Eng. Marwan bin Saud Al-Nejaidi, CEO and Managing Director, Snood Hotels Company
How the CEO and Managing Director has led Snood Hotels Company from 10 hotels in 2022 to 36 hotels and approximately 7,100 keys across Makkah, Madinah and Riyadh—while building a diversified, guest-centred Saudi hospitality platform.
Saudi Arabia’s hospitality sector is entering a defining era—and Snood Hotels Company is building for it. Under the leadership of Eng. Marwan bin Saud Al-Nejaidi, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, the company has grown from 10 hotels in 2022 to 36 hotels and approximately 7,100 keys across Makkah, Madinah and Riyadh. This growth reflects a wider institutional transformation: stronger governance, a clearer operating model, brand development, digital enablement and a disciplined focus on guest experience. For Al-Nejaidi, growth is not a count of properties; it is the ability to scale with quality, consistency and genuine care for every guest.
Building Hospitality around the Human Experience
Hospitality is often viewed through the lens of assets, rooms, and properties. But at its core, it is a people business, one built on trust, consistency, and an understanding of place. That insight has shaped Eng. Marwan bin Saud Al-Nejaidi’s path to leadership. His education and early professional experiences gave him a disciplined approach to problem-solving, while working in Saudi Arabia showed him how deeply service quality can influence the guest experience. It was this combination of commercial rigour and direct human impact that drew him further into hospitality and tourism. Saudi Arabia’s transformation has only strengthened that conviction. “The Kingdom is welcoming a growing and increasingly diverse range of visitors, including pilgrims whose journeys carry profound personal importance. That environment strengthened my conviction that leadership must unite ambition with accountability,” says Al-Nejaidi.
The Beginning of a Transformative Journey
When Al-Nejaidi assumed the role of CEO and Managing Director of Snood Hotels Company in 2022, the organisation already had an established operational foundation. What he saw was the potential to build on that foundation and develop Snood Hotels Company into a more integrated, scalable, and future-ready Saudi hospitality platform. His vision was never simply to add more properties to the portfolio. It was to strengthen governance, build a capable leadership structure, introduce disciplined performance management, and establish a long-term strategy capable of supporting sustainable growth.
That transformation also extended to the company’s identity and market proposition. Snood Hotels Company began developing complementary brands designed to address distinct needs across hospitality, travel, and reservations, creating an ecosystem that could extend beyond the traditional hotel model. Yet for Al-Nejaidi, expansion could not come at the expense of the qualities that make hospitality meaningful. “My belief was that sustainable growth would come from operational excellence and a distinctive Saudi understanding of guest care. That remains central today: build a company that can expand confidently while preserving quality, accountability and the feeling that every guest is welcome,” he shares.
Alongside its hotel portfolio, Snood Hotels Company has built a multi-brand hospitality ecosystem: Mozn Snood, its Umrah services arm; Merlin Hotel, its upper-upscale hotel brand; Cloud Residence, its serviced accommodation brand; and Senadh, its B2B reservations and travel distribution platform. Together, these brands allow Snood Hotels Company to support guests across more stages of the visitor journey while creating a more diversified platform for growth.
Under Al-Nejaidi’s leadership, Snood Hotels Company has secured six official awards, all formally documented and with trophies received. This includes two Silver Winner distinctions at the MUSE Hotel Awards 2026, Season 2: Snood Hotels Company in the Hotel – Hotel Group category, and Snood Al Narjis in the Hotel – Economy Hotel category. Mozn Snood, an integral part of the Snood ecosystem, has also received six recognitions from the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah for operational performance, enrichment programmes, service innovation, and sector participation. Snood Hotels Company has maintained a continuous presence at Hajj Services Expo from 2022 to 2026 and was a Golden Sponsor at the 2026 Umrah & Ziyarah Forum, demonstrating its sustained contribution to the Kingdom’s pilgrimage, tourism and hospitality ecosystem.
Turning Challenges into Opportunities for Growth
Growing a hospitality business across Makkah, Madinah, and Riyadh is no simple feat. Each destination comes with its own operating realities, guest expectations, and commercial dynamics, making it essential to maintain a consistent standard of service without treating every market exactly the same way. The Holy Cities, in particular, bring a unique set of complexities. Seasonality, fluctuating guest volumes, transportation flows, and the emotional significance of the pilgrim journey require precise planning and strong on-the-ground coordination. Riyadh, meanwhile, brings a different set of commercial rhythms and guest expectations, requiring the company to remain agile without losing the Snood identity. “One of the most significant lessons has been that growth exposes every weakness in process, communication and decision-making. We therefore invested in a clearer operating model, specialist leadership, weekly executive reviews and stronger coordination across sales, operations, finance and guest service,” shares Al-Nejaidi.
