No men allowed!

IMAGINE the secret-society feel of a British private members’ club mixed with the casual dress of a pyjama party. That is the atmosphere of Luthan Hotel and Spa, a women-only establishment in Riyadh, the austere Saudi capital. Behind tinted windows and a closely guarded front door, women shed the full-length black abayas they must wear in public. Bleary-eyed, they roll out of bed into the hotel gym, a facility which in lodgings hosting both sexes would be for men only. In the evening the Luthan’s ladies gather for spirited natters in the restaurant, free to sit wherever they want, rather than in a “family section” shielded from the men-only area by screens.

As women have become less happy to be confined to the home, women-only facilities beyond schools and universities are proliferating. In Kingdom Mall, a shopping centre, men are forbidden to tread on one floor, where nail salons and hairdressers flank clothes shops. On Thursdays Riyadh’s zoo admits women only. Curves, an American gym chain, has found favour by offering its facilities to female fitness fanatics unencumbered by their men. The new trend means more jobs for women too. In the Luthan, female porters, cleaners and IT staff cater to the guests’ every whim.