The 2014 World’s Best Hotel Is…

ByTerence Chan
a building in the woods
The Triple Creek Ranch in Darby, Montana…according to Travel and Leisure’s newly released list of the World’s 50 Best Hotels. This is the 19th year that Travel and Leisure magazine has polled its readers to compile the list, which includes the best hotels along with other categories such as best city, island, airport, cruise line, and spa.
Back to the hotels – this year there was an uptick in US properties, which grew 19% from the 2013 list. Three US properties even broke into the top 10 this year after being shutout in last year’s list, including the winner Triple Creek Ranch in Darby, MT, along with #5 Ocean House in Watch Hill, RI and #6 The Langham in Chicago. Annoyingly, they make you scroll through a slideshow one-by-one, so here’s a list I compiled in case you just want a quick snapshot of the top 50:
  1. Triple Creek Ranch, Darby, MT
  2. Nayara Springs, La Fortuna, Costa Rica
  3. Four Seasons Hotel Gresham Palace Budapest
  4. Southern Ocean Lodge, Kangaroo Island, Australia
  5. Ocean House, Watch Hill, RI
  6. The Langham, Chicago
  7. Singita Sabi Sand, Kruger National Park Area, South Africa
  8. Londolozi Game Reserve, Kruger National Park Area, South Africa
  9. Oberoi Udaivilas, Udaipur, India
  10. Taj Lake Palace, Udaipur, India
  11. Four Seasons Hotel, Hong Kong
  12. The Lodge at Sea Island Gold Club, GA
  13. The Peninsula Bangkok
  14. Post Ranch Inn, Big Sur, CA
  15. Capella Padregal, Los Cabos, Mexico
  16. St. Regis Punta Mita Resort, Mexico
  17. Cavas Wine Lodge, Mendoza, Argentina
  18. Four Seasons Hotel Istanbul at Sultanahmet
  19. Singita, Kruger National Park Area, South Africa
  20. Brewery Gulch Inn, Mendocino, CA
  21. Stein Eriksen Lodge, Deer Valley, UT
  22. Four Seasons Resort Hualalai, HI, the Big Island
  23. Nayara Hotel, Spa & Gardens, La Fortuna, Costa Rica
  24. Mandarin Oriental, Las Vegas
  25. Rosewood Mayakoba, Riviera Maya, Mexico
  26. Planters Inn, Charleston, SC
  27. Four Seasons Resort, Chiang Mai, Thailand
  28. Dhara Dhevi Chiang Mai, Thailand
  29. Farmhouse Inn, Forestville, CA
  30. Oberoi Rajvilas, Jaipur, India
  31. Jade Mountain, St. Lucia
  32. Rambagh Palace, Jaipur India
  33. The Carlyle, A Rosewood Hotel, New York City
  34. Four Seasons Hotel Milano, Milan
  35. One&Only Palmilla, Los Cabos, Mexico
  36. Oberoi Amarvilas, Agra, India
  37. The Peninsula, Hong Kong
  38. Four Seasons Hotel Mexico D.F., Mexico City
  39. Sabi Sabi Private Game Reserve, Kruger National Park Area, South Africa
  40. Banyan Tree Mayakoba, Riviera Maya, Mexico
  41. The Cloister at Sea Island, GA
  42. The Peninsula Shanghai
  43. Castello di Casole – A Timbers Resort, Casole d’Elsa Italy
  44. Four Seasons Hotel Firenze, Florence
  45. Le Bristol, Paris
  46. Inn at Palmetto Bluff, a Montage Resort, Bluffton, SC
  47. Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea, HI
  48. Mandarin Oriental Bangkok
  49. The Ritz Paris
  50. Four Seasons Hotel Prague

It only appears that one of the major chains made it on the list, which was Starwood at #16 with the St. Regis Punta Mita Resort in Mexico. Of the luxury chains, it looks like Four Seasons was the big winner with 10 entries, with Peninsula Hotels a distant second place with 3 entries, and Mandarin Oriental coming in with just 2 entries.

Any hotels on this list on your hotel bucket lists for future trips?

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