IHG opens Makkah’s largest hotel

IHG Hotels and Resorts has opened its voco Makkah property which it says is the largest hotel within Makkah.

The 4321-key hotel has rooms that can accommodate between two to four guests. To manage the high number of guests that may be checking into the hotel simultaneously during peak periods, the hotel has included multiple reception areas.

The property is part of the Maad Hospitality Towers Development in Makkah, a mixed-use development that includes restaurants, lounge areas, and event halls.

Voco Makkah is located close to Mina Valley and Mount Arafat, and is 1.5km from Masjid al-Haram (City Centre).

It has 20,000 sqm of dining facilities and it offers a 24-hour dining service too.

Guestrooms feature refillable bathroom bulk amenities from Apotheke, a plant-based organic skincare company.

“We’re very pleased to increase our presence in the kingdom while catering to the needs of guests travelling to Makkah during the Hajj or Umrah seasons. Religious tourism remains the bedrock of the kingdom’s tourism growth, with a goal of attracting 30 million pilgrims to the kingdom by 2030,” said Haitham Mattar, managing director for India, Middle East and Africa at IHG Hotels and Resorts.

Makkah’s hospitality portfolio grows

The Makkah opening marks the third voco property in Saudi, with the other two being voco Riyadh and voco Al Khobar. It takes IHG Hotels and Resorts’ portfolio in Saudi Arabia to more than 20,000 rooms.

Apart from IHG, Address Hotels and Resorts also inaugurated a mega property in Makkah earlier this year. The Address Jabal Omar Makkah features 1,484 rooms and suites, and at the time of its opening was the tallest building within the Jabal Omar development.

Designed by architects Foster and Partners, the towers of Address Jabal Omar Makkah span over 5,000 sqm of prime space. The development includes a commercial area featuring a range of shops as well as food courts and restaurants. The interconnecting bridge that links the property’s two towers houses a prayer room with a panoramic view of the Kaaba.

Read: IHG to enter Sharjah with voco property

This article originally appeared on Business Traveller Middle East