The hotels are definitely not free. It's there to cater to the wealthy while the rest toil away in the heat. The Saudis destroyed many sites associated with th

The hotels are definitely not free. It's there to cater to the wealthy while the rest toil away in the heat. The Saudis destroyed many sites associated with the early history of Islam to make those expansions (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Destruction_of_early_Islamic_heritage_sites_in_Saudi_Arabia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Destruction_of_early_Islamic_h...). It's rather unfortunate that Mecca is in Saudi Arabia as it gives them free reign to preach their Salafi/Wahabi ideologies and no one else. I come from a Shia family and many of my relatives who have gone to pilgrimage and complained of abuse by the religious police there for being in a different sect.