Ritz-Carlton Reserve takes shape in Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea and guests expected in 2023

The first travellers to Saudi Arabia’s Ummahat Islands in the Red Sea are expected to be able to check-in next year.

Ritz-Carlton Reserve will open its doors on the low-lying islands and, judging by new pictures shared on social media, work on the luxury development is well under way.

Azure blue waters, untouched beaches and private villa structures are visible in the photographs, which depict progress at the archipelago in the west of the kingdom.

A sprawling circular extension, which will function as a walkway to the Ritz-Carlton's overwater villas, can also be seen taking shape in one of the aerial pictures.

John Pagano, chief executive of the Red Sea Development Company, shared the new images on Twitter writing, “Great progress at #TheRedSea's Ummahat islands where the overwater and beach villas of the 82-key Nujuma, a @RitzCarlton Reserve are shaping up nicely.”

He also confirmed that the first hotel guests will be able to check-in for stays next year.

The Ritz-Carlton Nujuma will join only five other Ritz-Carlton Reserves in the world, with the Saudi Arabian outpost being its sixth.

Nujuma will be located on a collection of pristine private islands in the Red Sea’s Blue Hole atoll, which forms part of the The Red Sea Project, a mega development taking shape off the west coast of the country.

A rendering of a villa at Nujuma, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve. Photo: Marriott International

Blending indigenous design and highly personalised services, the ultra-exclusive hospitality brand by Marriott will combine luxury accommodation and service with a strong focus on regenerative tourism and an on-site conservation project.

The Red Sea island destination is expected to be completed by 2030, with phase one scheduled to open in 2023.

Consisting of 50 resorts, it will have nearly 8,000 hotel rooms spread across 22 islands.

Other luxury hotel brands headed to the destination include St Regis, Six Senses and Raffles, plus Jumeirah, one of the UAE's most popular hotel groups. Sixteen hotels are expected to open as the first phase of the project.

The destination is one of several giga-projects under way in Saudi Arabia with others including the futuristic mega city of Neom in the north-west and entertainment-centric Qiddiya on the outskirts of Riyadh.

Scroll the gallery below to see more of Saudi Arabia's megaprojects.

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AI ambassadors such as MIT economist Simon Johnson, Monzo cofounder Tom Blomfield and Google DeepMind’s Raia Hadsell
£10bn AI growth zone in South Wales to create 5,000 jobs
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£250m to train new AI models

One in four Americans don't plan to retire

Nearly a quarter of Americans say they never plan to retire, according to a poll that suggests a disconnection between individuals' retirement plans and the realities of ageing in the workforce.

Experts say illness, injury, layoffs and caregiving responsibilities often force older workers to leave their jobs sooner than they'd like.

According to the poll from The Associated Press-NORC Centre for Public Affairs Research, 23 per cent of workers, including nearly two in 10 of those over 50, don't expect to stop working. Roughly another quarter of Americans say they will continue working beyond their 65th birthday.

According to government data, about one in five people 65 and older was working or actively looking for a job in June. The study surveyed 1,423 adults in February this year.

For many, money has a lot to do with the decision to keep working.

"The average retirement age that we see in the data has gone up a little bit, but it hasn't gone up that much," says Anqi Chen, assistant director of savings research at the Centre for Retirement Research at Boston College. "So people have to live in retirement much longer, and they may not have enough assets to support themselves in retirement."

When asked how financially comfortable they feel about retirement, 14 per cent of Americans under the age of 50 and 29 per cent over 50 say they feel extremely or very prepared, according to the poll. About another four in 10 older adults say they do feel somewhat prepared, while just about one-third feel unprepared.

"One of the things about thinking about never retiring is that you didn't save a whole lot of money," says Ronni Bennett, 78, who was pushed out of her job as a New York City-based website editor at 63.

She searched for work in the immediate aftermath of her layoff, a process she describes as akin to "banging my head against a wall." Finding Manhattan too expensive without a steady stream of income, she eventually moved to Portland, Maine. A few years later, she moved again, to Lake Oswego, Oregon. "Sometimes I fantasise that if I win the lottery, I'd go back to New York," says Ms Bennett.

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Rating: 3/5

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MATCH INFO

Uefa Champions League final:

Who: Real Madrid v Liverpool
Where: NSC Olimpiyskiy Stadium, Kiev, Ukraine
When: Saturday, May 26, 10.45pm (UAE)
TV: Match on BeIN Sports

Race card:

6.30pm: Baniyas (PA) Group 2 Dh195,000 1,400m.

7.05pm: Maiden (TB) Dh165,000 1,400m.

7.40pm: Handicap (TB) Dh190,000 1,200m.

8.15pm: Maiden (TB) Dh165,000 1,200m.

8.50pm: Rated Conditions (TB) Dh240,000 1,600m.

9.20pm: Handicap (TB) Dh165,000 1,400m.

10pm: Handicap (TB) Dh175,000 2,000m.