World’s 50 Best Hotels 2023 Announced

The World’s 50 Best Hotels have been announced at London’s historic Guildhall, for the first time ever.

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On Tuesday 19 September, 2023, from 8:30pm, over the 90-minute ceremony, the list, anonymously voted for by 580 experts around the world, counted down from 50 to 1, and the countdown was interspersed with a number of special awards.

The World’s 50 Best Hotels Voting

This latest event from the 50 Best, already renowned globally for their bar and restaurant awards, follows the same voting structure, with 9 regional academy chairs – for hotels there’s Cecilia Núñez, Academy Chair for Latin America and The Caribbean, Danielle Demetriou, Academy Chair for Japan and South Korea, Isabella Sullivan, Academy Chair for the Middle East and Africa, Jeninne Lee-St John, Academy Chair for Southeast Asia, Kee Foong, Academy Chair for China, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, Lauren Ho, Academy Chair for Europe, Michael Harden, Academy Chair for Oceania, Yolanda Edwards, Academy Chair for US and Canada, and Zinara Rathnayake, Academy Chair for South Asia – heading up the voting.

And, as with the World’s 50 Best Bars and World’s 50 Best Restaurants lists (and their regional lists), the World’s 50 Best Hotels list will become an indispensable guide on where to stay around the world for global travelers filled with wanderlust.

*Gleneagles, one of the winners announced before the awards, which was given theArt Of Hospitality Award.*

Gleneagles Wins The 50 Best Hotels’ Art Of Hospitality Award

Even before 19 September, we already knew that, in the Southern Highlands of Scotland, the 232-room Gleneagles had won the 50 Best’s Art Of Hospitality Award. The hotel is set in a rural Scottish idyll in a village of only 5,900 people with 3 world-class golf courses on its doorstep, a best-in-the-country spa and a two-Michelin-star restaurant, called The Strathearn – the only one in Scotland.

The Lodge at Blue Sky Wins The Lavazza One To Watch Award

Then there’s The Lodge at Blue Sky, Auberge Resorts Collection, in Utah, another pre-announcement as the Lavazza One To Watch. The Lodge at Blue Sky is even more remote than Gleneagles, in the town of Wanship, 35 minutes from Salt Lake City. Population: 400.

The 50 Best called it a “stunning, sustainably-minded, modern mountain retreat.” The organization also commended The Lodge at Blue Sky’s highly-personalized guest experience (helped by the fact there are only 46 rooms and suites), with a list of outdoor activities that include horseback riding, fly fishing, mountain-top yoga and hiking led by a nature biologist.

*The Lodge at Blue Sky, a “stunning, sustainably-minded, modern mountain retreat.”*

Five Additional Special Awards Announced On The Night

An additional five special awards were announced at the Guildhall. The Nikka Best New Hotel award, given by Nikka’s Emiko Kaji, went to Capella Bangkok. The best hotel in North America went to the cool, tropical One&Only Mandarina, in Puerto Vellarta.

The Flor de Caña Eco Hotel award, externally audited, went to South Africa’s Singita Lodges Kruger National Park, which also ranked #15.

Another award, given to the hotel ranked highest in the list that is also in close proximity (within 20 meters) of the beach, The Lost Explorer Best Beach Hotel award went to a hotel at #7, Soneva Fushi in the Maldives.

The Carlo Alberto Vermouth Best Boutique Hotel – boutique meaning a hotel with less than 50 rooms and 50 rooms not being affiliated with a group or chain, presented by the brand’s Fabio Torretta, went to The Newt, in Bruton.

And the SevenRooms Icon Award — the only award in the program given to an individual — went to a person who redefined what it means to build a luxury resort with sustainability and the environment of their mind. As credit for his 30-year-career, Sonu Shivdasani was the winner — although a COVID diagnosis kept him from the event.

Finally, six hotels were named as the best in their continents. The best hotel in South America was Rosewood São Paulo at #27. The best hotel in Oceana at #12 was The Callie in Brisbane. The best hotel in Africa was the legendary La Mamounia in Marrakech. The best hotel in Asia was The Rosewood Hong Kong. And the best hotel in Europe, Passalacqua.

The World’s 50 Best Hotels 2023

Which brought us to the first ever countdown of the World’s 50 Best Hotels, before the after party commenced at London’s NoMad Hotel.

At #3, was The Four Seasons Chao Phraya River. At #2 Rosewood Hong Kong. And, at the top, the best hotel in the world, according to the World’s 50 Best Hotels, and also the best hotel in Europe, is Passalacqua.

1. Passalacqua (Moltrasio, Italy)

2. Rosewood Hong Kong (Hong Kong)

3. Four Seasons Bangkok at Chao Phraya River (Bangkok, Thailand)

4. The Upper House (Hong Kong)

5. Aman Tokyo (Tokyo, Japan)

6. La Mamounia (Marrakech, Morocco)

7. Soneva Fushi (Maldives)

8. One&Only Mandarina (Puerto Vallarta, Mexico)

9. Four Seasons Firenze (Florence, Italy)

10. Mandarin Oriental Bangkok (Bangkok, Thailand)

11. Capella Bangkok (Bangkok, Thailand)

12. The Calile (Brisbane, Australia)