The first edition of The World’s 50 Best Hotels will be revealed at the Guildhall in London on 19 September 2023. Here’s everything you need to know about the list that will become the go-to global hotels ranking
50 Best has just announced the creation of The World’s 50 Best Hotels brand – our first global launch since 2009 when The World’s 50 Best Bars made its debut. After years of planning, consultation with international experts and research into global travel, the reveal of the list will mark a seismic moment as savvy travellers will be able to discover the world’s finest restaurants, bars and hotels right here on the 50 Best platform.
The plan is to bring together these three vital and complementary strands of hospitality under the 50 Best banner, creating the ultimate global reference point. The World’s 50 Best Hotels will join The World’s 50 Best Restaurants and The World’s 50 Best Bars as our flagship rankings and, like its sibling lists, will be released annually.
The World's 50 Best events bring together the best in the industry from across the globe for a memorable annual celebration
Our ambition is to create the most egalitarian, useful and transparent hotel ranking system ever devised. Unlike other hotel awards, there will be no cost for entry, shortlisting or ceremony attendance. The result will be a bona-fide list of the most memorable hotel experiences across the world, all packaged up for travel-lovers to explore.
Each 50 Best entry will come with useful information, including the ideal time to visit to get the best value, clear pricing, detail of its restaurants and bars (obviously) and an illuminating review, written by 50 Best’s team of leading international travel journalists.
The new list promises to recognise excellence in the travel sphere, create community around our global events and provide users of our 50 Best Discovery search engine with a one-stop shop to select expert-approved elite luxury experiences. How are we going to do it? Read on to find your burning questions answered…
Follow the brand-new The World’s 50 Best Hotels social channels: @50Best_Hotels, on Instagram, the Facebook page and Twitter account
How is The World’s 50 Best Hotels different to the other hotel rankings?
We have spent a decade researching how we can make our awards the most reliable in the world – for the hotels themselves and, indeed, for the people who book them. After countless conversations with industry leaders about other hotel rankings and ratings, we found there were three elements that we needed to address: fairness, accuracy and transparency. We will do this by publishing full details of the voting process, ensuring that we have the best panel of voting experts possible and by promising that the awards themselves will always be free to enter, with every property in the world eligible for votes. The awards will not be ‘pay to play’ and 50 Best will never have any financial interest in the hotels themselves.
How is The World’s 50 Best Hotels decided?
The voting mechanic is much the same as the tried-and-tested methods we have applied to our seven other global and regional hospitality lists over the past 20 years. For Hotels, the ranking will reflect the best travel experiences collated from 580 voters – comprising a balanced mix of hoteliers, travel journalists, educators, hospitality professionals and seasoned luxury travellers – all selected by a group of industry-leading Academy Chairs across nine regions globally.
Who are the Academy Chairs?
Nine of the most experienced travel and hotel journalists in the world, each with a vast network of contacts. Learn who they are, where they represent and their pedigree here. They will each look after one global region and will be responsible for selecting anonymous voters based within that jurisdiction, but who travel internationally on a frequent basis.
And who are the voters?
Firstly, it’s important to understand that all voters other than the Academy Chairs are anonymous, so you’ll never know exactly who they are. However, we can tell you that the 580 members of the panel will include many of the most experienced hotel experts on Earth. This voting cohort will be made up of 50% travel journalists, 30% hoteliers and 20% seasoned luxury travellers. The panel will be revitalised with at least 25% new voters each year to be sure that we keep the list fresh, as is the case for The World’s 50 Best Restaurants and The World’s 50 Best Bars, as well as our regional lists.
What are the voting criteria?
There are none – we simply ask the voters to name their seven best hotel experiences of the voting period. We feel very strongly that the voting process should not be a box-ticking exercise and instead place trust in our team of experts. We only ask that they consider every element of the hotel’s operation when making their selection: from the first contact point with the reception desk to the comfort of the room, from the quality of the food and beverage offering and the on-site facilities to the moment they check out.
The lack of codified criteria for voting means that any hotel across the world can be nominated and is eligible for votes. As there is no requirement for size, number of guests, facilities or otherwise, voters have the freedom to nominate any property they deem worthy – from the planet’s best-known sprawling resort hotel to the tiniest, remote boutique property.
When will the first list be revealed?
The World’s 50 Best Hotels will be announced at London's Guildhall on 19 September 2023, with a selection of special awards revealed in the weeks leading up to the big event.
Why are you launching it now?
After the devastating effects of Covid-19 on international travel and the clear desire from travellers to get out and start exploring the world again, we believe there is no better time to debut The World’s 50 Best Hotels. We will place brilliant travel experiences front and centre and shine a spotlight on a wide range of properties, including the people and personalities behind them. This launch has long been something we’ve wanted to make happen and we’re so excited that it has finally come to life, building up to the first-ever list in September.
Want to see behind the curtain of The World's 50 Best events? Watch the highlights from last year's unveiling of The World's 50 Best Bars, which took place in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
Want to be the first to know The World’s 50 Best Hotels news? Bookmark theworlds50best.com/hotels and follow the spanking-new Instagram channel: @50Best_Hotels, our Facebook page and Twitter account. Feel free to start tagging #50BestHotels with all the amazing properties you think should be featured in the list
