World’s Best Hotels Award 2021 in Travel & Hospitality

This year’s World’s Best Hotels Awards survey was open for voting January 11 through May 10, 2021, as destinations around the world were lifting COVID-19 restrictions. Survey rules have always allowed readers to reflect on their travel experiences over a three year period. Let us sneak in to the World’s Best Awards 2021 in Travel & Hospitality.

Who is Travel + Leisure?

Travel + Leisure is a travel magazine based in New York City, New York. Published 12 times a year, it has 4.8 million readers, according to its corporate media kit. It is owned and published by Travel + Leisure Co.. Its main competitor is Condé Nast Traveler.

Initially published in 1937 as U.S. Camera and Travel, the magazine later assumed the name Travel + Leisure in 1971,focusing on tourism industry in general.

The magazine specializes in leisure travel and often features articles written by novelists, poets, artists, designers and non-travel journalists. It is known for its travel photography and covers featuring models lounging in upscale environments.

What are the World’s Best Hotels Awards?

Its World’s Best Awards, an annual reader survey rating airports, cities, cruise ships, hotels and islands have been announced every August since 1995. Votes added by the magazine’s readers are taken into consideration to recognize and give out the awards. Other annual features include the T+L 500, a list of the world’s top 500 hotels, and America’s Favorite Cities, where readers rank U.S. cities in different categories.

The World’s Best 2022 survey will be open for voting from October 25, 2021 to February 28, 2022. The results will appear in the August 2022 issue of Travel + Leisure magazine and on T+L’s website in July 2022.

How the survey takes place?

survey developed by the editors of Travel + Leisure, in association with research firm M&RR, was made available at tlworldsbest.com. Readers were invited to participate through Travel + Leisure magazine, T+L tablet editions, newsletters, social media, and travelandleisure.com. M&RR maintained, monitored, and kept the survey website secure, and also collected and tabulated the responses. To protect the integrity of the data, after the survey closed, Travel + Leisure and M&RR screened the responses to identify fraudulent votes, which were eliminated from the final tallies.

Respondents were asked to rate airlines, airports, car-rental agencies, cities, cruise ships, destination spas, hotels, hotel brands, islands, tour operators, safari outfitters, and U.S. national parks on a number of characteristics (below). For each characteristic, respondents could choose a rating of excellent, above average, average, below average, or poor. The final scores are averages of these responses. Scores shown have been rounded to the nearest hundredth of a point; in the event of a true tie, winners share the same ranking. In most categories, respondents could also rate optional characteristics; these ratings are not included in the overall scores.

Hotels were categorized as City or Resort based on their locations and amenities. For resort hotels, the U.S. was divided into 16 states and regions. For the cruise category, respondents were asked to rate individual ships; the results were combined to generate scores for cruise lines in different categories. The categories are: mega-ship ocean cruise lines, large-ship ocean cruise lines, midsize-ship ocean cruise lines, small-ship ocean cruise lines, and river cruise lines.

What categories and characteristics are included in the survey?

• Airlines: Cabin comfort, in-flight service, customer service, value.
• Airports: Access, check-in/security, restaurants/bars, shopping, design.
• Car-rental agencies: Vehicle selection, vehicle availability, car-rental location, service, value.
• Cities: Sights/landmarks, culture, food, friendliness, shopping, value.
• Cruise ships: Cabins/facilities, food, service, itineraries/destinations, excursions/activities, value.
• Destination spas: Accommodations/facilities, treatments, service, food, value.
• Hotels: Rooms/facilities, location, service, food, value.
• Hotel brands: Locations, rooms/facilities, food, service, value.
• Islands: Natural attractions/beaches, activities/sights, restaurants/food, people/friendliness, value.
• Tour operators and safari outfitters: Staff/guides, itineraries/destinations, activities, accommodations, food, value.
• U.S. national parks: Natural attractions, activities, lodging, wildlife, accessibility, cleanliness.

The Top 100 Hotels in the World- 2021

Hotels were rated on their facilities, location, service, food, and overall value. Properties were classified as city or resort based on their locations and amenities. India made the strongest showing of any single country, with a total of 12 properties. Indian hotels and resorts in the Top 100 include No. 8, 10, 31 & 88. Mexico also did well this year, capturing seven spots, including No. 39, 50 and No. 66 . Tourists are impressed and inspired by Sub-Saharan Africa, voting 13 properties in the region onto the list — including the first-ever No. 1 from Kenya. Keep reading to learn more about the winners.

1. Mahali Mzuri, Masai Mara, Kenya – Score: 99.73; More information: virginlimitededition.com
2. Nayara Tented Camp, Arenal Volcano National Park, Costa Rica – Score: 99.58; More information: nayaratentedcamp.com
3. The Opposite House, Beijing – Score: 99.47; More information: thehousecollective.com
4. Capella Bangkok – Score: 99.38; More information: capellahotels.com
5. Capella Ubud, Bali, Indonesia – Score: 99.34; More information: capellahotels.com
6. Grace Hotel, Auberge Resorts Collection, Santorini, Greece – Score: 99.18; More information: aubergeresorts.com
7. Kamalame Cay, Andros Island, Bahamas – Score: 99.14; More information: kamalame.com
8. The Oberoi Udaivilas, Udaipur, India – Score: 99.12; More information: oberoihotels.com
9. The Temple House, Chengdu, China – Score: 98.94; More information: thehousecollective.com
10. The Oberoi, New Delhi – Score: 98.90; More information: oberoihotels.com
11. More…

The Top 25 Hotel Brands in the World- 2021

Belmond, with its collection of 34 properties, made this year’s list at No. 22, earning raves for sterling service and elegant properties that deeply reflect a sense of place.Generally speaking, more and more travelers are gravitating toward hotels that support guests’ well-being and follow responsible business practices. It’s no wonder then that T+L readers gave two of this year’s spots to brands known for their efforts on both fronts. Six Senses Hotels Resorts Spas earned the No. 6 rank, while Banyan Tree Hotels & Resorts came in at No. 19. Small brands also won big this year. With 11 hotels in Europe, the Caribbean, and South America, No. 4 Oetker Collection captured hearts and votes with warm, gracious service. But it was The Leela Palaces, Hotels and Resorts, an India-only brand with just nine properties, that ranked No. 1.

1. The Leela Palaces, Hotels and Resorts – Score: 98.40 [ More information: theleela.com ]
2. Capella Hotels & Resorts – Score: 97.82 [ More information: capellahotels.com ]
3. The Red Carnation Hotel Collection – Score: 97.54 [ More information: redcarnationhotels.com ]
4. Oetker Collection – Score: 96.77 [ More information: oetkercollection.com ]
5. Oberoi Hotels & Resorts – Score: 96.46 [More information: oberoihotels.com]
6. Six Senses Hotels Resorts Spas – Score: 96.35 [More information: sixsenses.com]
7. One&Only Resorts – Score: 95.31 [More information: oneandonlyresorts.com]
8. Taj Hotels Palaces Resorts Safaris – Score: 95.20 [More information: tajhotels.com]
9. Auberge Resorts Collection – Score: 95.16 [More information: aubergeresorts.com]
10. Raffles Hotels & Resorts – Score: 95.03 [More information: raffles.com]
11. More …

There are more winners in different categories, in a long list of Resort Hotels, City Hotels along with world’s best Island, Cruise Line, Airlines and Tour Operator of the year 2021.