Starwood Hotels & Resorts has inked an agreement with a Saudi Arabian company to launch the Four Points by Sheraton Makkah Al Naseem property in the holy city.

The hotel, slated to open in the second quarter of next year, will be the Four Points brand’s largest property globally with 1,139 keys, the hospitality chain said. It will be located in the Al Naseem district on the outskirts of central Mecca.

“We are delighted to announce the opening of our largest Four Points property in Makkah, in partnership with Sulaiman Abdulaziz Al Rajhi Real Estate Investments Company,” said Michael Wale, President of Starwood Hotels & Resorts in Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

“As religious travel continues to grow in Saudi Arabia, Four Points is the perfect brand to meet the rising demand for affordable yet innovative accommodation options.”

The hotel operator currently has ten operating hotels in the country and nine in the pipeline, Wale added.

“Saudi Arabia is our second largest market in the Middle East and we look forward to more growth opportunities in the Kingdom.”

The new hotel will offer seven food and beverage outlets across 16,000sqm, and easy access to central Mecca through a direct road tunnel from the property. Four Points Makkah Al Naseem will be Starwood’s first mid-market brand to operate in the city.

“Our mid-market brands are experiencing unprecedented growth in the Middle East, representing 50% of the company’s pipeline in the region,” said Neil George, senior vice president for acquisitions and development at Starwood Hotels and Resorts in Africa and the Middle East.

Along with the hotel in Mecca, Starwood also plans to introduce Four Points in Sharjah, Erbil and Jeddah, he said.