Fancy a stay in the world’s largest hotel? You’ll be sharing it with 9,999 other guests
The Abraj Kubai in Saudi Arabia, due to open in 2017, is costing around £2.7 BILLION to build and will have 10,000 rooms spread over 12 towers and 45 floors
THE world's largest hotel expected to boast up to 10,000 rooms is due to open its gates in 2017.
Estimated to cost around £2.7 billion ($3.5bn), the Abraj Kudia in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, will also feature 70 restaurants, helipads, a lavish shopping mall and a ballroom.
Estimated to cost around £2.7 billion ($3.5bn), the proposed development features 12 towers, all around 45 storeys high, and will stretch across 1.4 million square metres.
It's being funded by the Saudi Ministry of Finance and was designed by the Dar al-Handasah group, an international project design consultancy, while a British group is reportedly handling the luxurious interiors.
It's set to be situated two kilometres from the world's largest mosque, the Masjid al-Haram, where around two million Muslims flock each year to embark on pilgrimages.
The Abraj Kudia will be an iconic landmark reflecting a modern interpretation of a traditional desert fortress.
Of the 12 towers, 10 are intended to provide four-star accommodation, while the remaining two will offer five-star facilities.
The hotel will be open to the public, but five floors will be reserved for the Saudi royal family as holiday accommodation.
Judging by the rates charged at the nearby Makkah Royal Clock Tower Hotel - which can be as high as £4,000 a night - it probably won't be cheap to rent a room.
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Last year a building spree in the area prompted the director of the UK-based Islamic Heritage Research Foundation, Irfan Al-Alawi, to describe the city as “Mecca-hattan”.
He warned: "Everything has been swept away to make way for the incessant march of luxury hotels, which are destroying the sanctity of the place and pricing normal pilgrims out."
Currently Las Vegas is home to the world's largest hotel in terms of the number of rooms available to guests.
The MGM Grand has 6,198 bedrooms, according to hotel industry research firm STR Inc.