Hajj: Western pilgrims left 'with no hotel room' days before pilgrimage

Western pilgrims, utilizing the Saudi-backed Motawif portal, say their lodge in Mecca has “run out of rooms”, with some individuals given keys to rooms already occupied by different friends, simply days earlier than the Hajj pilgrimage is because of start. 

One British pilgrim, staying on the metropolis’s Fairmont Resort, who wished to stay nameless, stated pilgrims had been left “crying within the lodge foyer” after they weren’t allotted rooms.

“Folks have paid for and been instructed they’ve rooms [by Motawif] – however the lodge has no rooms,” the pilgrim from Coventry instructed Center East Eye. 

Photos despatched to MEE confirmed that pilgrims had been left ready for hours within the lodge foyer. 

Some pilgrims on the Fairmont had been additionally given key playing cards by the lodge, solely to find their rooms had been already occupied by another person.

“One lady was kicking off, as she paid for the platinum package deal, and so they saved giving the cardboard to her room to different individuals so random individuals saved strolling in.”

The pilgrim stated there gave the impression to be no “actual coordination” between Motawif, who had pre-assigned rooms to pilgrims who paid for his or her companies, and the lodges tasked with handing out friends their keycards.

One other western pilgrim who arrived two days earlier in Mecca from Medina stated it felt like being in a “mad home”.

“They’ve volunteer youngsters manning the entrance desk and supervisors nowhere to be seen,” stated the western pilgrim. 

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“These youngsters are at college so most individuals do not perceive it is unfair to have a go at them.

“Once we checked in they did not have any rooms for us. Anybody who stated they had been in a gaggle of three had been capable of get a key card, however it was not checked which package deal they’d paid for.”

MEE has contacted the Fairmont Resort for remark.

The issues confronted by pilgrims in Mecca mirror comparable points reported by guests to Medina. 

Final week, a feminine pilgrim, who booked a platinum package deal, had instructed MEE that she was positioned in a room with a “random bloke” within the Pullman Resort in Medina.

“The night time earlier than, there have been about 30 individuals nonetheless ready for beds. I provided a woman the prospect to retailer her baggage and have a bathe in my room as we had all endured 24 hours of journey,” the pilgrim instructed MEE. 

“One couple, the woman was continuously in tears as a result of she was pregnant.” 

“The lodge workers had been additionally knocking on doorways to learn how many individuals had been in every room as a result of they had been fearful about hearth laws.”

MEE had requested remark from Accor, which runs the Pullman lodge in Medina.

The Hajj pilgrimage lasts six days and consists of assorted rites. Hajj pilgrims usually arrive in Mecca earlier than finishing different rites related to the pilgrimage. 

From Mecca, they are going to head to Mina, an space outdoors of the town, earlier than heading to Mount Arafat and Muzdalifah. 

Packages ‘downgraded’ by Motawif 

On Saturday, pilgrims instructed MEE that their Hajj packages price tens of hundreds of {dollars} had been “downgraded”, with no provide given of partial refunds to make up the distinction. 

In early June, the Saudi authorities made a shock resolution to sideline conventional journey companies and as an alternative use Motawif, a government-backed portal run by an Indian firm with hyperlinks to New Delhi, as revealed by MEE, to hold out a lottery system.

Motawif organised a random draw that Muslims from Europe, Australia and the Americas needed to undergo to attend Hajj this yr, set to start out on 7 July.

Since then, candidates have instructed MEE of quite a few issues, together with being turned away at airports and bookings failing regardless of full funds going by means of.

Many pilgrims who had beforehand been within the “paid however failed” class have since had their bookings accredited, however have now complained of not receiving what they’ve paid for. 

Extra reporting by Rayhan Uddin.