Visiting Jeddah, we were told more than once: “You must try the afternoon tea at Raffles.” So we went to meet the people behind an experience that, only a few months after opening, has already captivating the local audience.
Opened in May 2026, Raffles Jeddah makes an immediate impression. The lobby draws inspiration from the colours and majesty of the Red Sea, while Atorie Lounge & Patisserie looks out towards the Jeddah waterfront. In the late afternoon, as the light begins to change over the sea, the setting becomes particularly striking and it is also when the lounge comes alive.
According to Margarita Baiazitova, Manager of Atorie Lounge & Patisserie, the popularity of afternoon tea has exceeded expectations. After 4 p.m., guests arrive to enjoy the lounge as the sun begins to set, and weekends have become so busy that reservations are essential.
For a hotel that has only recently opened its doors, this is a significant achievement, particularly in a year that has presented challenges for international travel to the region. More importantly, it suggests that Raffles has succeeded in making afternoon tea relevant to the way people in Jeddah like to spend their leisure time: socially, generously and in beautiful surroundings.
The experience itself was conceived well before the opening, bringing together the international identity of Raffles with the culinary ambitions of its new Saudi address. Yet, as every hospitality operator entering a new market discovers, creating the concept is only the beginning. Understanding local preferences is an ongoing process. Here the pastry selection offers interesting insights.
The original pastry menu included a significant selection of French-Japanese creations, alongside the European influences one would expect from a Raffles afternoon tea. Yet guests, predominantly Saudi, showed a clear preference for the richness and familiarity of traditional French pâtisserie.
The menu naturally evolved. Today, the pastry offering, curated by the hotel’s Executive Pastry Chef Jean-François Lavialle, is firmly centred on European and French delicacies — an approach that has proved particularly successful with the local clientele.
Tea brings another dimension to the experience.
Raffles’ Singaporean heritage brings with it a natural affinity with tea culture, and, under the guidance of F&B Director Conchi Ramos, the team in Jeddah has developed an unusually broad selection of teas and tisanes for the property.
The hotel works with Melez, the Istanbul-based boutique tea company known for developing tea experiences and blends for luxury hospitality. At Atorie, Tthe menu goes considerably beyond the standard hotel selection. Darjeeling FTGFOP1 sits alongside Ti Kuan Yin Oolong, Imperial Oolong with kaffir lime leaf, Floral White Tea and Vanilla Rooibos, among other choices.
The attention given to tea is not limited to Atorie. A similarly curated selection is served throughout the property, including in guest rooms — an important detail in a hotel where the luxury experience is intended to remain consistent across every touchpoint.
At the lounge, teas are served in recyclable sachets, individually presented in cartons, maintaining a premium presentation while making service practical and consistent. At the lounge gsuests can also select from a range of premium loose-leaf teas to enjoy at home.
For anyone working in tea, this is where the story becomes interesting.
Despite the breadth of the tea menu, guests are still strongly drawn towards black tea. English Breakfast remains the most requested choice, while some of the more distinctive speciality teas have yet to generate the curiosity that the team initially anticipated.
For Baiazitova, this is particularly striking. Having spent several years working in China and Taiwan, she developed a deep appreciation of tea and of the cultures surrounding its preparation and consumption. At Raffles Jeddah, however, she has discovered that introducing those experiences to a different audience requires time.
The hotel had also begun developing a tea sommelier programme, an initiative that has currently been placed on hold as the team continues to observe how guests engage with the tea offering.
None of this diminishes the sophistication of the selection. Rather, it touches on one of the most fascinating challenges in international hospitality: understanding how global expertise and local culture come together.
Learning the Language of Local Taste
The success of afternoon tea at Raffles Jeddah offers an interesting perspective for hoteliers, restaurateurs and tea companies looking at Saudi Arabia.
Tea is, after all, much more than a beverage choice. Our preferences develop alongside the foods we eat, the way tea is served at home and the occasions we associate with it. This is particularly relevant in Saudi Arabia, where tea already has a strong place in everyday life and black tea is deeply familiar.
Introducing speciality tea into such a market is therefore unlikely to be simply a question of offering more varieties. It is about finding the point at which something new connects naturally with tastes that already exist.
Guests arriving at an afternoon tea accompanied by beautiful French pastries may naturally choose the tea they already associate with pleasure and conviviality. Their reluctance to experiment with an oolong or a delicate white tea should not necessarily be interpreted as a lack of interest in quality. It may simply indicate that speciality tea has yet to establish the cultural references that make a new flavour feel relevant.
Jeddah’s extraordinary speciality coffee scene offers a useful parallel. The city has embraced new origins, brewing techniques and coffee experiences without abandoning its attachment to traditional Arabic coffee. Speciality coffee found a contemporary language through which it could communicate quality to local consumers.
Tea may eventually follow a similar path.
The opportunity is not necessarily to persuade guests to replace the teas they love. It is to find ways of introducing new origins, flavours and preparation methods that connect with existing preferences.
Raffles Jeddah is particularly well positioned to explore it. The hotel already has the setting, the service standards, an impressive tea selection and, most importantly, a local audience that has enthusiastically embraced its afternoon tea.
The next chapter will be about discovering how far that audience can be invited into the wider world of tea while preserving everything that has already made the experience so successful.
For T Hospitality, that makes Raffles Jeddah a particularly interesting venue to follow. Its afternoon tea is already becoming part of the city’s luxury hospitality landscape. How its tea offering evolves alongside the tastes of its guests may tell us something equally valuable about the future of speciality tea in Saudi Arabia… We will stay tuned.
