Looming over Atlantic City’s Marina District, this gleaming golden hotel opened in 2003. It's one of three mammoth hotel casinos built in Renaissance Pointe, a few miles from the East Coast city's famous casino-lined Boardwalk. It has 2,000 rooms, 14 restaurants (including upscale outposts from acclaimed chefs like Wolfgang Puck), two nightclubs, five pools and over 3,000 slots and games in its cavernous casino.
Despite having an impressive 2,500 rooms, the Parisian Macao is by no means the biggest hotel in Macao, China's answer to Las Vegas, but it’s certainly up there. Opening at the southern end of the Cotai Strip in September 2016 with much razzle dazzle, the integrated casino resort (which includes a 1,200-seat theatre, water park and hundreds of shops) takes its inspiration from the City of Light. Direct homages to Paris include its 531-foot (162m) replica of the Eiffel Tower, setting for nightly sound and light shows.
The first of Sin City’s mega-resorts on our list, Harrah’s Las Vegas opened in 1973 as the Holiday Casino before being rebranded in 1992. Now Harrah’s Las Vegas is owned by Caesars Entertainment and has recently renovated its 2,542 guest rooms, which include some of the largest suites in Las Vegas. Its biggest, the Penthouse Suite, sprawls across 2,000 square feet (700sqm), complete with full-sized bar, gaming table and knock-out views, of course.
Since opening in 2010, this expansive luxury hotel on Singapore’s Marina Bay has been one of the largest in the world with 2,561 rooms and suites spread across its three 55-storey towers. Designed by architect Moshe Safdie, the pièce de resistance of the striking structure is the SkyPark, which appears to float above its three towers at a height of 650 feet (200m). As well as its three rooftop high-end restaurants, the hotel has the world’s largest rooftop infinity pool that measures 492 feet (150m) in length.
From its amusement parks to its cruise ships and hotels, Disney tends to go big. One of the largest of its hotel resorts can be found in Walt Disney World in Orlando: the Pop Century Resort has more than 2,750 guest rooms. A homage to pop culture of the 20th century, it's designed to take guests on a journey from the 1950s to the 1990s, each of its building representing a decade. The four-storey motel-style buildings are centred around a pool with playful décor that includes oversized jukeboxes and Play-Doh tubs.
Perched along the oceanfront of Waikiki Beach, this vast hotel has made quite the transformation. First opening as the low-rise Niumalu Hotel in 1928, it's more like a village these days, as its name suggests. Sprawling across 22 acres, it has 2,860 rooms and suites within its five towers along with 18 restaurants and bars and over 80 shops. It has five pools too, including the 5,000-square-foot (1,524sqm) Paradise Pool complete with the longest slide in Waikiki at 77 feet (23.5m).
There’s a definite sense of joie de vivre about this well-known Las Vegas landmark, which opened in 1999, bringing a little Parisian charm to the Strip. Covering 24 acres, the resort features 2,916 guestrooms, an 85,000-square-foot (7,896sqm) casino and replicas of landmarks, including a 50-storey Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, façades of the Louvre and the Paris Opera House, as well as its 34-storey hotel tower which emulates the Hôtel de Ville. Go up the tower for one of the top views of Sin City.
Between them, Park MGM and NoMad Las Vegas have a total of 2,993 guest rooms and suites. Described as “two distinct luxury hotel experiences under one roof”, the two hotels opened in 2019 after a £418 million ($550m) remodelling and rebranding of the former Monte Carlo Hotel by MGM Resorts International. Park MGM hosts the largest outpost of the Italian food market concept Eataly and it also boasted the first smoke-free casino on the Las Vegas Strip. Meanwhile, NoMad is all about offering guests a smaller, more boutique luxury experience.
It might have toned down its pirate theme, but this swashbuckling resort still has epic proportions. Featuring nearly 3,000 rooms, it opened in a central location on Las Vegas’ Strip in 1993, drawing in guests with its pirates and pyrotechnics. Its trademark Sirens of TI show was discontinued in 2013 as part of a move away from its pirate origins but its all-round tropical island vibes remain. Privately owned by Phil Ruffin, the large-scale resort was added to Radisson’s hotel portfolio in 2019.
