Robes in Hot Climates: What GCC Resorts Specify Differently

Short answer: in the Gulf, a robe is worn between an air-conditioned room and a hot terrace. Resorts there choose lighter robes, usually waffle at 300 to 350 GSM or terry at about 400 GSM, and keep pool robes separate from room robes.

What changes in a hot climate

Why lighter works better

• Guests wear it. A 600 GSM velour robe in a 40°C afternoon stays on the hook. A waffle robe gets used, which is the point of supplying it.
• It dries faster. Resort laundries run at full load in peak season. A lighter robe is back in the store sooner, which lowers the stock you need.
• Sand and sunscreen wash out more easily from a flat waffle surface than from a deep pile.

Suites and winter-season villas are the exception. Desert nights are cold from December to February, and many resorts keep a heavier terry robe for those rooms.

Pool and beach robes

Give pool robes their own colour or a contrast trim. It stops them migrating to rooms, and it lets you see at a glance where your loss is. Sunscreen and chlorine are hard on fabric, so expect a shorter life from pool stock and budget for it separately.

Getting them there

Robes for the Gulf ship from Cochin. Sea transit is 7 to 10 days to the UAE and 8 to 12 days to Saudi Arabia. Under the India-UAE CEPA, qualifying textile lines enter the UAE without the 5 percent duty when the certificate of origin is in order. Saudi Arabia has no such agreement with India, so budget the 5 percent.

Prices and order sizes

Waffle robes are $6.50 to $9.00 FOB Cochin and terry robes $9.50 to $13.00. White robes start at 50 pieces per size. Colours and embroidery are confirmed on enquiry.

See our GCC bathrobe page and the waffle robe page for the UAE. For Arabic logos, read what to send your supplier. Then ask for a quote with your room and villa count.