It was opened on 26 July 2002 by Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.

The hotel previously held the same title in 2006, then having 6,118 rooms in two towers, Tower 1 and 2 until The Palazzo took the title after an expansion of The Venetian located on Las Vegas Strip which was officially opened on 1 January 2008.

[1][2] The hotel connects to the brand new shopping mall, SkyAvenue which also houses the Awana Skyway station that links to the Genting Highlands Premium Outlets.

First World Plaza is a shopping centre located one floor above the lobby level of the hotel on land measured 46,000 square metres (500,000 sq ft), housing a casino (formerly a pavilion), retail and dining outlets including a Tangs branch, an Indoor Theme Park – Skytropolis Funland and other attractions such as Snow World, Genting Bowl, Seni Kome Peng Heng, Big Top Video Games Park and first Asian branch of virtual reality attraction The VOID which occupies nearly 7000 square feet in the plaza.

Before refurbishment from 1 June 2017 to December 2018, it had few attractions in the plaza including a bowling alley, cineplex, "water splash" pool (a warm indoor swimming pool made for mostly young children), Genting International Convention Centre, a pavilion, Haunted Adventure and a Ripley's Believe It or Not!