Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia buys out Four Seasons in East Palo Alto for visit

EAST PALO ALTO, Calif. (KGO) -- This past weekend, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia stopped traffic and turned heads on his trip to Seattle. Now, he's in the Bay Area, and apparently staying at the Four Seasons in East Palo Alto to talk with Silicon Valley's biggest hitters.

The last remaining guests were checked out of the Four Seasons Hotel in East Palo Alto. Some hadn't planned to leave so soon.

ABC7 News has learned the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed Bin Salman bought out the entire hotel for the next six nights.

Hotel staff told ABC7 News off camera that guests have been relocated to neighboring hotels or other Four Seasons properties.

The hotel was given short notice of the royal visit from the U.S. State Department, just last week.

Those who work near the hotel have been warned to watch out for motorcades.

"There's a prince who purchased the hotel for the whole week," said investment banker Anu Deshpande. "I think that's amazing -- over the top -- but amazing."

The crown prince is in Silicon Valley to meet with Apple CEO Tim Cook and top executives at Google. Salman is interested in making his country a major tech hub.

The prince has been called a reformer by some. He's allowed women to drive and reopened movie theaters that have been closed since the 1980s.

Over the weekend he turned heads in Seattle. He visited Boeing and had a private meeting with Bill Gates. Most of his Seattle hotel was also bought out by the crown prince.

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