The World’s 50 Best Hotels 2026 List Published: The Winners, And My Take On The Rankings

“The World’s 50 Best” has historically published rankings of the world’s best restaurants and the world’s best bars, and the rankings have always been highly respected by their respective industries and the public.

In 2023, the organization started publishing annual rankings of the world’s best hotels. While I don’t usually put too much weight into these kinds of rankings, it’s still always interesting to take a look, and the latest list has just been published.

“The World’s 50 Best Hotels” list for 2026

“The World’s 50 Best Hotels” list has just been released for 2026. Here’s the full list, and next to each of the 50 winners I noted how the hotel was ranked in 2025, if at all:

1. Rosewood Hong Kong, Hong Kong (2025: #1)
2. Capella Bangkok, Thailand (2025: #3)
3. Four Seasons Bangkok at Chao Phraya River, Thailand (2025: #2)
4. Atlantis The Royal Dubai, UAE (2025: #6)
5. Passalacqua Lake Como, Italy (2025: #4)
6. Rosewood São Paulo, Brazil (2025: #24)
7. Mandarin Oriental Qianmen Beijing, China (2025: #14)
8. Upper House Hong Kong, Hong Kong (2025: #10)
9. Chablé Yucatán Chocholá, Mexico (2025: #8)
10. Mandarin Oriental Bangkok, Thailand (2025: #7)
11. Aman Tokyo, Japan (2025: #25)
12. Four Seasons Florence, Italy (2025: #9)
13. Claridge’s London, United Kingdom (2025: #16)
14. Hôtel de Crillon Paris, France (2025: #23)
15. Jumeirah Marsa Al Arab Dubai, UAE (2025: #20)
16. Capella Sydney, Australia (2025: #12)
17. Raffles Singapore, Singapore (2025: #5)
18. Casa Maria Luigia Modena, Italy (2025: #18)
19. Le Bristol Paris, France (2025: #19)
20. Cheval Blanc Paris, France (2025: #21)
21. Desa Potato Head Bali, Indonesia (2025: #18)
22. San Ysidro Ranch Santa Barbara, United States (2025: not ranked)
23. One&Only Mandarina Riviera Nayarit, Mexico (2025: #39)
24. Bulgari Tokyo, Japan (2025: #15)
25. Las Ventanas al Paraíso Los Cabos, Mexico (2025: #44)
26. Royal Mansour Marrakech, Morocco (2025: #13)
27. Four Seasons Astir Palace Athens, Greece (2025: #17)
28. Raffles London at The OWO, United Kingdom (2025: #31)
29. Copacabana Palace Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (2025: #11)
30. The Taj Mahal Palace Mumbai, India (2025: #38)
31. The Peninsula Istanbul, Türkiye (2025: not ranked)
32. Bulgari Rome, Italy (2025: #22)
33. Patina Osaka, Japan (2025: not ranked)
34. Mount Nelson Cape Town, South Africa (2025: not ranked)
35. Nihi Sumba, Indonesia (2025: not ranked)
36. Badrutt’s Palace St. Moritz, Switzerland (2025: not ranked)
37. Park Hyatt Kyoto, Japan (2025: not ranked)
38. Hôtel du Couvent Nice, France (2025: #27)
39. Portrait Milano, Italy (2025: not ranked)
40. Hôtel de Paris Monte-Carlo, Monaco (2025: #36)
41. Plaza Athénée Paris, France (2025: not ranked)
42. Hotel Sacher Vienna, Austria (2025: #49)
43. Estelle Manor Witney, United Kingdom (2025: #47)
44. Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc Antibes, France (2025: not ranked)
45. Amangiri Canyon Point, United States (2025: not ranked)
46. The Peninsula Hong Kong, Hong Kong (2025: not ranked)
47. Maroma Riviera Maya, Mexico (2025: #33)
48. Aman Nai Lert Bangkok, Thailand (2025: not ranked)
49. The Connaught London, United Kingdom (2025: #29)
50. San Domenico Palace Taormina, Italy (2025: not ranked)

As you can see, 14 properties on the list weren’t ranked last year, but were ranked this year. That also means that 14 properties fell off the list in 2026. Here are the properties that fell off the list in 2026, along with their 2025 rankings:

