A resort hotel is a hotel which often contains full-sized resort facilities with full-service accommodations and luxury amenities. These hotels may attract both business conferences and vacationing tourists and offer more than a convenient place to stay.[1] They may be referred to as major conference center hotels, flagship hotels, destination hotels, and destination resorts. The market for conference and resort hotels is a subject for market analysis.[2]
Definitions of resort hotels and their operations vary by country, with differences in regulation, market models, and emphasis on sustainability.[3][4][5]
These hotels as destinations may be characterized by distinctive architecture, upscale lodgings, ballrooms, large conference facilities, restaurants, and recreation activities such as golf or skiing. They may be located in a variety of settings from major cities to remote locations.
Regional definitions and regulatory changes
The legal and market definition of a resort hotel varies internationally and has changed over time. In Thailand, for example, a proposed new Accommodation Act (2025) seeks to replace the existing Hotel Act and broaden regulatory categories to cover hotels, eco-lodges, homestays, and other accommodation types, reflecting diversification in tourist lodging.[6]
In Europe, the all-inclusive resort model, which is common in the Caribbean and Latin America, remains less widespread. Hotel developers note that regulatory restrictions, high operating costs, and limited beachfront land make large-scale all-inclusive resorts less feasible in European markets compared to island destinations.[7]
Sustainability has also become a defining characteristic of many resort hotels, particularly in Asia Pacific. In Southeast Asia, for example, the industry has been urged to embrace “green premium” practices, such as energy conservation, local food sourcing, and waste management, which are increasingly viewed as essential components of competitive resort offerings.[8]
History
Since the 1800s, the traditional concept of a full-service conference and resort hotel has often arisen in remote locations with natural attractions.[9] Over time, resorts such as those in Las Vegas have greatly expanded their scale, integrating spa, fitness facilities, large entertainment halls and retail options, significantly exceeding the amenities of earlier destination hotels.[10]
A mega-resort is a type of destination hotel of exceptionally large size, sometimes featuring large-scale attractions such as casinos, golf courses, theme parks, multiple accommodation complexes, and extensive conference and entertainment facilities. The hotels along the Las Vegas Strip are frequently cited as archetypal mega-resorts because of their scale and integrated amenities.[11][12]
Kirk Kerkorian is often credited with creating one of the first modern Las Vegas mega-resorts with the opening of the International Hotel in 1969, which was the largest hotel in the world at the time and helped define the contemporary, large-scale integrated resort model.[13][14]
Two projects in Las Vegas in 1969 and 1973[15][16][17] by architectMartin Stern, Jr. and entrepreneurKirk Kerkorian, the International Hotel and the MGM Grand, set the standard for such casino resorts. The Mirage gave its size and emphasis on non-gaming entertainment options like shopping and fine dining to draw in customers. Mega-resorts use the same fantastic or mythical theme (medieval life at Excalibur, tropical at The Mirage, famous cities, etc.) throughout their properties.
↑ "The Hidden History of the Xanadu". University of Nevada, Las Vegas Center for Gaming Research. Two Martin Stern-designed and Kirk Kerkorian-built casinos, the International (later Las Vegas Hilton) and MGM Grand (later Bally's) had just raised the bar in casino/hotel design. Whereas previous casinos had featured modest, low-slung motel wings or mid-rise hotel extensions, these two structures opened with over 2000 rooms and suites located in mammoth hotel towers. These two projects boasted virtually every feature of what is today canonical casino resort construction: a single complex combining casino, dining, and entertainment facilities with a massive hotel.
↑ "Remembering Martin Stern, Jr.: Architect of the Modern Casino Resort". University of Nevada, Las Vegas Center for Gaming Research. Stern's most enduring contribution to the Strip was his trailblazing fusion of convention hotel, casino space, and retail, seen first in 1969 in Kirk Kerkorian's International and then in his original MGM Grand, which opened in 1973. These behemoths integrated high-rise hotel towers, parking garages, convention space, gaming, entertainment, and shopping for the first time. These structurally integrated designs supplanted the patchwork of older Strip casinos, which had grown by adding a showroom here or a hotel tower there. And the International pioneered the tri-form, y-shaped design that has become a Strip trademark. The freshly minted mega-resorts of the 1990s, from The Mirage to Paris, all used Stern's basic ideas of casino design.
↑ "Nevada Swings Into the Seventies". Southwest Contractor. Archived from the original on 2011-09-29. The massive, 2.5 million sq.-ft. MGM Grand set a new standard in defining the mega-resort. The monolithic building, larger than in size than the Empire State Building, had over 300 miles of draperies, 2,300 television sets, and enough heating and cooling capacity to serve 8,000 homes.
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