group in 2022 to take the helm of One&Only Desaru Coast in Malaysia, an appointment reported at the time in our columns. The resort is the first One&Only in Asia.
Diriyah, a showcase for Saudi luxury
Raffles Diriyah Gate forms part of the development of Diriyah, the historic birthplace of the Kingdom, on the north-western outskirts of Riyadh. The site surrounds the At-Turaif district, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Led by Diriyah Company, which is owned by the Public Investment Fund, the project is drawing a growing number of ultra-luxury brands, including Aman and Janu as well as The Ritz-Carlton and The Luxury Collection.
In November 2024, Raffles and Diriyah Company also announced the launch of Raffles Residences Diriyah. The programme of 90 apartments and townhouses will give residents access to the future hotel’s facilities. This first residential partnership between the two parties illustrates the mixed hotel and branded-residences model that is taking hold across the destination.
Analysis – This appointment comes just days after that of Tristan Delmas as head of Chedi Wadi Safar. It confirms that operators are now securing their pre-opening leadership teams in Diriyah, favouring executives well versed in ultra-luxury openings in the Gulf.
