Manama: A Saudi businessman has been strongly criticised online for putting up a tent in a hotel in the Abant region in Turkey after he booked all its rooms for his family.
The businessman had reportedly taken up the 12 rooms in the hotel and more rooms in a different hotel for two weeks for his large family consisting of four wives and all their children.
He then set up a large tent in the hotel garden as part of the summer vacation the family was spending in the resort, local news site Al Marsad reported on Sunday, citing the Turkish news agency.
Online users said that the man should not have put up the tent as it did not look right.
“It seems that we have a new Gaddafi,” one blogger said, referring to the Libyan former leader who regularly camped out in tents he put up in European hotels. His most famous tent-pitching was in New York in 2009, where he attended a UN summit.
Another blogger said that the businessman should have booked more rooms in case he needed private sace and not opted to have a tent in a garden.
Writing under the moniker of VIP, a blogger said that the businessman should have shown greater consideration for the local culture and avoided imposing his own approach to life on the hotel.
Those who supported the businessman said they saluted his determination to allow all his family to enjoy their summer vacation in Abant, one of the most sought after tourism destinations.
“Thank you for being just with your wives, not preferring one over the others,” Umm Noor said. “There is nothing wrong with what he did. He and his family are enjoying their vacation and nobody is angry, so let them have fun,” she said.
Another supporter said that the man was “free to spend his money any way he wanted as long as he did nothing illegal”.
Abant, in northwest Anatolia, is popular among GCC citizens thanks to its fresh air and natural beauty.
