10,000 rooms, 70 restaurants… and still not open: the incredible failure of the largest hotel in the world in Mecca

Ten years after its shattering announcement, Abraj Kudai, supposed to become the largest hotel in the world with its 10,000 rooms, looks more like a mirage than a reality. Back on a pharaonic project with upset ambitions.

The visionary plans unveiled in 2015 left dreamer: 45 floors, 70 restaurants, 4 helipads and especially this ability to house the equivalent of twice the population of Monaco. Today, on the ground which was to welcome this hotel colossus, a stone’s throw from the Al-Haram mosque, only a few concrete skeletons testify to this inbound dream. However, the need is obvious. With 1.8 million pilgrims during the last Hajj and nearly 36 million annual visitors, Mecca stifles. “Pilgrims sometimes sleep on the floor of shopping centers for lack of rooms”says Ahmed, a local guide.

The difficulties of the project reflect the upheavals of the Saudi giant Binladin Group, its historic promoter. After the tragedy of the crane in 2015 (111 dead) and the arrest of its leaders in 2017 as part of the anti -corruption struggle by Mohammed Ben Salman, the group is struggling to get up. “Creditors are queuing and construction sites turn in slow motion”says a Riyadh banker.

The kingdom now seems to focus its efforts on other ceremonial projects: the futuristic megalopolis Neom, the seaside complexes of the Red Sea, or the organization of the 2034 World Cup. “But let’s not forget that 60% of foreign visitors come for the pilgrimage”tempers a consultant in religious tourism. While new brands like the Four Seasons are preparing to open their doors in the holy city, the Abraj Kudai seems to be condemned to remain this Saudi paradox: a project too ambitious to be abandoned, but too complex to succeed. In a kingdom that relies on excess, this ghost palace could well become the symbol of the limits of an economy still too dependent on the whims of oil and the palace rivalries.