LONDON, ENGLAND - Raffles Hotels and Resorts is opening an ultra-luxury hotel in Mecca, Islam's holy city where millions of Muslims flock to perform the haj every year.

It will offer guests customised services, including a tea and coffee sommelier, a chocolate room, and a creamery where chefs will whip up personalised ice-cream creations.

Set to open next April, the Raffles Makkah Palace will have 198 spacious suites and is just a three-minute walk from the Masjid al-Haram, also known as the Grand Mosque. It also has a spacious outdoor dining terrace overlooking the mosque.

The Grand Mosque houses the Kaaba, the shrine which Muslims face while offering daily prayers and is considered to be the holiest site in Islam.

Each year, some eight million visitors travel to Saudi Arabia, half of whom are there for religious travel, including to visit Mecca for the haj, the largest annual pilgrimage in the world.

The Raffles Makkah Palace will be Raffles Hotels and Resorts' second property in the Middle East. The group made its debut in the region in 2007 with the iconic Raffles Dubai.

'The Middle East is a region of strategic priority for Raffles Hotels and Resorts and we are delighted to be able to grow our presence here,' said Mr Chris Cahill, chief operating officer of Fairmont Raffles Hotels International, which owns Raffles Hotels and Resorts.

Occupying the 11th to 26th storeys of the Abraj Al Bait Complex, which is being developed by Saudi Binladin Corporation, one of the largest construction companies in the Arab world, the hotel will be serviced by high-speed elevators throughout the property to 'facilitate seamless and efficient service, and ease of access during the five daily prayer periods', Raffles said in a press statement.

The Binladen Corporation was set up by Mr Mohammed bin Laden, father of Osama bin Laden, although the family is now estranged from its infamous son, reported The Guardian newspaper.

The hotel offers his- and hers-only fitness centres, a beauty parlour and grooming salons, as well as access to an adjoining retail mall and the Raffles Amrita Spa.

The Raffles Makkah Palace's design elements are influenced by Arabic art and culture, said the group.

'The hotel's design will be of an understated and elegant style and will reflect the heritage and culture of the Middle East, rather than duplicate Raffles Hotel Singapore's colonial design,' a Raffles spokesman told The Straits Times.

'This is in keeping with our style of having each Raffles hotel reflect a sense of its destination, rather than adopt a design template.'

This article was first published in The Straits Times.