Shadi Suleman has been appointed Regional Vice President and General Manager at Four Seasons Hotel Riyadh - Effective July 2025
- EDITOR
- 10 hours ago
- 6 min read
TODAY'S INSPIRATION: Shadi Suleman, who took on the role of Regional Vice President and General Manager at Four Seasons Hotel Riyadh this month, said: “The Kingdom’s hospitality landscape is evolving at an incredible pace, and it’s a privilege to work with our outstanding teams to deliver the legendary Four Seasons experience.”
Since 2002, Shadi Suleman has been a part of the Four Seasons family, beginning his journey as the Front Office Manager at the Four Seasons Hotel Riyadh at Kingdom Centre. Shadi has amassed a wealth of experience across several prestigious properties. His career includes roles at the Four Seasons Hotel Doha, Four Seasons Hotel Alexandria at San Stefano, Four Seasons Hotel Istanbul at the Bosphorus, and Four Seasons Hotel Damascus, which was previously a Four Seasons property. He has also worked at the Sahara Resort in Damascus, Syria, and with the Abu Dhabi National Hotels Company in the United Arab Emirates. Shadi holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Hospitality Administration and Management from Damascus University.
Stepping into a high-performing hotel requires more than maintaining momentum, it calls for vision. “When a hotel is already performing well, the question becomes: how do you take it further?” says Shadi Suleman. From the start, his focus has been on honouring what works while inspiring new ideas. “For me, it always comes back to human connection, building meaningful relationships with our guests and cultivating a team culture that’s driven by that same level of care.”
Suleman returns to Riyadh with a deep sense of familiarity and pride as this is where his Four Seasons journey began in 2002. Since then, both he and the city have undergone a remarkable transformation. What was once a growing luxury market has become one of the region’s most ambitious and fast-evolving hospitality hubs. Having contributed to the foundation of Four Seasons Hotel Riyadh in its early days, Suleman now steps back in with the long view, ready to build on its legacy while embracing the momentum of a city that’s rewriting its future.
In recent years, the Hotel has undergone a bold reinvention, emerging as a culinary destination with the introduction of world-renowned names such as Café Boulud and Julien by Daniel Boulud, the arrival of Pierre Hermé’s iconic patisserie, and the launch of Tonic Bar—the city’s first bar of its kind. These additions have helped position the Hotel at the forefront of Riyadh’s rapidly expanding luxury scene. But as the capital continues to evolve into a global hospitality hub, Suleman knows the challenge is no longer just to impress, it’s to lead. In his expanded role, Suleman is pivotal in advancing Four Seasons strategic growth across the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. “The Kingdom’s hospitality landscape is evolving at an incredible pace, and it’s a privilege to be working with our outstanding teams to deliver the legendary Four Seasons experience.”
Suleman was born and raised in Syria. Due to the nature of his father’s work, he grew up experiencing a lot of restaurants and hotels and always admired how smoothly operations were run and how meticulously rooms were maintained. “My parents wanted me to be a doctor or pursue engineering, but I told them my passion was to be a server and see where it takes me.”
Where it took him was first to a degree in hospitality management, then to a starting position as an elevator attendant at one of the first properties in Syria to hire from a hotel school. He later moved into rooms as a bellboy and quickly felt “right at home,” enjoying the opportunity to chat with guests as he did their beds, and seeing the rooms division as offering a focused route to growth. Only later did he polish his culinary skills and wine knowledge, further preparing him for advancement into executive-level management. “One year, I even utilized my 30 days of vacation to work in dining outlets for the experience. It was a lot to do, but it’s something I’d recommend.”
After about a decade in the industry, however, Suleman wasn’t enjoying himself as he’d hoped, and he began to contemplate changing careers. Then one day he saw in a newspaper that Four Seasons was looking to recruit people from Syria. He reached out and had a “great chat” with a manager in Riyadh, who convinced him that the hospitality career he was looking for lay with the company.
“I asked what was going to be different about Four Seasons. He said, ‘We’re only 40 hotels. If we wanted to expand like other hotel groups, we’d have 1,000 properties by now. But our main asset is our people. We grow them instead.’”
Suleman signed on at the Front Desk in Riyadh, the start of a run that took him to Damascus, Istanbul, Alexandria, and Doha - before eventually returning to Four Seasons Hotel Riyadh, where it all started. His last major accomplishments in Doha included positioning Four Seasons Hotel Doha as a regional leader, earning #1 Hotel in the Middle East and #5 in the World in the 2022 Condé Nast Traveler Readers’ Choice Awards, securing consecutive Forbes Five-Star ratings, and achieving Michelin Guide recognition for Nobu and Curiosa by Jean-Georges.
Now based in Riyadh, Suleman remains as passionate about hospitality as ever, using his downtime to stay on top of the industry he knows so well. “When I’m not working, my wife and I travel and stay in as many types of hotels as we can.” He enjoys photographing properties and features along the way and has compiled countless ideas. - Continue reading
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