Raffles, which is one of the Singapore’s top hotel and resort chain is opening a luxury hotel in Makkah offering pilgrims a coffee sommelier, a chocolate room where chefs will prepare bespoke pralines and truffles, and a 24-hour butler
An artist's impression of the proposed super-hotel in Mecca. Photograph: Raffles Hotels and Resorts
service, The Guardian Reported.
The hotel will be constructed at distance of a three-minute walk away from the Holy Mosque, the Masjid al-Haram, and that a “spacious outdoor dining terrace” would provide direct views of it.
Despite of restrictions on beautifying oneself during the Hajj, the hotel will comprise of certain elite class preserves. They Include:
- Segregated gyms
- Beauty parlours
- Grooming salons
- Spa.
- Coffee sommelier
- A chocolate room
- 1,005 guest rooms
- Lunar observation centre
- Islamic museum
The tower will be among the tallest in the world, 577 metres (1,893ft) high on completion, and its dimensions, including a clockface measuring 40 metres across that will be visible 10 miles away, make it five times larger than Big Ben.
Mohammed Arkobi, the general manager of the new hotel said: “Ultimately, the hotel’s sophisticated ambience, our range of features and highly personalised service delivery such as those offered through our 24-hour butler service will help to ensure that our residents’ overall experience will be enriching”.
But he did not explain how a chocolate room and spa would help pilgrims achieve spiritual fulfilment. Nor was he able to comment on how the amenities complied with the ethos of the hajj, which is about simplicity and humility.
The hotel is being developed by the Saudi Binladin Company, one of the largest construction firms in the Arab world, which has also been responsible for overseeing the expansion of the holy mosques in Makkah and Madina.
The Makkah Royal Clock Tower, operated by international hoteliers Fairmont, owned by a company chaired by HRH Prince Alwaleed bin Talal bin Abdulaziz Alsaud, the Saudi king’s nephew.
Makkah’s makeover is alarming international activists, such as Ali al-Ahmed, the director of the Washington-based Institute for Gulf Affairs, a thinktank analysing events and issues in the region. Ahmed, an outspoken critic of the Saudi regime, said many factors were driving the changes.
“The al-Sauds want to make Makkah like Dubai, it is a money-making operation. They destroy ancient buildings because they do not want any history other than their own, they see it as competition. They destroy and dispose of artefacts.”
They are of the view that as Hajj is the symbol of simplicity while such preserves for the elite class will be discrimination between the people performing Hajj.
Luxury developments at Holy site raise concerns Hajj will become preserve of elite…
Raffles Makkah is due to open in April 2010
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
I wish they could at least leave this place alone … Screw those who approved this project .. We can see where the world is going.
that is one more fact that in some form shows the saudi blue blood’s role in the misery faced by muslim ummah today !
I agree with every word of Sabih. Hajj means learning the lessons of simplicity and sacrifice, not discrimination.
Great post Salman, Keep up the good work!
And also look at the concept art. How much it is overshadowing the Holy Mosque!
And as the time passes on, there is a possibility of introduction of many Haram things in the hotel,i.e, in the vicinity of Kaaba. :/
I totally Object.
Thank you mutant…
although bin ladin firm is doing quite great for the extension of holy mosque, but this is something not tolerable in the vicinity of Kaaba….
Hajj will remain a mere tourist spot