World's largest hotel to open in Mecca

It will contain 10,000 rooms and 70 restaurants

An image of what will be the world's largest hotel (DAR AL-HANDASH)

The largest hotel in the world is set to open in Mecca next year.

The building, called Abraj Kudia, will contain 10,000 rooms and span 1.4 million square metres.

As well as hotel rooms, it will contain 70 restaurants, a large shopping mall and a lavish ballroom.

The construction of the hotel is set to amount to around £2.7 billion.

The hotel's construction is being funded by the Saudi Ministry of Finance and was designed by the Dar al-Handasah group, an international project design consultancy.

The grand construction will be situated two kilometres from the world's largest mosque, the Masjid al-Haram, which attracts around five million Muslims each year as they embark on the Hajj or Umrah pilgrimages.

It will be open to the public, but five floors will be reserved for the Saudi royal family as holiday accommodation.

Mecca’s building spree last year prompted the director of the UK-based Islamic Heritage Research Foundation to describe the city as “Mecca-hattan”.