Site icon Your Mileage May Vary

The Largest Hotel in The World Has Large Problems

a woman with her hands up

Having claim to being the #1 “whatever” seems to be an important thing in the hotel industry.

And the largest hotel in the world? With 7,351 rooms, that claim goes to First World Hotel, owned by Resorts World Genting. The hotel, which opened in 2001, is located in Pahang, Malaysia.

PC: Eqdoktor / wikipedia / CC BY-SA 3.0

The First World Hotel is part of a hotel, shopping and entertainment complex called Resorts World Genting, a complex that originally opened in 1965 (back then it was called Genting Highlands). Besides First World Hotel, the resort offers a half dozen other hotels on site, ranging from swanky to what they describe as “wallet-friendly rates.” The complex also has two casinos (the only legal land-based casino area in the country), three theme parks, five shopping malls, live and special events at two performance venues, as well as nightlife, restaurants and attractions.

But getting back to First World Hotel…

First World Hotel’s status as the world’s largest hotel has had to go back and forth. It had the title in 2006, back when it “only” had 6,118 rooms in two towers, aptly Tower 1 and 2. Then The Venetian Resort in Las Vegas took the title in January 2008, when it expanded to include The Palazzo. Not to be outdone, First World Hotel took the title back when it opened a new block of rooms, named Tower 2 Annex (Tower 2A) with 1,233 rooms (The Venetian Resort is currently in 2nd place, with 7,115 rooms – 236 less than First World Hotel. MGM Grand, also in Las Vegas, comes in at #3, with a mere 6,852 rooms)

They have 8 styles of rooms:

Amenities vary, depending on what type of room you have. For example, Standard room, which is described on the hotel’s website as “no frills,” includes:

  • In-room safe
  • Telephone
  • Standing shower
  • Hair dryer
  • Three-in-one shampoo

They also specify there’s a hot & cold water dispenser located along the floor corridor, and that they DON’T provide:

  • Toiletry set, mineral water, coffee and tea sachet can be purchased at the vending machine located at the lobby lift landing

World Club room 2, which is large and is the only type of room that can sleep up to 4, includes:

  • In-room safe
  • Flat screen TV
  • Telephone
  • Mini Fridge
  • Bath tub and Standing shower
  • Hair dryer
  • Tea and coffee-making facilities
  • Kettle
  • Toiletries provided
  • Complimentary mineral water
  • Coffee table and two-seater sofa

First World Hotel says they do allow guests to check in early, for a graduated fee:

The hotel offers 3 eateries:

As you probably have surmised by now, just because you’re the largest hotel in the world doesn’t mean you’re the best hotel in the world ;-). First World Hotel gets a solid 3 out of 5 starts on TripAdvisor, and is the #17 of 21 hotels in Genting Highlands. From TripAdvisor:

Its more recent reviews, at least the ones in English; none are stellar, with multiple complaints about insufficient and slow check-in, run-down rooms that weren’t thoroughly cleaned, horrible towels, thin walls, few Western options at breakfast buffet, etc. Going as far back as pre-pandemic times (circa 2018), slow check-in and cleanliness were already ongoing issues.

Room prices vary from $32 on Booking dot com to $28 on Agoda and $29 on Trip dot com. Sounds like, at least in comparison to Western standards, you get what you pay for.

Want to comment on this post? Great! Read this first to help ensure it gets approved.

Want to sponsor a post, write something for Your Mileage May Vary, or put ads on our site? Click here for more info.

Like this post? Please share it! We have plenty more just like it and would love it if you decided to hang around and sign up to get emailed notifications of when we post.

Whether you’ve read our articles before or this is the first time you’re stopping by, we’re really glad you’re here and hope you come back to visit again!

This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary

Join our mailing list to receive the latest news and updates from our team.

You have Successfully Subscribed!

Exit mobile version