The closest hotels to the Haram in Makkah

Five prayers a day can mean ten trips between your room and the Haram, more if you pray at night or make tawaf after Isha. From a hotel on the edge of the plaza, each trip takes a few minutes. Further out, the walking adds up fast, and going back for every prayer starts to feel heavy.

What the walk really takes

A hotel's walk is measured from its front door to the nearest gate of the Haram at a quiet hour. At prayer times, add the lifts: in the tall towers, and in the Clock Tower above all, the wait for one can take longer than the walk, so leave well before the adhan. The gate can change too. When one fills, the staff close it and send people on to the next.

Six hotels on the edge of the plaza

These have some of the shortest walks to the Haram, on its south and west sides.

An all-suite hotel in the Abraj Al Bait, with its own lifts down to the Haram plaza. The one-bedroom suites are large, a butler is on call day and night, and the hotel's prayer room looks over the Kaaba. It suits families and long stays, if the budget allows.

Opposite King Fahd Gate, on the west side. Its two prayer halls, one for men and one for women, follow the Haram's prayers live, which helps when the mosque is full. The rooms are classic in style, and guests say they are kept very clean.

The hotel inside the Clock Tower itself, opening straight onto the plaza. Some rooms look onto the Kaaba, but the view changes from room to room and minarets hide part of the Kaaba from some, so book the view you want by its name.

In the front row of the Abraj Al Bait, with the complex's lifts down to the plaza. Al Shorfa, its terrace on the 11th floor, looks onto the Kaaba. Guests like the breakfast, which has Indonesian dishes too. The bathrooms are small.

A large hotel in Jabal Omar with spacious rooms, above a mall with restaurants and a supermarket. It stands behind Dar Al Tawhid, so its partial-view rooms look over the Haram's courtyards rather than the Kaaba.

On Ajyad Street near King Abdulaziz Gate, outside the Clock Tower complex. Guests praise its clean, roomy rooms, though Wi-Fi and phone signal can be weak in some of them.

Which side of the Haram?

• The Clock Tower (Abraj Al Bait), to the south: its hotels open onto the plaza facing King Abdulaziz Gate, with shops and restaurants under the same roof, though the lifts are slow at prayer times.
• Jabal Omar, to the west: newer towers facing King Fahd Gate, with only the plaza between them and the mosque.
• Ajyad, to the south: a street of hotels near the Safa side, with plenty of choice a few minutes further on.
• The King Abdullah expansion, to the north: hotels such as Anjum sit beside the newest part of the mosque, some with their own way in.

Is the closest always the best?

For a short Umrah of two or three nights, the closest hotel is usually worth paying more for, because the time you save goes to the Haram. On a longer stay, or with children, a bigger room, breakfast and a quieter street can matter more than five minutes' walk.

In Ramadan and on Fridays the plazas fill hours before the prayer, and some gates close early. To pray inside the mosque, go early, however close your hotel is.