World's Largest Mega-Hotels

These massive properties are more like small cities than hotels.

World's Largest Hotels

When it comes to hotels, sometimes bigger really is better. While you may get lost trying to find your room, you’ll also find incredible entertainment options, shopping malls, art galleries, theme parks, waterparks, activities for kids, spas and salons, tons of restaurants and more. In reality, these properties are more like small, bustling cities than hotels, with thousands of guests coming and going every day.

So which mega-hotels are the most mega of them all?

Using intel from World Atlas and the properties themselves, we’ve rounded up the 15 most epic hotels in the world, based on guest-room count. Spoiler: The majority of these properties are in Las Vegas, where every year millions of tourists flock to gamble, see world-class shows, attend conferences and enjoy the nightlife of The Strip.

But surprisingly, Sin City is not home to the No. 1 largest hotel on the list...

15. Circus Circus Las Vegas

Number of guest rooms: 3,760

As the name suggests, Circus Circus Las Vegas is a circus-themed resort, complete with a smiling clown on its marquee sign. And, though it opened all the way back in 1968, it remains one of the world's most expansive properties.

If hotels aren’t your style, Circus Circus also has the only RV park in the area, with room for 170 vehicles across 10 acres. You can gamble to your heart’s content in a 101,000-square-foot gaming area, swim in two pools and splash down three water slides.

Visiting with kids — or just a kid at heart? Consider paying a visit to The Adventuredome Theme Park, a five-acre indoor park with 25 rides and attractions, from midway games to full-on rollercoasters.

14. Bellagio Las Vegas

Number of guest rooms: 3,950

Even if you’ve never stayed in one of the Bellagio’s 3,950 rooms, you’ve likely enjoyed some of this Las Vegas hotel’s entertainment. The Bellagio’s iconic fountains, located in front of the hotel, enthrall huge crowds of tourists every day with their complex water choreography, lights and music. The cost to build the fountains? $40 million.

Inside the hotel you’ll find more than 100,000 square feet of gaming space, five outdoor pools, a 55,000-square-foot spa and a gorgeous 13,500-square-foot conservatory and botanical garden.

The Bellagio is also home to a fine art gallery and “O,” an aquatic Cirque du Soleil show featuring divers, acrobats and synchronized swimmers. Because everything is bigger at the Bellagio, the show involves a pool filled with 1.5 million gallons of water.

13. Caesars Palace

Number of guest rooms: 3,960

Caesars Palace is another iconic Las Vegas hotel with tons of rooms, spread across five towers on 85 acres.

The hotel is famously home to the Garden of the Gods, a five-acre swimming area with eight pools, complete with statues, fountains and lush landscaping.

Also onsite? The Strip’s largest wedding chapel, a Roman-styled venue where some 200 guests can convene. Expansive villas — featuring private indoor fountains and grand pianos, and costing upwards of $18,000 per night — are equally grand.

12. Excalibur Hotel and Casino

Number of guest rooms: 3,981

When Excalibur Hotel and Casino, which cost $290 million to build, opened in 1990, it was the largest hotel in the world. Today, with its 100,000-square-foot casino, 13,000-square-foot spa and fitness center, and other massive features, it remains dominant.

At this enormous hotel, it’s all about cheesy fun. Excalibur has a 72-seat theater complete with special effects for a 4-D-experience, a “fun dungeon” with arcade games and other activities, and a 900-seat theater-in-the-round to watch a delightfully silly King Arthur-inspired show, complete with a three-course meal eaten entirely by hand.

11. Sheraton Grand Macao

Number of guest rooms: 4,001

Located on the popular Cotai Strip in Macao, an independent region of China, the Sheraton Grand Macao is a family-friendly favorite with three diverse swimming pools for every experience level, including an exclusive “Tiki” pool you can rent for private events.

Kids will be entertained by the “Balloon Lady,” who makes creative balloon animals in the lobby every afternoon, and can even get their hair cut while watching cartoons at the kids’ salon (which give parents a glass of bubbly while they wait!).

For adults, there’s the Shine Spa, Sheraton’s biggest spa in the Asia Pacific region, which offers many options for couples.

10. Ambassador City Jomtien

Number of guest rooms: 4,200

The Ambassador City Jomtien hotel’s 42-story tower offers panoramic views of Thailand’s stunning Na Jomtien beach and the Gulf of Thailand.

If you love to stay active while you’re vacationing, this is the place for you — there’s a squash court, a sports center, a table tennis area, pool tables, an outdoor tennis court, an indoor badminton court, an Olympic-sized lap pool and a waterpark that kids will love. The aptly named “Big Pool” is touted as the largest swimming pool in all of Asia.

9. Luxor Las Vegas

Number of guest rooms: 4,400

The Luxor Las Vegas is almost impossible to miss if you’re on The Strip — it’s a massive 30-story black pyramid flanked by an obelisk and a sphinx, which happens to be larger than the original in Egypt. At night, one of the strongest beams of light in the world shoots out from the top of the pyramid, visible to aircraft as far as 270 miles away.

This Egyptian-themed resort cost $375 million to build and features more than 120,000 square feet of casino space. After spending all day at one of the resort’s four pools, you can take a break for a little cultural enrichment and visit “BODIES... The Exhibition” or “Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition.” The Luxor is also home to entertainers ranging from the Blue Man Group to magician Criss Angel to comedian Carrot Top.

