August 2, 2025, 5:32 am | Read time: 3 minutes
Located on a vast entertainment complex, the First World Hotel in Malaysia’s Pahang province is the largest hotel in the world, according to the Guinness Book of Records, with more than 7,300 rooms. It has held the title twice now, as it was briefly surpassed by another hotel. But the race for the world record continues…
Guests checking into the First World Hotel have plenty of options: According to the hotel website, it offers 3,164 Standard Rooms, 2,922 Deluxe Rooms, 649 Deluxe Triple Rooms, 480 Superior Deluxe Rooms, and 136 World Club Rooms, all varying in size and amenities. Adding them all up, the total comes to a staggering 7,351 rooms, making the hotel with its vibrant facade the largest in the world.
Close Race Among the World’s Largest Hotels
According to the travel magazine “Travelpulse,” the hotel officially received this title in 2015. The First World Hotel held the world record at its opening in 2006, when it had “only” 6,118 rooms. Two years later, it had to relinquish the title to the Venetian in Las Vegas, which became the new record holder in 2008 after an expansion brought its room count to 7,128.
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But in 2015, the First World Hotel in Malaysia also opened an expansion, adding about 200 more rooms than the Venetian. One might think a hotel of this size would struggle to fill its thousands of rooms with guests. However, that’s not the case: According to a report by the ProSieben show Galileo, the First World Hotel has a 90 percent occupancy rate. Up to 6,000 guests check in daily, totaling around 4 million annually.
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What Draws So Many People to the World’s Largest Hotel?
The three-star hotel is part of Resorts World Genting, a massive entertainment complex on a mountain 1,700 meters high, about 50 kilometers north of Malaysia’s capital, Kuala Lumpur. Visitors must take a gondola through the jungle to reach it. There, guests can enjoy various theme parks, including Malaysia’s largest indoor snow park, a huge shopping mall, a golf course, more than 50 restaurants, and numerous nightclubs.
Additionally, beneath the hotel is a casino—the only one in all of Malaysia. Although gambling is strictly prohibited in the Muslim-majority country, the casino at the Genting Resort is an exception. This is the secret to the success of the world’s largest hotel. Most guests check in for two nights and spend most of their time in the casino, according to Galileo.
New Largest Hotel in the World Already Under Construction
For several years, a mega-hotel has been under construction in the Saudi Arabian pilgrimage city of Mecca, which aims to surpass the First World Hotel in room count. Just two kilometers from the famous al-Haram Mosque, the 10,000-room hotel complex “Abraj Kudai” is set to open and break all records.
In addition to accommodations, the complex designed by Dar Al Handasah will feature twelve towers with restaurants, a shopping mall, a food court, a conference center, parking, and a bus station. Originally, the XXL hotel was supposed to open in 2017, but the date has been repeatedly postponed for various reasons. Ten years after its announcement, the project is still incomplete—whether and when it will open remains unknown.