High-pressure periods have also tested the organisation’s ability to respond to unexpected market changes. But the company has learned to navigate these hurdles by bringing the right people together, making decisions close to the facts and maintaining calm execution. For Al-Nejaidi, the objective throughout has been clear: protect the guest experience, support partners, and turn operational pressure into a stronger, more resilient organisation.
Leadership Built on Trust and Accountability
As Snood Hotels Company has grown, so has Al-Nejaidi’s approach to leadership. In the early phase of the company’s transformation, the focus was on establishing the fundamentals: structure, accountability, specialist roles, strategic priorities, and reliable performance rhythms. Today, his role has increasingly shifted from directing transformation to enabling others to lead it with clarity and confidence. He believes that effective leadership is not about having every decision pass through the CEO’s desk. Rather, it is about setting the right direction, asking the right questions, and ensuring that leaders have the authority and information needed to act quickly and responsibly.
Yet, despite the growing importance of data, systems, and dashboards in modern hospitality, Al-Nejaidi remains convinced that leadership must stay close to the operation. After all, the ultimate measure of success cannot be found solely in a dashboard. It can be felt in whether a guest feels cared for and whether employees feel trusted to perform at their best. He also places equal importance on transparent dialogue. “Difficult issues should reach the leadership team early, not after they become crises. By combining ambitious standards with practical support for our people, we can create a culture that is accountable, resilient and genuinely focused on the guest,” notes Al-Nejaidi.
Meaningful Guest Experiences at the Core
Al-Nejaidi does not view commercial success and meaningful guest experiences as competing priorities. Instead, he sees commercial success as the natural result of consistently delivering the latter. This is especially true in religious tourism, where guests are not only looking for a room or a transaction. They need reassurance, clarity, comfort, and respectful service throughout a journey that may be deeply personal and spiritually significant. For Al-Nejaidi, that experience begins long before a guest arrives. Pre-arrival communication, booking confidence, transportation coordination, hotel readiness, service recovery, and thoughtful experiences all form part of the wider guest journey. Snood Hotels Company’s approach extends beyond accommodation, with its wider ecosystem, including Mozn Snood, addressing the practical, cultural, and spiritual needs of pilgrims and visitors. This human-centred approach is reflected in Snood Enriches the Pilgrim Journey, an initiative designed to support pilgrims across key moments of their stay through care, guidance, and meaningful guest support.
Its teams are also trained to view service from the guest’s perspective, keeping the human element at the heart of the experience. Technology can support this by improving speed, coordination, and personalisation, but it cannot replace human care. And this distinction is central to Al-Nejaidi’s philosophy. The goal is not simply to deliver an efficient experience, but to create one that is dependable, dignified, and memorable, an experience that guests feel comfortable recommending and partners can rely upon.
Building Scale with Greater Depth
Looking ahead, Snood Hotels Company has set its sights on becoming a 100-hotel platform through disciplined expansion. The company intends to strengthen its position in Makkah and Madinah, continue expanding in Riyadh, and evaluate strategic opportunities in markets such as Jeddah. Its portfolio already extends beyond traditional hotel operations. Mozn Snood focuses on Umrah services; Merlin Hotel addresses the upper-upscale segment; Cloud Residence provides serviced accommodation; and Senadh operates within B2B reservations and travel distribution. Together, these businesses allow Snood Hotels Company to engage with different points of the visitor journey and different segments of the hospitality market.
Technology will be another important part of this journey. Snood Hotels Company is investing in stronger digital capabilities, data-informed decision-making, integrated CRM and ERP systems, and more personalised guest engagement. At the same time, the company plans to build partnerships that can enhance the overall visitor journey, rather than viewing the hotel as an isolated product. “Our objective is to create a Saudi hospitality group that is scalable, trusted and ready to contribute meaningfully to the Kingdom’s tourism future,” adds Al-Nejaidi.
A Word to the Next Generation
For emerging Saudi entrepreneurs, Al-Nejaidi believes the journey should begin with a purpose that extends beyond short-term growth. Vision 2030 has opened up remarkable opportunities, but he sees opportunity as only the beginning. Building a lasting business requires a clear understanding of a real guest need, a capable team, and the discipline to stay the course when market conditions become demanding. He also sees credibility as an asset that entrepreneurs cannot afford to overlook. “Deliver what you promise, make decisions transparently, and protect the trust of guests, partners, and employees. You should also be willing to learn quickly. The most valuable lessons often come from difficult periods, when plans need to change, and leadership is tested,” he says.
In hospitality and tourism, this lesson is especially relevant. Technology and investment can provide powerful support, but they ultimately have to serve people. The quality of the human experience remains central to how businesses create lasting value. He encourages young Saudi entrepreneurs to think ambitiously. “Saudi entrepreneurs should be ambitious about scale and global relevance while staying grounded in the Kingdom’s values, culture and national priorities. If they build with integrity, resilience and a commitment to genuine value creation, they can contribute meaningfully to the transformation of Saudi Arabia,” concludes Al-Nejaidi.