With 3,000 suites the Venetian is the second largest hotel in China’s gambling enclave Macao by the number of rooms. Sister property to the Las Vegas original, this opulent all-suite resort sits on the Cotai Strip, an entertainment hub built on reclaimed land off the Macao Peninsula. It boasts an incredible 376,000-square-foot (114,605sqm) gaming area and the 15,000-seat Cotai Arena, which hosts performance and sporting events. Its replica Venice, complete with three canals, gondola rides and St Mark's Square, is unmissable too.
One of the new breed of large but understated contemporary hotels in traditionally over-the-top Sin City, the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas has around 3,000 rooms to its name. With a cool, contemporary feel, there are no gimmicks or themes here, just ultra-luxe suites and high-end restaurants, swanky lounge bars and standout clubs (its poolside Marquee Dayclub is one of the city’s hottest tickets).
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It might not have quite the same fame as some of MGM Resorts’ largescale Las Vegas resorts, but the Mirage is one of the city’s most central and biggest hotels with 3,044 guest rooms, including 225 suites and 16 villas. Chief among its attractions is the Mirage Pool with its lush tropical foliage and cascading falls and the Mirage Volcano, which erupts on the hour from 7pm until 11pm, shooting fire 60 feet into the air, as part of a special audio-visual show.
Inspired by the legend of the lost city of Atlantis, this larger-than-life hotel on Paradise Island opened in 1998. A £762 million ($1bn) expansion followed in 2007, adding to Atlantis’ room count which now totals 3,414. The largest in the Caribbean, the sprawling tropical resort has more than 40 bars and restaurants, a marina and Aquaventure, a 41-acre water park complex that is the largest in the region, along with a casino and theatre.
Sin City newcomer Resorts World Las Vegas has 3,506 guest rooms spread across its property that consists of three hotels: Las Vegas Hilton, Conrad Las Vegas and Crockfords Las Vegas. Opening on the north end of Las Vegas Boulevard in June 2021, it was the first integrated resort to be built on the Strip in over a decade. As well as its 117,000-square-foot (35,662sqm) casino, it has over 40 food and drink venues and a 5,000-capacity theatre. Its 5.5-acre pool complex, complete with nine bodies of water, is the largest elevated pool deck in town and has stunning city views.
The iconic 3,545-room Flamingo commands the sky on the corner of Las Vegas Boulevard and Flamingo Road and is the oldest resort still operating on the Strip. The hotel first opened in 1946 with just 105 rooms and was ran by mobster Bugsby Siegel until his assassination just six months later. The hotel has changed ownership and grown beyond recognition over the decades – it now has an array of dining options, entertainment, a wildlife habitat and a 15-acre Caribbean-style water playground.
The individual rooms might be on the small side here but Shinagawa Prince Hotel is the largest hotel in Japan (and one of the largest in the world) with a total of 3,680 rooms and suites across its three towers. Built in 1992 near Shinagawa station, the super-sized complex has an indoor and outdoor pools, numerous restaurants, an aquarium, cinema, a bowling centre and no less than 24 karaoke rooms.
Is it a circus, a casino or a hotel? Try all. The historic casino-hotel Circus Circus opened in 1968 on the north end Strip and has been a firm family favourite since. This cavernous resort lays claim to 3,773 rooms and suites and has the world’s largest permanent circus. The resort was bought by billionaire Phil Ruffin from MGM Resorts in 2019 for £629 million ($825m). He also owns Treasure Island and plans to create a waterpark on the Circus Circus plot to up its family-fun appeal.
In a city of over-the-top hotels, the Bellagio stands out for its relatively understated Italian sophistication but that’s not to say it’s not spectacular. One of the biggest hotels in town with guest rooms totalling 3,933, it's renowned for some seriously opulent features. Chief among them are its spectacular Fountains of Bellagio – an eight-and-half-acre lake featuring 1,200 dancing fountains that is a Las Vegas must-see.
Temple of excess with all-round Roman-inspired extravagance at its core, Caesars Palace is quite a place. It opened in 1966 and was the city’s first-ever themed resort, drawing celebrities and high rollers with its opulent casino, lavish restaurants and star-studded events. Today, the mega-resort has a total of 3,960 rooms and suites across its five towers. Among its signature Graeco-Roman features is the 4,300-seat Colosseum where many A-lister performers have had residencies.
