The city of Mecca is the holiest city for Muslims around the world and more than 20 million people travel to this city annually. So building a biggest hotel there is the only logical. 2 million, roughly, travel to the city during the period of Hajj specifically. Keeping all these factors in mind, the Dar Al-Handasah – a multi-national design group – has presented their project that entails the construction of Abraj Kudai. It is a hotel that shall feature a total site area of 60,000m2. The total built-up area is estimated to be about 1.4 million m2. Apart from the 70 restaurants and 4 heliports, the hotel shall be sporting more than 10,000 rooms which will be distributed in a total of 12 towers.
The project took its inspiration from the conventional desert fortress’ design. The towers have been designed so that they will be built on top of a 10-story podium that will house a convention center, food courts, shopping mall, parking lots, bus station and a luxurious ballroom as well. The Abraj Kudai will be built at a distance of 2 km from the Grand Mosque Masjid al-Haram where the Holy Ka’aba is housed.
The towers shall have a total of 44 floors with 10 of them being 4-star accommodations whereas 2 shall be offering 5-star luxury. The top five floors are to be reserved for the Saudi royal family only. The construction cost of the hotel has been estimated at £2.3 billion and it shall be completed in 2017.