In short: Evaluate the whole journey: room, lift, queue, vehicle and final walk.
What a shuttle does and does not tell you
A shuttle can make a farther hotel workable, but its existence alone does not establish how convenient it will be for your family. Ask for the boarding point, drop-off point, return arrangements and any operating changes on busy days. Confirm these with the hotel for your travel dates.
Some properties advertise shuttle services on their official pages. For example, M Hotel Makkah by Millennium lists a shuttle. That is evidence of the advertised service, not a guarantee of a particular waiting time or stop.
Compare total door-to-door effort
Use a simple checklist for each hotel: leaving the room, reaching the pickup, waiting, travelling, and walking from the stop. Repeat the exercise for the return. For a walking-distance hotel, assess slopes, crossings and crowd conditions rather than treating all short walks as equal.
If one family member needs to return earlier, consider whether they can make the journey independently. Shared transport may influence when everyone leaves together.
Build a fallback into the plan
Ask where you can arrange an alternative pickup if needed and allow for that possibility in the budget. A shuttle hotel can still be the right choice, especially when room size and price suit your needs. Make the decision with a realistic routine rather than a distance label alone.
Sources to verify
Travel details change. Use these primary or provider sources to confirm current information for your dates.