On balance we enjoyed our visit to Mada'in Saleh.  It is an amazing place and everyone we met was very friendly and welcoming.  It is still developing its tourism infrastructure especially in the area of hotel accommodation.  The guides within Mada'in Saleh are excellent and well orgamised.  The areas we felt could have been handled better by our guide Mohammed were:

1. Making it clear what the total price for the trip was.  We ended up paying $1,500 for 2 nights and his driver taking us to the tour bus location each day.  We had to pay an additional 1,100 SAR  each for the tours themselves.  He was with us very little of this time so I'm not sure what 'guiding' he did for us.

2. We felt this was a very excessive price and not explained  at the beginning which was disappointing

3. Our guide Mohammed was nonetheless very friendly and welcoming but we felt overcharged 

4. Most of our contact was with his lovely driver Ali who spoken little English but did his best.

I think it was a case of expectation management and communication on both sides and I'll be more knowledgeable next time.  Mada'in Saleh is a fantastic place to visit and everyone should do this.

We spent 2 full days with Salem AlAtawi on an amazing trip back in time to the days of Moses (Musa).  Salem was an excellent driver and we felt safe even on some tricky offroad terrain.  He was an excellent host and knew where to get the best food for the 3 women and 3 children in our group.  I highly recommend his services.  

Friendly and helpful.