World's biggest hotel opening in Mecca in 2017

10,000 bedrooms, four helipads, 70 restaurants and 45 storeys-high into the sky - the Abraj Kudai is set to become the world's biggest luxury hotel when it opens in 2017.

If you are wondering just how large Abraj Kudai will be, news and analysis site DNA India said it is about the size of 80 football fields in the United States.

Costing 2.3 billion pounds (S$5 billion) to build, the hotel will become the crowning feature of the holy city of Mecca, said The Guardian.

Abraj Kudai is funded by the Saudi Ministry of Finance and five levels of the upscale establishment will be reserved entirely for the Saudi royal family, said reports online.

Headed by the Dar Al Handasah group, the hotel is designed upon the idea of a contemporary desert fortress.

From the artist impressions released online, the most distinctive feature is the top of the hotel where 12 towers come together like a ring to surround a 10-storey podium.

The complex will also house a bus station, shopping mall, food courts, full-sized conference centre and a "lavishly-appointed" ballroom, added The Guardian.

DNA India said that 10 towers of the hotel rooms will provide four-star accommodations, while the rest will offer five-star amenities.

Abraj Kudai is being built in the Manafia district, just over a mile south of the Grand Mosque and two kilometres from Mecca.

CNN said the MGM Grand hotel in Las Vegas currently holds the title to the world's largest hotel in terms of room numbers.

The hotel has a record of 6,198 rooms, according to hotel industry firm STR Inc.

wjeanne@sph.com.sg