The First World's 50 Best Hotels List Will Be Revealed This Year

For restaurants and bars across the globe, there are few higher honors than snagging a place on The World’s 50 Best list. Now, the company is getting into the travel game with its inaugural World’s 50 Best Hotels list, which will be presented at a ceremony in September 2023.

“Our ambition is to create the most egalitarian, useful and transparent hotel ranking system ever devised,” World’s 50 Best noted in a statement on its website. “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.”

To create the list, 50 Best selected nine Academy Chairs — a network of experienced travel journalists — to be responsible for one specific global region. Those nine chairs will select 580 anonymous voters with extensive travel knowledge to vote on which properties will make the list; they’ll include hoteliers, travel journalists, educators, hospitality professionals and seasoned luxury travelers. Just as is done with The World’s 50 Best Restaurants and Bars lists, at least 25% of those anonymous voters will change each year to keep the hotel list fresh.

In terms of criteria, hotels large and small, independent and part of big corporations are all eligible. Voters are encouraged to look at every aspect of the stay, including check-in, room quality, hotel facilities, food and beverage, staff interactions, and even the check-out process.

An exact time and place for the big reveal hasn’t been set, but if World’s 50 Best Hotels gets as much press and praise as the restaurant and bar lists, the honored properties will have a lot to look forward to after the September ceremony.