(CNN)Twelve towers, 10,000 rooms and 70 restaurants, plus helipads and a full-size convention center: That’s the plan for Abraj Kudai, a complex in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, that’s set to become the world’s largest hotel by room count when it opens in 2017.
Designed by architectural firm Dar Al-Handasah, the $3.5 billion site is currently under construction and will stretch across 1.4 million square meters.
A ring of 12 towers will rise from a podium just over 2 kilometers from the Masjid al-Ḥaram, Mecca’s holy mosque, according to Dar Al-Handasah’s website.
The Islam journey to Mecca is an excuse to make money and gouge the tourists.