Do you know which hotel is the largest in the world? Ah yes, the Venetian and The palazzo Las Vegas that function as a single complex with a total of 7,117 rooms that have been distributed on 53 floors. However, this fact is soon to be changed since the Saudis have released details of a construction project that is way bigger in the city of Mecca.
For Muslims, the city of Mecca is the holiest city and more than 20 million people travel to this city annually. 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.
