Rosewood Hong Kong is the world’s best hotel for second consecutive year

The fourth annual edition of The 50 Best Hotels was unveiled at an awards ceremony in Paris last night. For the first time, the ceremony was held outside of the United Kingdom, at Les Salles du Carrousel.

Rosewood Hong Kong was once again been recognised as The World’s Best Hotel, following its ranking as No.1 in 2025 and No.3 in 2024. The hotel also clinched The Best Hotel in Asia title. The No.2 spot went to Capella Bangkok, which rose from its No.3 ranking in 2025. Four Seasons Bangkok at Chao Phraya River took the No.3 spot, with Mandarin Oriental Bangkok at No.10 and new entry, Aman Nai Lert at No.48. 

Asia is home to 18 ranked hotels, including Mandarin Oriental Qianmen in Beijing at No.7, Upper House Hong Kong at No.8 and The Peninsula Hong Kong at No.46. Japan is home to four ranked hotels: Aman Tokyo (No.11), Bulgari Tokyo (No.24), Patina Osaka (No.33) — recipient of the Nikka Best New Hotel Award — and Park Hyatt Kyoto (No.37). 

Further enhancing Asia’s presence, Raffles Singapore placed at No.17 and The Taj Mahal Palace in Mumbai (No.30) climbed eight places. Two hotels in Indonesia feature on the list: Desa Potato Head (No.21) and Nihi Sumba, which re-entered the list at No.35. In Dubai, Atlantis The Royal (No.4) won The Best Hotel in the Middle East and the Best Beach Hotel Award, and Jumeirah Marsa Al Arab (No.15) climbed five places. 

Europe leads the 2026 rankings, with 21 hotels featured among The 50 Best Hotels, making it the continent with the strongest representation on this year’s list. Italy and France have six properties featured, whereas the UK is home to four. Austria, Greece, Monaco, Switzerland and Türkiye each have one hotel included. 

The highest-ranking European entry is Passalacqua (No.5) in Lake Como, which additionally won the Best Boutique Hotel Award for the third consecutive year. The following Italian hotels also featured: Four Seasons Firenze (No.12), Bulgari Roma (No.32), and new entries Casa Maria Luigia (No.18) in Modena, which won the Lavazza Highest New Entry Award, Portrait Milano (No.39) and San Domenico Palace in Taormina (No.50). 

In Paris, Hôtel de Crillon (No.14) has climbed nine places, with three other hotels in the capital included: Le Bristol (No.19), Cheval Blanc Paris (No.20) and new entry, Plaza Athénée (No.41). Elsewhere in France, Hôtel du Couvent in Nice ranked No.38 and won the Johnnie Walker Art of Design Award, while Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc re-entered the list at No.44. 

The UK is home to four winning properties, with the capital city claiming three: Claridge’s (No.13), Raffles London at The Owo (No.28) and The Connaught (No.49). Outside of London, Estelle Manor in Witney (No.43) rose four places. Elsewhere in Europe, Four Seasons Astir Palace (No.27) in Greece, SeiBellissimi Art of Hospitality Award winner Badrutt's Palace (No.36) in Switzerland, Hôtel de Paris Monte-Carlo (No.40) in Monaco and Hotel Sacher Vienna (No.42) secured places in the list. In Türkiye, The Peninsula Istanbul (No.31) also entered the list for the first time. 

North America is home to six winning properties. Chablé Yucatán (No.9) in Chocholá is one of four hotels in Mexico to make the ranking, including One&Only Mandarina (No.23) in Riviera Nayarit, Las Ventanas al Paraíso (No.25) in Los Cabos, winner of the WhistlePig Highest Climber Award, and Maroma (No.47) in Riviera Maya. The United States has two new entries on the list: San Ysidro Ranch (No.22) in Santa Barbara and Amangiri (No.45) in Canyon Point. Elsewhere, in South America, Rosewood São Paulo (No.6) rose 18 places and, also in Brazil, Copacabana Palace in Rio de Janeiro ranked at No.29. 

Africa is home to two hotels on the list: Royal Mansour (No.26) in Marrakech and Mount Nelson in Cape Town, which re-entered at No.34. Oceania has one hotel included: Capella Sydney (No.16) in Australia. 

The Art of Design Award has been presented to Hôtel du Couvent in France. Rosewood wins the Most Admired Hotel Group Award. Chablé Yucatán in Mexico won the Eco Hotel Award. James McBride was voted by the Academy as the winner of the Icon Award.

The evening also celebrated the recipients of the special awards announced in the lead-up to the ceremony. Among them was The Fifth Avenue Hotel (No.78) in New York, which received the Travel One to Watch Award. In addition, Switzerland’s Badrutt’s Palace (No.36) was honoured with the Art of Hospitality Award.