Here at The Dot Magazine, we’ve been trumpeting Asian hospitality for a while now. Bangkok, Hong Kong and even Hanoi – we’ve long had these on our radar as world-beaters. This year’s The 50 results just make it official.
The No.1 spot on The 50 Best Hotels for a second year running, announced at a live awards ceremony in Paris on Tuesday, September 15. First hotel to win it twice.
The numbers: 419 rooms and suites in a 270-metre tower, 1,200 staff, 11 bars and restaurants, an Asaya Spa by Guerlain. “I’m lost for words,” managing director Hugo Montanari said of the repeat win. “To win it two years in a row, that’s down to everyone who comes and sees us, visits the hotel, eats at our restaurants and enjoys our spa.”
Confirmation, if anyone still needed it, that Hong Kong and Asia are where luxury hospitality is happening right now. But the ceremony brought a bigger change too: this was the first year the list ran under a new name.
The Rebrand: 50 Best Becomes The 50
Six days before Paris, owner William Reed rebranded the whole 50 Best portfolio as The 50. The World’s 50 Best Hotels is now just The 50 Best Hotels. Same for the restaurants and bars lists – the ‘World’s’ is gone. Restaurants, bars, hotels, vineyards, plus the Discovery content platform, all sit under one identity now: The 50.
The centerpiece is a new gem-shaped icon, built from 50 facets, now showing up across the group’s awards, editorial and event branding. William Reed is calling it a naming and design update, not a change to how hotels actually get ranked. Voting academies, adjudication, methodology – all unchanged.
“Hospitality is ultimately about human connection, and that will remain central to everything we do,” said Rikki Tidball, managing director of events. Lisa Green, managing director of content, said the new umbrella “creates a platform for year-round storytelling, opening up new ways to champion the voices, ideas and innovations shaping hospitality.”
The 50 Best Hotels 2026 was the first ceremony under the new name. Rest of the group’s rankings follow through the year.
Asia Holds The Entire Top Three At The 50 Best Hotels 2026
Asia placed 18 hotels in the 2026 top 50, down from 20 last year. But the region tightened its grip where it actually counts: Rosewood Hong Kong, Capella Bangkok and Four Seasons Bangkok at Chao Phraya River swept the top three outright. That didn’t happen in 2025, when Raffles Singapore broke into the top five but a Bangkok hotel only made No.2.
Hong Kong has three hotels in the top 50: Rosewood at No.1, Upper House at No.8, The Peninsula Hong Kong at No.46. “We are extremely lucky to have some of the world’s best hotel brands based out of Hong Kong,” Montanari said, calling the city a place where “one minute you’re in the city, exploring all the museums, arts and culture and next you’re out in nature.”
Bangkok matched that, three hotels too: Capella Bangkok at No.2, Four Seasons Bangkok at No.3, Aman Nai Lert debuting at No.48. Tokyo also placed three – Aman Tokyo, Bulgari Tokyo, plus Park Hyatt Kyoto and Patina Osaka nearby, stretching Japan’s presence well past the capital.
Rosewood Hong Kong’s director of culinary, Fabian Altabert, puts the region’s edge down to the small stuff. “It’s no longer about having a bottle of champagne waiting for you in the room,” he said. “It’s the tiny details that create a seamless experience, like the housekeeper noticing your contact lenses are almost finished and you coming back to a brand new packet.”
Europe still wins on raw count – 21 hotels to Asia’s 18. But its best result was Passalacqua at No.5, four places behind Asia’s weakest top-three finisher. Europe’s winning on breadth. Asia’s winning on altitude.
Vietnam: Still Outside The Top 50 At The 50 Best Hotels, But On The Board
No Vietnamese hotel has ever cracked The 50 Best Hotels top 50. Still hasn’t in 2026. But Vietnam isn’t shut out of the conversation anymore. When the extended 51-100 list dropped ahead of Paris, Capella Hanoi landed at No.81 – the first Vietnamese hotel to appear anywhere on the ranking’s 100-strong list.
Capella Hanoi, designed around the 1920s opera houses of Indochina and sitting beside the Hanoi Opera House, is a new entry this year. It’s currently Vietnam’s only hotel in the top 100.
The top-50 absence sits oddly against everything else going on in Vietnamese hospitality right now – MICHELIN in the market since 2023, more international operators opening across Hanoi, Saigon, Danang, Phu Quoc, the B.A.R. Awards building a domestic case for the country’s own bars and restaurants. Capella Hanoi at No.81 is the clearest sign yet that the same voting academy putting three Bangkok hotels and three Hong Kong hotels in this year’s top 50 is starting to notice Vietnam too. Whether that turns into an actual top-50 entry is the thing to watch for 2027.
2025 Versus 2026
Rosewood Hong Kong held No.1 both years. Below that, plenty of shuffling. Capella Bangkok climbed from No.3 to No.2. Four Seasons Bangkok at Chao Phraya River dropped from No.2 to No.3. Passalacqua slipped from No.4 to No.5. Atlantis The Royal moved up from No.6 to No.4.
