Kingdom Hotel Investments was formed in 1994 to consolidate the ownership of Prince Alwaleed's Middle Eastern hotel properties. KHC built this business from the first hotel acquisition in 1994 and created one of the leading hotel investment companies operating in emerging markets. In March 2006, KHI completed its initial public offering and dual listing of shares on the DIFX and depositary receipts on the London Stock Exchange. KHI raised approximately US$400 million from the offering, which it intends to use primarily for acquisitions.

KHI is a leading hotel and resort acquisition and development company in the Middle East and Africa, operating in the first-class and luxury market segments. In addition, KHI has an investment in Europe, through its 25 percent interest in the Four Seasons Hotel George V Hotel in Paris. KHI enters into management agreements with Four Seasons, Fairmont Raffles and Mövenpick for the operation and management of its hotels. KHI has ownership interests in 31 properties, of which 18 are operating hotels, including several distinctive luxury properties, and 13 are hotels and resorts currently under construction or in initial stages of development. KHI's operating hotels contain more than 4,000 rooms, while KHI's hotels under development are expected to contain more than 3,000 additional rooms. In 2005 KHI generated hotel revenues of $55.4 million and net income of $9.9 million. As of 31 December 2005, its net assets were $536.7 million.

KHI is primarily responsible for the overall management of the KHC’s hotel portfolio outside North America and Europe. KHI's management is responsible for acquisition and development decisions and its key objective is to capitalise on the expected growth in travel within the Middle East. The World Tourism Organisation forecasts that travel to the Middle East will increase by 150 percent over the next 15 years. KHI also intends to acquire and develop hotels in India, Southeast Asia and Africa.

KHC currently owns 94,516,240 shares of KHI, representing 54.1 percent of KHI's share capital.

KHI has announced that it expects to continue its expansion strategy, including future expansion into Asia through Raffles brand. KHI also intends to continue to acquire properties that it views as having potential for value creation. Its value enhancement strategies include: (i) re-branding to improve the positioning of a property in its market; (ii) targeted capital improvements to enhance and/or expand facilities and services offered; (iii) implementing purchasing policies based on competitive bidding practices and other cost control measures; (iv) revenue yield management to increase RevPAR and profitability; and (v) restructurings and refinancings to release equity and/or reduce KHI's financing costs.