Genting Highlands

Genting Highlands (27 May 2005)


Genting Highlands (GPS: 3.42377, 101.79204) are a highland resort in Pahang. It is located on the main range, Banjaran Titiwangsa near the border between Pahang and Selangor.

Billed as the City of Entertainment, it is a rambling complex of hotels and facilities. There are at least six mammoth hotels at this resort namely Genting Hotel, First World Hotel, Highland Hotel, Resorts Hotel, Theme Park Hotel and Awana Genting. Of these, the biggest is First World Hotel. With 6118 rooms, it pushed MGM Grand Las Vegas to second place and took the title as the world's largest hotel - in terms of number of rooms. If you have ever stayed in any of First World's standard rooms, you'd know what life's like inside a closet.

Genting Highlands was founded by Tan Sri Lim Goh Tong. He hit upon the idea of setting up a new hill resort in 1964, while he was in Cameron Highlands, where he was working on a hydroelectric power project. He foresaw an affluent Malaysia many decades into the future, where the population would be keen on having a holiday in the cool retreat of the mountains. The site identified for the project was at the 1800-meter Gunung Ulu Kali, 58 km from Kuala Lumpur.

In partnership with the late Tan Sri Haji Mohammed Noah bin Omar, Tan Sri Lim Goh Tong set up Genting Highlands Berhad on 27 April 1965. Then he obtained approval from the governments of Pahang and Selangor to set aside 12,000 acres and 2,800 acres respectively. On 18 August 1965, work commenced to build a road from Genting Sempah - from which the resort derived its name - to the peak of Gunung Ulu Kali.

The foundation stone for the first hotel in Genting Highlands was laid by the late Tunku Abdul Rahman, Malaysia's first prime minister, on 31 March, 1969. Highlands Hotel (now renamed Theme Park Hotel) opened its doors to the public in 1971.

One thing that requires little advertising at Genting Highlands is Malaysia's only land-based casino. Those who have visited the Casino de Genting claims that it is bigger than those in Las Vegas. For those seeking a more wholesome formk of recreation, Genting Highlands pack a whole list of entertainment programs, including an outdoor as well as indoor theme park, golf course, shopping mall, a sky diving simulator, a winter wonderland, auditorium, heated swimming pool, and lots more.

Map of Genting Highlands

Sights in Genting Highlands

Sights in the vicinity of Genting Highlands

Getting to Genting Highlands

Genting Highlands is about 60 km from Kuala Lumpur on the Karak Highway. Among the transports available are Limousine, Luxury Coach, Express Bus, Shuttle Service, Taxi and Helicopter.

Limousine service to Genting Highlands is available from anywhere in Peninsula Malaysia and Singapore. Contact (603) 6251 8398 in Genting or (603) 8776 6753 in KLIA.

Luxury Coach 26-seat and 44-seat are available in from Kuala Lumpur, KLIA and other places in Peninsula Malaysia. Contact (603) 6251 8398.

Express bus to Genting Highlands is available from Puduraya Bus Terminal, Pasarakyat, KL Sentral and Terminal Putra LRT Gombak.

Helicopter service is available between KLIA and Genting Highlands. The journey takes 30 minutes. For inquiries, contact Sabah Air at (603) 6257 8604 .

In Genting Highlands, a shuttle bus service is available to the Chin Swee Caves Temple, with a 15-min stop at the Mushroom Farm, for RM5.00 return. Contact (603) 6101 1118 ext 7750.

Reception, First World Hotel, Genting Highlands (27 May, 2005)


Foyer, Genting Hotel (27 May, 2005)

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About this website

Dear visitor, thank you so much for reading this page. My name is Timothy Tye and my hobby is to find out about places, write about them and share the information with you on this website. I have been writing this site since 5 January 2003. Originally (from 2003 until 2009, the site was called AsiaExplorers. I changed the name to Penang Travel Tips in 2009, even though I describe more than just Penang but everywhere I go (I often need to tell people that "Penang Travel Tips" is not just information about Penang, but information written in Penang), especially places in Malaysia and Singapore, and in all the years since 2003, I have described over 20,000 places.

While I try my best to provide you information as accurate as I can get it to be, I do apologize for any errors and for outdated information which I am unaware. Nevertheless, I hope that what I have described here will be useful to you.