The Capella in Bangkok sits on the top spot of the World’s 50 Best Hotels list. — Capella
For the second year, the founders of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants and World’s 50 Best Bars lists have turned their attention to the most fabulous places to stay around the globe. And this year, it’s the Capella Bangkok (Thailand) that comes away as the best hotel on Earth.
The Capella is among a cluster of new riverside resorts in Bangkok that has skyrocketed the city’s luxury quotient. Every one of its rooms has a view of the Chao Praya River, and dining venues include a French gastronomic restaurant by Mauro Colagreco and the waterfront Phra Nakhon, which has become something of a legendary brunch scene for chic locals and visitors alike. Its pool is so densely surrounded by lush vegetation, it almost feels like instant transport to one of the Thai islands.
The title of “World’s Best”, however, is a subjective one, rather than a scientific determination. To arrive at its results, the team asks its 600 anonymous jurors to rank the seven best hotels they’ve stayed in over the last 18 months.
It’s a system that necessarily favours easy-to-reach destinations, big cities and new hotels with marketing muscle: There are no rules against jurors taking free stays, so those with big promotional budgets can draw dozens of influencers and media on familiarisation trips to help get the word out, creating a slew of eligible voters along the way.
By contrast, even the best-travelled voters are unlikely to have gone on safari or explored the wilds of Patagonia in that recent period, leaving only a small minority of voters with the ability to cast votes for properties in off-the-beaten track destinations. In theory, a global panel of jurors should help, but none are required to cast even a single vote for hotels in their home regions.
That in some ways explains the results. Much of the list was familiar from last year’s edition, proving that influential travel pros feel the need to see the highest-ranked places they have not yet visited, creating a sort of echo chamber of positive opinion. That made the biggest surprises the most far-flung resorts, like Kokomo Private Island in Fiji (#50); Sujan Jawai in Rajasthan, India (43); and Six Senses Zighy Bay in Oman (45).
In this year’s recent ceremony in London, “Highest New Entry”, “Most Admired Hotel Group” and “Highest Climber” awards were doled out for the first time. They went to Raffles London At The OWO, Aman and Atlantis the Royal, respectively. The latter climbed from #44 on the 2023 list to #9 now.
Last year’s winner, Passalacqua (Italy), came in this year at #2; overall, half of last year’s top 10 held onto positions within that rarefied echelon.
The geographic distribution was also similarly unchanged.
The Raffles London At The OWO made its debut on the list at #13. — Handout
If last year sub-Saharan Africa and South America were represented with one measly entry apiece, the 2024 list did only marginally better, with two hotels in South Africa ranking (Singita Kruger National Park and Mount Nelson, a Belmond Hotel) and one in South America (the Rosewood Sao Paulo, Brazil).
The rankings also speak to trending destinations. In last year’s inaugural list, it was clear that the jury were among the many travellers thrilled to return to Asia in its long-awaited post-pandemic reopening; there were a dozen hotels from the continent on the 2023 list.
This year, the centre of gravity remained firmly in Asia, where the weak yen has driven interest in Japan and upcoming season of The White Lotus has helped extend a travel boom in Thailand (the two countries claimed a total of seven hotels on the list, with Asia now claiming even more hotels than it did last year).
The United States also improved its standing, with four entries, up from just two last year, including a first-time recognition for some properties.
Being on the list can be a game-changer not just for the hotels that rank but also the destinations or the brands they’re from, says Kristina Snaith-Lense, general manager of Hong Kong’s Upper House, which ranked fourth last year and fifth this year. “It’s been a great story for Hong Kong – to highlight our recovery after Covid-19 after all the closures,” she explains.
The fact that Aman, Rosewood and Four Seasons collectively claimed 11 out of 50 spots adds lustre to all of the hotels across those brands’ portfolios.
Maybourne, Raffles, Oetker Collection and Dorchester Collection all performed well, too, with multiple properties on the list.
Perhaps none have more to gain than Capella, which as a smaller and younger brand has less global awareness than some of its peers, and whose standing atop the list will no doubt stoke curiosity about its other hotels in Bali (Indonesia), Singapore and Sydney (Australia).
But privately, some hoteliers admit it’s now stressful to retain their rankings, saying that the accolade has become valuable for positioning their properties against the competition – and the presence of so many deeper- pocketed, branded properties makes it even harder for independent resorts to break through.
Still, the knock-on effects can’t be underestimated, especially in cities like Bangkok where consumers may have a hard time choosing between a wealth of five-star options.
“For us in such a big competitive bustling destination, it’s wonderful recognition,” says John Blanco, general manager of Capella Bangkok. “It’s a freaking surprise and a pleasure.”
Making it onto the list gives a great sense of pride, agrees Vincent Billiard, managing director of the Parisian palace Hotel de Crillon, a Rosewood Hotel, which this year ranked 15th.
It’s also an important marketing tool: “We have the plaque outside the hotel, write it on every letter we communicate, and it’ll be all over Instagram.”
For consumers the list may be little more than a confirmation of their existing hotel bucket list. If the original goals of the World’s 50 Best list, according to its executives, were to spark discovery and media buzz, this year’s list cements the fact that the latter far outweighs the former.
When asked if she was satisfied with the geographic diversity of last year’s list – or concerned by the lack thereof – Emma Sleight, head of content for World’s 50 Best Bars and Hotels says simply that “there are only 50 spots that we can call out”. Asked again whether there was any interest in tweaking the voting system to make it more equitable, she argued that 50 Best is “not an arbiter of the list but a reflection of the current travel industry”.
She adds that the company creates year-round content separate from the 50 Best list to give visibility to great hotels that don’t make the cut via its Discovery platform, though it heavily features hotels, restaurants and bars in cities rather than remote locales. – Bloomberg
The Upper House in Hong Kong went down one spot from last year, but it is still in the top five. — The Upper House
Here are the 10 best hotels on the list:
1. Capella Bangkok (also, Best Hotel in Asia)
2. Passalacqua, Lake Como, Italy (also, Best Boutique Hotel Award)
3. Rosewood Hong Kong
4. Cheval Blanc Paris
5. The Upper House, Hong Kong
6. Raffles Singapore
7. Aman Tokyo
8. Soneva Fushi, Maldives (also, Lost Explorer Best Beach Hotel Award)
9. Atlantis the Royal, Dubai (also, Highest Climber Award)
10. Nihi Sumba, Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia
