Abraj Kudai

Abraj Kudai is a hotel currently under construction in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.[1] It was projected to open in 2017, but a financial problem in 2015 halted construction and pushed out its completion to 2019 or 2020.[2] When completed, it will be the largest hotel in the world, consisting of a ring of 12 towers 45 stories high, with 10,000 bedrooms, 70 restaurants, and four rooftop helipads. There will also be five floors for the sole use of the Saudi royal family.[3] According to Arabian Business, 10 of the towers will provide four-star accommodations, while the other two towers will be reserved for special clientele offering five-star amenities.[4][5]

Abraj Kudai
General information
LocationMecca, Saudi Arabia
Other information
Number of rooms10,000
Website
dar.dargroup.com/work/project/abraj-kudai

The estimated project cost is US$3.5 billion, and will cover approximately 1.4 million square metres.[6] The London-based firm Areen Hospitality has been contracted to design the hotel and the rooms' interiors.[4]

Controversy

As the owner of the Abraj Kudai project, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Finance is also a prime customer of The Saudi Binladin Group (SBL), one of the country's largest construction companies. The actions of the government directly affect SBL and so when low oil prices began propelling the government "to cancel or suspend projects and delay payments", SBL suffers too. Further exacerbating the situation, as reported by Gulf Business, was when one of SBL's cranes fell into the Grand Mosque in Mecca, resulting in 107 deaths and the company being banned "from receiving new state contracts altogether." In response to its potential financial collapse, the conglomerate laid off thousands of employees and stopped work on several important projects including Abraj Kudai.

Unconfirmed reports in August 2017 indicated that work was expected to resume on the hotel project.[7]

References
  1. Anil, Kumar. "Abraj Kudai the World's Largest Hotel in Makkah, Saudi Arabia". trendingbird.com. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
  2. Aswad, Celine (14 August 2017). "Exclusive: Saudi Arabia to resume building mammoth Mecca hotel - sources". Reuters. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
  3. Oliver Wainwright (22 May 2015). "City in the sky: world's biggest hotel to open in Mecca". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 May 2015.
  4. "Luxury hotel in Saudi Arabia to become world's largest hotel". Yahoo!. 20 May 2015. Retrieved 22 May 2015.
  5. Natalie Paris (20 May 2015). "World's largest hotel to be built in Mecca". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 22 May 2015.
  6. Marnie Hunter (21 May 2015). "World's largest hotel coming to Mecca". CNN. Retrieved 22 May 2015.
  7. "Saudi Arabia to resume building mammoth Mecca hotel - sources". The Star Online. 14 August 2017.

Official Website

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