The very best hotel in the UK has been revealed
A panel of expert judges have revealed the inaugural list of the world’s 100 best hotels, and three of the winners are in the capital.
The hotel voted best in the UK at the annual World’s 50 Best Hotels awards at Old Billingsgate Market last night was Claridge’s, which took the 16th spot. The Art Deco Mayfair property was a favourite of Queen Victoria’s, although a recent renovation includes a modern subterranean spa. Writing in our review, we described a visit to Claridge’s as like going into “some fabulous vortex where anything might be possible if you put on enough lippy. There is simply nowhere better to get lost and cosplay your 20s dreams, but it’s the hotel’s contemporaneity that separates it from the capital’s other grand dames.”
There were five UK hotels in the top 100, and three of them are run by The Maybourne Group: their other entries were historic Mayfair property The Connaught, which took 29th place, and new Kensington all-suite opening The Emory, which was ranked 32. In our review, we asked whether the hotel was better than Maybourne’s flagship property Claridge’s, writing that it is “something new for the travel industry… Each dorm gleams with playful ingenuity; ours had a gold pair of oversized glasses begging to be picked up and used as a prop for photos after we’d popped the champagne from the mini bar, included in the price of the room.”
Raffles at The OWO within the former Cabinet Office on Whitehall took 31st place and Cotswolds spa Estelle Manor came in at 47. Writing about The OWO in our 2023 review, we said: “All you really want to do when you’re staying in one of the historic suites that Churchill surely would have walked through back in the day is scream into your fist to muffle your excitement. In case you need more reasons to feel overwhelmed, there’s a spa with an enormous underground swimming pool that’s much better equipped for a proper swim than other central London five-star hotels.”
The Rosewood Hong Kong was ranked number 1 as the best hotel in the world, knocking Capella Bangkok off the top spot and into third position. Bangkok was also awarded the second place, with Four Seasons Bangkok at Chao Phraya River taking home silver. There were 20 Asian hotels in the top 50, and 17 European properties, with six in North America, three in Africa and two in Oceania and South America.
Around 800 anonymous experts vote for the World’s 50 Best Hotels, and those experts are selected by thirteen Academy Chairs. Experts are travel journalists, hoteliers and individuals deemed to be experienced travellers.
Here is the full list of The World’s 50 Best Hotels
Rosewood Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Four Seasons Bangkok at Chao Phraya River, Bangkok
Capella Bangkok, Bangkok
Passalacqua, Lake Como
Raffles Singapore, Singapore
Atlantis The Royal, Dubai
Mandarin Oriental Bangkok, Bangkok
Chablé Yucatán, Chocholá
Four Seasons Firenze, Florence
Upper House Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Copacabana Palace, Rio de Janeiro
Capella Sydney, Sydney
Royal Mansour, Marrakech
Mandarin Oriental Qianmen, Beijing
Bulgari Tokyo, Tokyo
Claridge’s, London
Four Seasons Astir Palace, Athens
Desa Potato Head, Bali
Le Bristol, Paris
Jumeirah Marsa Al Arab, Dubai
Cheval Blanc Paris, Paris
Bulgari Roma, Rome
Hôtel de Crillon, Paris
Rosewood São Paulo, São Paulo
Aman Tokyo, Tokyo
Hotel Il Pellicano, Porto Ercole
Hôtel du Couvent, Nice
Soneva Fushi, Maldives
The Connaught, London
La Mamounia, Marrakech
Raffles London at The OWO, London
The Emory, London
Maroma, Riviera Maya
The Calile, Brisbane
The Lana, Dubai
Hôtel de Paris Monte-Carlo, Monaco
Janu Tokyo, Tokyo
The Taj Mahal Palace, Mumbai
One&Only Mandarina, Riviera Nayarit
Singita – Kruger National Park, South Africa
Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Hotel Bel-Air, Los Angeles
The Mark, New York
Las Ventanas al Paraíso, Los Cabos
The Tokyo Edition Toranomon, Tokyo
Hotel The Mitsui, Kyoto
Estelle Manor, Witney
Grand Park Hotel Rovinj, Rovinj
Hotel Sacher Vienna, Vienna
Mandapa, Bali