Raffles Singapore was the biggest faller out of last year’s top ten – down from No.5 to No.17. Mandarin Oriental Bangkok dropped a few spots too, No.7 to No.10, though that’s a small step within a strong band. Upper House Hong Kong barely moved, No.8-10 last year to No.8 now.
The big mover into the top 10: Mandarin Oriental Qianmen in Beijing, up from No.14 to No.7. San Ysidro Ranch, Four Seasons Astir Palace and Aman Nai Lert are among the properties either new to the top 50 or back after time away.
Gone from the top 50 entirely: Soneva Fushi (Maldives, No.28 in 2025), La Mamounia (Marrakech, No.30), The Emory (London, No.32), The Calile (Brisbane, No.34), The Lana (Dubai, No.35), Janu Tokyo (No.37), Singita Kruger National Park (No.40), Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong (No.41), Hotel Bel-Air (No.42), The Mark New York (No.43), The Tokyo Edition Toranomon (No.45), Hotel The Mitsui Kyoto (No.46), Grand Park Hotel Rovinj (No.48), Mandapa Bali (No.50). Hotel Il Pellicano (Porto Ercole, No.26 in 2025) is out too.
Las Ventanas al Paraíso made the sharpest climb of anyone, up 19 places to No.25, taking the WhistlePig Highest Climber Award. Casa Maria Luigia was the year’s standout debut – straight in at No.18, Lavazza Highest New Entry Award.
Asia’s count dropped from 20 hotels in 2025 to 18 in 2026 – lost Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong, Janu Tokyo, The Tokyo Edition Toranomon, Hotel The Mitsui Kyoto and Mandapa Bali, gained Mandarin Oriental Qianmen’s climb into single digits and Aman Nai Lert’s debut. Fewer hotels, stronger top of the table: this year’s Asian top three outranks anything the region managed in 2025, when its best finisher was No.1 but the next-best only made No.3.
Other Honors At The 50 Best Hotels 2026
James McBride of Nihi Sumba won the SevenRooms Icon Award 2026. Royal Mansour kept its title as Best Hotel in Africa. Capella Sydney kept Best Hotel in Oceania. Atlantis The Royal kept both Best Beach Hotel and Best Hotel in the Middle East. Chablé Yucatán took Best Hotel in North America on top of its Bombay Sapphire Eco Hotel Award.
The 50 Best Hotels 2026: 50 Down To 1
50 San Domenico Palace, Taormina
49 The Connaught, London
48 Aman Nai Lert, Bangkok
47 Maroma, Riviera Maya
46 The Peninsula Hong Kong, Hong Kong
45 Amangiri, Canyon Point
44 Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc, Antibes
43 Estelle Manor, Witney
42 Hotel Sacher Vienna, Vienna
41 Plaza Athénée, Paris
40 Hôtel de Paris Monte-Carlo, Monaco
39 Portrait Milano, Milan
38 Hôtel du Couvent, Nice – Johnnie Walker Art of Design Award
37 Park Hyatt Kyoto, Kyoto
36 Badrutt’s Palace, St. Moritz – SeiBellissimi Art of Hospitality Award
35 Nihi Sumba, Sumba Island
34 Mount Nelson, Cape Town
33 Patina Osaka, Osaka – Nikka Best New Hotel Award
32 Bulgari Roma, Rome
31 The Peninsula Istanbul, Istanbul
30 The Taj Mahal Palace, Mumbai
29 Copacabana Palace, Rio de Janeiro
28 Raffles London at The OWO, London
27 Four Seasons Astir Palace, Athens
26 – Royal Mansour – Marrakech – Best Hotel in Africa
25 – Las Ventanas al Paraíso – Los Cabos – WhistlePig Highest Climber Award
24 – Bulgari Tokyo – Tokyo
23 – One&Only Mandarina – Riviera Nayarit
22 – San Ysidro Ranch – Santa Barbara
21 – Desa Potato Head – Bali
20 – Cheval Blanc Paris – Paris
19 – Le Bristol – Paris
18 – Casa Maria Luigia – Modena – Lavazza Highest New Entry Award
17 – Raffles Singapore – Singapore
16 – Capella Sydney – Sydney – Best Hotel in Oceania
15 – Jumeirah Marsa Al Arab – Dubai
14 – Hôtel de Crillon – Paris
13 – Claridge’s – London
12 – Four Seasons Firenze – Florence
11 – Aman Tokyo – Tokyo
10 – Mandarin Oriental Bangkok – Bangkok
9 – Chablé Yucatán – Chocholá – Bombay Sapphire Eco Hotel Award; Best Hotel in North America
8 – Upper House Hong Kong – Hong Kong
7 – Mandarin Oriental Qianmen – Beijing
6 – Rosewood São Paulo – São Paulo
5 – Passalacqua – Lake Como – Best Boutique Hotel Award
4 – Atlantis The Royal – Dubai – Best Beach Hotel Award; Best Hotel in the Middle East
3 – Four Seasons Bangkok at Chao Phraya River – Bangkok
2 – Capella Bangkok – Bangkok
1 – Rosewood Hong Kong – Hong Kong – The World’s Best Hotel, second consecutive year