8. Mandalay Bay

Number of guest rooms: 4,750

The Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino Las Vegas also includes the luxurious Four Seasons hotel and the hip Delano hotel.

If you want a break from gambling in the resort’s 135,000-square-foot gaming space, there’s still plenty to do — you can visit the Light nightclub, the Daylight beach club or the Minus5 Ice Bar, where everything is made of ice.

The resort’s 1.3-million-gallon Shark Reef Aquarium is one of the largest aquariums in North America, filled with various sharks, rays and fish.

7. Wynn/Encore Las Vegas

Number of guest rooms: 4,750

There are so many hotels in Vegas that it can be overwhelming to figure out where to stay if you’re visiting for the first time. The high-design Wynn Las Vegas and Encore resort might be up your alley if you’re looking for ultra-luxury accommodations.

R&R options include two spas and opulent pools surrounded by lush gardens (you can even swim topless at the Wynn European pool if you’re so inclined). Still not rejuvenated? Rent a private pool cabana, which comes with a mini-fridge, a plasma TV and plush furniture.

Famously, the hotel is home to an absurdly over-the-top brunch, featuring several dining rooms decked out in whimsical decor, 15 live-cooking stations, 120 different dishes and a decadent chocolate fountain.

6. Izmailovo Hotel

Number of guest rooms: 5,000

Located near lush, green Izmailovo Park — one of the largest parks in Moscow — the Izmailovo complex is made up of four independently managed buildings: Alfa, Beta, Vega and Gamma-Delta. The structures comprise the largest of the 29 hotels built ahead of the 1980 Summer Olympics to accommodate visitors and journalists, and offer stunning views of the historic Izmaylovo Estate and peaceful Serebryano-Vinogradny pond.

Bigger-is-better amenities include a bowling alley, Russian and Turkish baths, and a billiard club.

If you’re planning a trip to Moscow, the complex can serve as a convenient launch pad for your city exploration — it’s just a few steps from the Partizanskaya metro station, which provides quick and easy access to the Kremlin and Red Square.

5. Sands Cotai Central

Considering Macao is often referred to as the “Las Vegas of Asia,” it makes sense that it would be home to larger-than-life hotels, just like its American counterpart. Case in point? The massive, $4 billion Sands Cotai Central casino and shopping complex on the Cotai Strip.

The complex is made up of four hotels: St. Regis Macao, Sheraton Grand Macao Hotel, Holiday Inn Macao and Conrad Macao, each with varying price points to accommodate nearly any travel budget. The Sands Cotai Central complex regularly hosts shows, events and concerts, such as the Macao International Music Festival and La Parisienne Cabaret Francais stunt show.

If you love to shop, you’ll find plenty of options to choose from in Sands Cotai Central’s 520,000 square feet of retail space.

4. CityCenter

Number of guest rooms: 6,790

The CityCenter complex in Las Vegas encompasses a handful of slick, sophisticated properties: Vdara Hotel and Spa, Aria Resort & Casino, Mandarin Oriental Las Vegas and Veer Towers.

You can visit three pools without ever leaving the resort complex, including Liquid, a 215,000-square-foot adults only-pool with now fewer than 42 cabanas.

The complex is home to one of the United States’ largest public art collections, valued at $40 million, with pieces by high-profile artists scattered throughout the grounds. You can also shop (and eat) until you drop in 500,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space.

3. MGM Grand

Number of guest rooms: 6,852

With its green exterior and distinctive plus-sign shape, the MGM Grand is hard to miss, even among the many colorful and elaborately designed hotels that line the Las Vegas Strip.

The hotel is home to Wet Republic Ultra Pool, a 54,500-square-foot complex of pools, bungalows and cabanas perfect for wild parties and events. Also on tap for partiers: Hakkasan, a hip nightclub featuring renowned DJs like Steve Aoki, Calvin Harris and Tiesto.

Just don't book this property if you hate crowds: It’s been estimated that some 70,000 people pass through each day.

2. The Venetian and Palazzo

Number of guest rooms: 7,117

If you’ve ever spent time on the Las Vegas Strip, you know how easy it can be to get lost, even if you stay inside just one building. Nowhere is this more true than the Venetian and Palazzo complex, which takes the cake as the largest hotel on The Strip.

All told, the resort complex features more than 40 restaurants, 2.3 million square feet of meeting space and 1 million square feet of retail space. The complex is also home to the Sands Expo and Convention Center, which hosts 25 of the 200 largest conventions in the world.

Given the size of this place, it should come as no surprise that the resort serves a lot of meals — more than 2 million banquet meals and more than 700,000 orders of room service each year.

1. First World Hotel

Number of guest rooms: 7,351

Coming in at No. 1 is the First World Hotel in Pahang, Malaysia, located about an hour northeast of Kuala Lumpur. The hotel is made up of two multi-colored towers, with many of the rooms overlooking the Genting Highlands outdoor theme park.

After playing all day at the amusement park, visitors staying at the hotel can do a little browsing at the massive First World Plaza shopping center, or spend time at an additional indoor theme park.

If the First World Hotel isn’t to your liking, the Resorts World Genting complex it belongs to has six other hotels to choose from, all at varying price points. Also on hand at the complex: a full movie theater, a 20-lane bowling alley and an 18-hole golf course.