Fifteen apartments, studios and private rooms across two buildings — booked direct, answered by a person, and 15 to 25 minutes by car from the Haram.
See our Makkah apartmentsCheck what is free for your dates. Nothing is charged here — we confirm first.
Minimum stay varies by property. Rates shown are per night in Saudi riyals before any Ramadan or Hajj adjustment.
This is the first thing everyone asks, so here it is plainly. Our two buildings sit in a quiet residential neighbourhood, not in the hotel district. A cab takes 15–20 minutes even with traffic, and longer at peak times during Ramadan and Hajj.
That is comparable to the walk from many hotels closer in — without the walk. Which matters if you are travelling with children, with parents, or simply intend to make the journey five times a day.
After the distance, this is what people ask about most — how old the building is, whether there is a lift, and what you can see from it. Photographs answer that better than we can.
This is the building, photographed from the street. It was finished less than four years ago and is residential rather than converted — which is the honest answer to the question we are asked most after the distance one.
You will not be carrying suitcases up stairs after a night flight, and you will not be doing it again at 4am on the way to Fajr. The lift runs from the parking level to the top floor.
Park on the ground floor and come up in the lift. A door leads from the car park straight into the lobby where the lift is — no steps, about twenty to thirty feet. That matters if anyone in your group uses a wheelchair or cannot manage stairs. In summer it also means the car is out of the sun and you are out of the heat within a minute.
Our other address sits in the same neighbourhood, a two minute drive from the first. Same arrangement: lift, covered parking, a residential street rather than a hotel strip.
Taken from the pavement in front of the building. The Royal Clock Tower stands over the Haram, so this is the direction you travel every time you go — and it is visible from some of the apartment windows too.
The tower is lit through the night. Guests tell us this is the moment the trip starts to feel real — walking out of the door and seeing it there.
Shaded seating, grass and playground equipment, thirty seconds from the door. Somewhere for children to be children after a long day, and somewhere to sit in the evening that is not a hotel lobby.
The restaurant a minute from the door — traditional Saudi chicken and rice, and the Al Faham is what to order. A local place rather than one that exists for visitors.
A residential street, not a hotel strip — which means real shops and places locals eat. This is the list we send every guest when they book.
A pilgrimage is not a holiday. You will be up before dawn, walking further than you expected, and eating at strange hours. What you need at the end of it is not a hotel corridor — it is a door that is yours, a kitchen, hot water, and air conditioning that works.
That is what these apartments are for. They are furnished properly, cleaned between every stay, and run by people who live here rather than a call centre in another country. Book direct and you deal with us from the first message to the last.
“The great reward for performing prayer can be obtained in all mosques in the entire area within the boundaries of the Haram.”
Royal Commission for Makkah City and Holy Sites — official statement, reported in English by Saudi Gazette. The Commission runs an annual campaign on this, مكة كلها حرم — Saudi Press Agency.
Our buildings lie west-south-west of the Kaaba at 5.7 and 6.2 km. The boundary runs much further out on that side than it does to the north, so this part of Makkah sits well within it — and praying at a local mosque is a normal part of how people staying here organise their days.
Short Stay Arabia is run by a British host who spent years letting property in London before Makkah.
That is where the habits on this site come from: quoting the real driving distance rather than the flattering straight-line one, saying which room is too small before you book it, publishing which beds are in which bedroom so nobody arrives to a surprise, and answering messages personally — in English or Arabic — from the first one to the last.
You are dealing with the person responsible for the apartment, not a call centre and not a ticket system. If something is not right when you arrive, you say so and it gets put right.
Most families arrive expecting to split across two hotel rooms. Our four-bedroom apartments sleep nine, with a living room everyone can sit in together and a kitchen you can actually cook in. For couples and solo travellers there are studios, and for anyone travelling light, private rooms with their own bathroom.
Every property is in one of two buildings two minutes apart in the same neighbourhood, so if you are travelling as a group across several flats, you are still next door to each other.
Rates are per night in Saudi riyals, before any season adjustment. Every stay is requested first and confirmed by a person — nothing is taken from your card on this site.
Most visitors spend their days at the Haram and see nothing else, then regret it on the flight home. These are within reach of both our buildings, and we are happy to help you arrange a driver for any of them.
The reason you are here. The Kaaba sits at its centre, with Safa and Marwah enclosed within the same campus. The site is vast and has many entrances — which is why we tell every guest exactly which one to ask their driver for.
The mountain east of the city holding the cave where the first revelation was received. The climb is steep and takes most people well over an hour each way; go early, before the heat.
South of the city, the cave where the Prophet ﷺ and Abu Bakr sheltered during the Hijrah. A harder climb than Hira and much quieter.
East of Makkah along the Hajj route. Outside the season they are calm and easy to visit by car in a single afternoon — many guests do this to understand the ground before Hajj itself.
Close to the Haram, the resting place of many of the Prophet’s ﷺ family. Quiet, and a short journey from either of our buildings.
Where the covering of the Kaaba is woven by hand. Open to visitors and genuinely remarkable to see up close — ask us and we will help you arrange it.
About 6 km from the Haram — 15–25 minutes by car, depending on the route and the time of day. Makkah is not a walking city and we will not pretend otherwise. What matters is knowing which entrance to ask for — and what to do when your driver takes you somewhere else, which happens more often than anyone admits.
This is the drop-off you want. Off-peak it is about 15 minutes door to door.
From the tunnel entrance an escalator brings you up onto the main campus.
The escalator comes out very close to Gate 79, already inside the campus.
Return the same way. Save the tunnel entrance on your phone before you set off.
In every apartment, and it is checked between stays. Enough for video calls home and for the children to be quiet for an hour.
Hob, oven, fridge and the pans to use them. During Ramadan especially, being able to cook suhoor in your own kitchen changes the whole trip.
Serviced before each season. If a unit is not cooling properly when you arrive, message us and someone comes out — it does not wait until you leave.
Washing machines in the apartments. Two weeks of ihram and everyday clothes is more laundry than people plan for.
Keypad entry, so a delayed flight or a 3am arrival is not a problem. We send the code and a short video showing exactly how the lock works.
Not a claim we make lightly — it is the thing guests judge us on hardest, and the thing we have worked on most.
Which matters more than people expect when you are making the journey to the Haram several times a day.
By a person, on WhatsApp, usually within the hour. Not a ticket system.