Opening at the southern end of the Strip in 1990, Las Vegas’s kitsch fairy-tale castle-themed resort still draws in the customers to its 3,981 guest rooms. With its colourful turrets and drawbridges and daily dinner show Tournament of Kings (inspired by the legends of King Arthur and performed in the resort’s 900-seat theatre), its especially popular with families looking for a little Las Vegas magic.
Opening in 2009 with a sleek and contemporary look, Aria covers a total of 6,074,474 square feet (1851499sqm) with 4,004 guestrooms and suites. The curvilinear glass, steel and stone building, designed by architectural firm Pelli Clarke Pelli, is one of the largest buildings in the world to have achieved LEED Gold status. Aria’s fine art collection is also one of the resort’s USPs – especially striking is the grand lobby's Silver River an 84-foot (26m) silver cast of the Colorado River by artist Maya Lin.
Epic, monumental and grandiose, the Luxor lives and breathes its theme. Opened in 1993, the Ancient Egypt-inspired casino resort is one of Las Vegas’s original and most recognisable hotels thanks to its trademark black mirrored pyramid, which shoots out laser beams at night. The unique features don’t stop there: inside there are huge statues of sphinx, pharaohs and soaring palm trees. It’s also one of the city’s largest hotels with a total of 4,400 guest rooms, including 487 suites.
This sophisticated mega resort, which opened at the northern end of the Las Vegas Strip in 2005, has 4,750 rooms and suites. With its gleaming curved exterior and overt branding, subtlety isn’t Wynn’s strong suite but who cares when you’re in a world of decadent delights? Among its attractions are the two gaming floors, the only resort golf course on the Strip and the Lake of Dreams show, a multimedia experience set around the resort’s three-acre lake.
Glitzy super-resort Mandalay Bay lies at the southernmost tip of the Strip. The 4,752-room-and-suite complex also features the Delano Las Vegas, an all-suite hotel housed in a connected tower, and a Four Seasons Hotel. As well as endless shops, bars, restaurants, concert venues and nightclubs, the resort has an 11-acre tropical water area. It features more than 2,700 tons of sand and a shark aquarium that holds nearly 1.6 million gallons of water with more than 2,000 animals on display, including 12 types of sharks.
When it comes to extravagance and scale, Macao’s hotels give Las Vegas a run for its money. None are more humongous than super-luxe resort The Londoner. Described as a “bold British-themed reimagining” of what was formerly the Sands Cotai Central, it has a total of 5,564 rooms within its four hotel towers. Impressive replicas of the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben and Crystal Palace, along with 351,000 square feet (351,000sqm) of gaming space are just some of the resort's jaw-dropping features.
The third largest hotel in the world and largest single hotel in the US, the dizzying MGM Grand lies at the southern end of super-hotel lined Strip with 6,071 rooms. It also has a 169,000 square-foot (51,511sqm) casino filled with 1,500 slot machines and 128 table games. You know you’re in for a grand old time, as soon as you walk through its front entrance, guarded by a 45-foot (14m) lion: it’s the largest bronze statue in the country.
In a city that likes to roll big, this supersized resort is the largest and most extravagant of them all. The Venetian Resort on the Strip is comprised of three all-suite towers: the Venetian, the Palazzo and the Venezia. All together it has a staggering 7,093 rooms and suites, making it the second largest hotel in the world. It has over 40 restaurants too and various Venice-themed features, most famously its gondola rides along a replica of Venice’s Grand Canal.
You’ll want to get your bearings quickly at this mammoth hotel in Malaysia. Officially the largest hotel in the world, First World Hotel is part of Resorts World Genting and has a staggering 7,351 guest rooms among its three rainbow-coloured towers. There’s no extravagance in this functional hotel that just has the expected amenities. It’s located in the Genting Highlands, a popular resort perched on Mount Ulu Kali, an hour north of Kuala Lumpur. The area is home to a number of theme parks, casinos and attractions, as well as gorgeous hiking trails and waterfalls.