• Hotel Il Pellicano, Porto Ercole, Italy (2025: #26)
• Soneva Fushi, Maldives (2025: #28)
• La Mamounia, Marrakech, Morocco (2025: #30)
• The Emory, London, United Kingdom (2025: #32)
• The Calile, Brisbane, Australia (2025: #34)
• The Lana, Dubai, UAE (2025: #35)
• Singita Kruger National Park, South Africa (2025: #40)
• Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong, Hong Kong (2025: #41)
• Hotel Bel-Air, Los Angeles, United States (2025: #42)
• The Mark, New York, United States (2025: #43)
• The Tokyo EDITION Toranomon, Japan (2025: #45)
• Hotel The Mitsui Kyoto, Japan (2025: #46)
• Grand Park Hotel Rovinj, Croatia (2025: #48)
• Mandapa, Bali, Indonesia (2025: #50)

It’s interesting to note the top ranked hotel in each continent:

• In Asia it’s Rosewood Hong Kong (#1)
• In Europe it’s Passalacqua (#5)
• In South America it’s Rosewood São Paulo (#6)
• In North America it’s Chablé Yucatan Chocholá (#9)
• In Oceania it’s Capella Sydney (#16)
• In Africa it’s Royal Mansour Marrakech (#26)

It really shows you how Asia and Europe are spoiled with amazing hotels, as the regions have a vast majority of the top properties.

How the top hotel rankings are decided on

Whenever you see a list like this, one logical question is what methodology is used to award these rankings. There’s no perfect way to go about ranking things, but I have to give the organization credit for at least putting a lot of thought into how it goes about this, and being transparent.

Long story short, this list is created by The World’s 50 Best Hotels Academy, which “comprises more than 800 members, each selected for their expert opinion of the international hotel scene, with a 50/50 gender balance.” The panel consists 40% of travel journalists, 30% of hoteliers, and 30% of seasoned luxury travelers. A minimum of 25% of the panel is renewed every year.

The globe is divided into 13 geographical regions, and each region has a chairperson appointed for their knowledge of their section of the hotel world. These chairs select a voting panel, consisting of hoteliers, journalists, and experienced luxury travelers.

Each member has seven votes, and needs to list the top seven hotels they have stayed at in the past two years, in order of preference. They must have spent at least one night at each property, and press trips, complimentary room nights, and those achieved through loyalty schemes, are valid for consideration. Each voter can only list up to three hotels within the same hotel group.

When it comes to choosing which properties they like most, this is super open-ended. There’s no criteria, so they can vote for whatever hotel they deem worthy.

My take on the world’s top hotel rankings

I always enjoy these kinds of lists, though I don’t put too much weight on them. Personally I view this more as a list of 50 great hotels, rather than a ranked list of the world’s 50 best hotels. To state the obvious, comparing Passalacqua to Atlantis The Royal is just something that can’t reasonably be done, because they’re such different experiences.

I do find it strange that the top four hotels are all city properties, since at least personally, I enjoy an amazing resort a lot more than an incredible city hotel.

There’s no denying that the people ranking these hotels have stayed at a lot of great properties over the years, though:

• They’re limited to ranking hotels they’ve stayed at within the past two years, and ultimately there are only so many properties you can stay at over that time
• I think some hotels make big pushes with inviting “travel journalists” partly to get onto lists like this, so you’ll find that hotels often put a lot of effort into media outreach when they hope to be ranked in this way
• As you’d expect, a lot more people will be invited to stay at a luxury hotel with hundreds of rooms, vs. a small boutique property with a dozen rooms

In many ways, I appreciate just how random this list is, and how so many of these hotels can’t be compared. You have everything from the 24-room Passalacqua, to the 795-room Atlantis The Royal. At least the Tokyo EDITION Toranomon was taken off the list, so there’s some justice in the world!

I find it noteworthy how there’s not a single Airelles property in the list. It’s my favorite hotel brand, and the company has some amazing properties. So why don’t they make a list? Well, they’re all small properties that are in high demand (many open seasonally), so I imagine the committee that rates hotels just doesn’t get a lot of comped stays there.

The thing I really don’t like about these lists is the extent to which they drive up rates at the top properties. People love to show off and feel like they’ve stayed at the “it” place, so of course everyone wants to visit “the best hotel in the world.” It almost has a White Lotus-esque impact.

Ranking on these kinds of lists is great for business, but it’s less good when it comes to affordable rates and availability at these hotels.

Bottom line

“The World’s 50 Best Hotels” list has been published for 2026. It’s always fun to look at to get a sense of what hotels are good, but I wouldn’t trust the relative rankings too much, given how the rankings are decided on. Anyway, Rosewood Hong Kong is the best hotel in the world for a second year in a row, followed by Capella Bangkok, followed by Four Seasons Bangkok.

What do you make of this new list of the best hotels in the world?