Some days, The Pink Tarha can be as spontaneous as a finger snap and more often than not, we surprise ourselves with the things that we go to, people we meet and what we accomplish. This year, we haven’t really planned for a Pink Tarha Morning (our usual, yearly event) and since Janelle is currently on vacation, there was nothing clearly set in stone until a representative from Aloft Hotel Riyadh contacted us regarding a possible collaboration with their hotel this Ramadan. A few emails and Whatsapp messages later, I visited their newly opened hotel to finalize the details of what would become our very first Pink Tarha Night: Iftar at Aloft Hotel.
The date was set for June 8.
It all happened quite fast as we basically had a week to gather the registration and confirm the number of attendees with the hotel. Basically, we were hosting an Iftar for our readers who will get 30% off the normal buffet price of Aloft and a raffle draw would allow one person to win an overnight stay for two at the hotel. They secured a private function room for us, separate from their main restaurant and served up hot and delicious dishes for our guests. As we saw the name of our event on the hotel hallways, we were abuzz with excitement.
The staff had prepared the room very well.
Ate Raquel, helping out with the seating assignments.
The Pink Tarha Iftar Squad.
With the support of our friends, I was certainly not left alone to handle everything, Alhamdulilah! Our gal pals, Ate Raquel and Jamila helped with the registration, Geff with the photography and Jou for the welcoming party. By 6:15 PM, people started arriving and here’s some photos from our modest gathering.
Let’s start with the food (before it all disappeared). Hehe.
Salads gracing us at the entrance.
Some of the main course items: Beef with Broccoli
Sweet and sour fish
Lamb Ouzi, classic Iftar dish!
Tiger Prawns in stir-fried noodles.
One of the desserts I liked best, the strawberry cheesecake.
Maghrib prayer started and so did the line for the food.
Enjoy your Iftar, Riyadhizens!
Let’s share the food and eat. 🙂
Since majority of our guests were Asians, we had the management serve up dishes that were more familiar to us and the feedback on the food taste was positive, we just had to wait for a while for some of the refills as the kitchen became busy too at their main restaurant downstairs. Meanwhile, let’s take some time to feature our lovely guests who decided to unwind and join us on that Thursday night:
Junry, Jo and Jehan. Junry won one of the raffles for Zafran Indian Bistro.
Mr. Afaq and friends.
Mr. Ricky Camacho and group.
CEO of SE Productions, Mr. Rani Basanta with Ryan and Lowed.
The group of 18 pax courtesy of Ms. Sally L.
The kids in attendance.
Ms. Chantal with Jessica, Erika and Debbie! Don’t mind me in the background. 😛
Ms. Zhariya C. of TFC and the rest of their company.
Ms. Sol, who came with her family.
Ms. Raquel with friends.
Raffle draw in between for Zafran Indian Bistro.
One of the winners of the voucher. 🙂 Sorry sir, I forgot your name…
Aaaand the Grand Winner of the overnight stay at Aloft was Sajda R! Congratulations!
Janelle and I would like to THANK ALL OF YOU guys for coming and choosing to spend your Iftar with us. It’s not often that we get to interact with our readers in real life so it was immensely fun meeting each and everyone of you. To our friends who supported us, THANK YOU as well. From Ate Raquel who helped with the organization and registration, to Jamila who ushered in our guests, to Geff who did the photography and to Jou for the moral support. 🙂 We’d also like to thank Mr. Shankar of Aloft Riyadh for choosing to collaborate with The Pink Tarha and for being on top of everything that we needed during the event. Overall, it was a great experience and we are grateful. <3
Since it’s still Ramadan, Iftar offerings are still ongoing at Aloft Hotel for 180 SAR per person. You can find their funky and fun hotel in the location posted below. Until our next event!
Aloft Hotel Riyadh
2385 Olaya St, Al Olaya,
Riyadh
Website: http://starwoodhotels.com
Tel: 011 234 1111
Location Map:
