BestLuxurious Hotels

One of South America's pre-eminent grand hotels, a seven-storey Art Nouveau building on Avenida Alvear in the Recoleta district — the same boulevard as the French and Brazilian embassies. 189 rooms and suites furnished with period antiques and crystal chandeliers, with an original 1930s tearoom, L'Orangerie, that has served as the formal gathering place for Buenos Aires society for nine decades. The hotel operates independently, without any international chain affiliation.

155 rooms and suites on the edge of Sydney Cove, built so low to the ground that every harbour-facing room sits at eye level with the Opera House shells — not above them, not below, directly across the water. The rooftop pool mirrors the same view. One of the few hotels in the world where the landmark outside the window genuinely improves with proximity rather than distance.

Directly opposite the Vienna State Opera and in the same family since Franz Sacher's son Eduard opened it in 1876, with 152 rooms furnished in deep reds and dark wood. The Sachertorte was invented here and is still made exclusively for the hotel under a legally protected recipe. The Rotes Bar is one of the most beautifully preserved red-lacquer rooms in any European hotel.

Five private lodges across the Paro, Thimphu, Punakha, Gangtey, and Bumthang valleys — each capped at 24 guests. The standard journey moves east across the country over seven to ten days, with guided access to Tiger's Nest, Punakha Dzong, and restricted monasteries that require government permits Aman handles entirely. Bhutan's high daily fee effectively makes this the most regulated luxury travel experience in the world.

Designed by French architect Joseph Gire and modelled after the Carlton in Cannes, this white neoclassical facade has faced Copacabana Beach since 1923. The hotel has 243 rooms and suites, a semi-Olympic pool and the pan-Asian MEE restaurant. Built at the request of a Brazilian president to host centenary exposition guests, it is now part of Belmond.

A colonial-era landmark opened in 1929, built around a courtyard and pool that attracted Jacqueline Kennedy and Charlie Chaplin in its early decades. 119 rooms with French-colonial detailing, less than a kilometre from the gates of the Angkor temple complex — the closest full-service luxury hotel to the site. Raffles provides a fleet of tuk-tuks for pre-dawn temple runs to catch sunrise over Angkor Wat.

A château-style hotel built in 1893 on the Cap Diamant promontory above the St. Lawrence River, its copper-green turrets visible from kilometres away. Its 611 rooms sit inside Old Quebec's UNESCO World Heritage zone, with the Plains of Abraham on one side and the old city's stone streets on the other. Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt held a wartime strategy conference here in 1943.

Fifty-one suites in a restored Qing-dynasty complex within the grounds of the Summer Palace — a UNESCO World Heritage Site — accessible through a private imperial water gate sealed since the palace was completed in 1750. The only hotel in Beijing inside a royal park, reached via a lantern-lit causeway across Kunming Lake. Summer Palace gates open to hotel guests before the general public each morning, allowing solitary access to the covered walkways and marble boat before crowds arrive.

Four interconnected buildings spanning four architectural periods — Baroque, Renaissance, Neo-Classical, and a 2001 contemporary wing — on the Vltava riverfront between the Charles Bridge and Old Town Square. The terrace faces directly onto the river and Malá Strana; the Josefov Jewish Quarter is a five-minute walk. The CottoCrudo restaurant specialises in Italian cuisine using central European produce. Prague Castle is visible across the water from the upper-floor suites.

Opened in 1755 on Kongens Nytorv — the royal square linking the old city to Nyhavn — making it one of Europe's oldest continuously operating luxury hotels. 90 rooms after extensive renovation, with a spa, indoor pool, and terrace overlooking the square. Hans Christian Andersen and Winston Churchill are among the documented historical guests. The hotel was closed by the Gestapo during World War II and used as headquarters; it was returned to the original family after liberation and is still independently owned.

Built in 1899 on a granite promontory overlooking the First Cataract of the Nile, with feluccas and Elephantine Island visible from the terrace. 138 rooms in a Victorian-Moorish building where Agatha Christie wrote Death on the Nile in 1937 — her suite is preserved and bookable. Winston Churchill, Princess Diana, and the Aga Khan all stayed here. The sunset terrace, cantilevered over the river, is one of the most dramatic hotel settings in Africa.

LVMH spent years turning part of the La Samaritaine complex into its Paris flagship, with a butler assigned to every room and Seine views from nearly all of them. Arnaud Donckele leads Plénitude, which holds three MICHELIN Stars; the rooftop Le Tout-Paris holds one. The Dior Spa has a 30-metre pool lit entirely from below.

A private villa turned hotel in 1889 on 22 acres of pine-shaded gardens at the tip of Cap d'Antibes, with a seawater pool blasted into the rocks at Eden-Roc. A Riviera institution since the 1920s, when Gerald and Sara Murphy's summer-long stay here inspired F. Scott Fitzgerald's Tender Is the Night.

Behind a discreet courtyard gate near the Champs-Élysées, this 40-room Haussmann mansion offers a residential alternative to a conventional grand hotel. Jérôme Banctel's restaurant Le Gabriel holds three MICHELIN Stars, and the Nescens spa focuses on personalised wellness programmes.

An Art Deco landmark steps from the Champs-Élysées, opened in 1928 and now holding six MICHELIN Stars across three restaurants: Le Cinq has three, L'Orangerie has two and Le George has one. Jeff Leatham's large-scale floral installations have become a signature of the 244-room hotel.

Directly across the street from the Élysée Palace on the Faubourg Saint-Honoré, with 190 rooms split between an 18th-century wing and the original 1925 building. Arnaud Faye leads Epicure, which holds three MICHELIN Stars. The hotel also has a rooftop swimming pool and a large interior garden.

César Ritz and Auguste Escoffier opened this converted 18th-century townhouse on Place Vendôme in 1898 — among the first hotels in Europe to offer en-suite bathrooms, electricity, and telephones in every room. Coco Chanel lived here for 34 years; Marcel Proust wrote much of In Search of Lost Time in his suite. A four-year renovation completed in 2016 reduced 159 rooms to 142 to allow for larger bathrooms.

Rebuilt in 1997 a hundred meters from the Brandenburg Gate, on the exact footprint of the 1907 original where Kaiser Wilhelm II, Charlie Chaplin, and Greta Garbo all stayed. 385 rooms, with the Lorenz Adlon Esszimmer earning two Michelin stars. The elephant fountain in the central atrium is a replica of the one Einstein photographed here in 1921.

A 53-suite-and-villa retreat built from volcanic rock above Ammoudi, just outside Oia. Every accommodation has a private plunge pool or swimming pool plus views of the Aegean and Santorini's sunset; two main infinity pools and gardens add more shared space than Oia's cliffside hotels typically offer.

A neoclassical palace opened in 1874 directly on Syntagma Square, facing the Hellenic Parliament and a 10-minute walk from the Acropolis. 320 rooms in a landmark building that has housed every head of state in modern Greek history and served as German and British military headquarters in successive periods during World War II. The rooftop pool and restaurant have an unobstructed view of the Acropolis. The hotel's winter garden conservatory is one of the few surviving 19th-century grand-hotel interiors in Europe.

The grande dame of Hong Kong since 1928, 300 rooms overlooking Victoria Harbour, and the longest-running Rolls-Royce fleet in the world — 14 custom Phantom Extended Wheelbase models in Peninsula green that meet every arriving guest. The rooftop Felix restaurant was designed by Philippe Starck with floor-to-ceiling glass walls on three sides, and the lobby afternoon tea is one of the most reliably-attended rituals in the city.

A vertical estate in the Victoria Dockside tower on the Kowloon waterfront, opened in 2019 with 413 rooms and suites. Its 91 suites include personal butler service and Manor Club access; the 1,000-square-metre Harbour House has private sky terraces and a lap pool overlooking Victoria Harbour.

One of the finest Art Nouveau buildings in Europe, built in 1906 for the London-based Gresham Life Assurance Company and restored into 179 rooms by Four Seasons in 2004. Sits directly at the eastern end of the Chain Bridge, facing the Danube and Buda Castle. The original wrought iron, carved stone, and stained glass survived decades of neglect and wartime damage.

Built in 1746 as the summer pleasure palace of Maharana Jagat Singh II on a four-acre island in Lake Pichola, converted to a hotel in 1963. 66 rooms and suites of white marble, every one facing the water, with the City Palace visible on the ridge across the lake. The only way in or out is by hotel boat. Used as the villain's base in the James Bond film Octopussy in 1983.

285 rooms in a building commissioned by industrialist Jamsetji Tata and opened opposite the Arabian Sea in 1903, years before the Gateway of India was completed. The original wing's Indo-Saracenic exterior is defined by its central dome, turrets and arched windows. The hotel survived the 2008 Mumbai attacks and reopened after a major restoration.

A palatial resort on the banks of Lake Pichola built in Mewar architectural style — domed pavilions, courtyards and reflecting pools echo the historic City Palace across the water. Its 87 rooms and suites have private terraces. The resort has its own boat jetty for sunset cruises, borders the Sajjangarh Biological Park and has a temperature-controlled semi-Olympic pool with lake views.

18 suites and 40 private pool villas sit in the forested Ayung River gorge above Ubud, reached via a suspension bridge over the jungle canopy. The centrepiece — a circular lotus pond at treetop height — was designed by Cheong Yew Kuan. Each villa has a private plunge pool and views over rice terraces or the river; the resort also organises white-water rafting on the Ayung below.

Aman's Venice outpost occupies one of only eight monumental palazzos still standing on the Grand Canal, with 24 rooms wrapped around original 18th-century Tiepolo ceiling frescoes. Two private gardens back onto the water — genuinely rare in a city built wall-to-wall — and the kitchen will serve any dish, in any room, at any hour.

79 rooms and suites on the quiet island of Giudecca, reached from St Mark's Square by the hotel's own launch across five minutes of lagoon — the crossing alone does most of the work of leaving Venice's crowds behind. The pool, filled with heated water, is the only one of its size in the city.

An 18th-century villa on Lake Como, restored from a private residence into just 24 rooms, with terraced gardens that step straight down to the water and George Clooney's villa in view across the lake. Breakfast, afternoon tea and evening aperitivo all come with the room rate.

116 rooms split between the 15th-century Palazzo della Gherardesca and a restored conventino, surrounded by a 4.5-hectare private garden with centuries-old trees, a botanical path and an outdoor pool. The property placed first in The World's 50 Best Hotels 2024.

122 rooms between Piazza del Popolo and the Spanish Steps, with terraced gardens that climb the slope of the Pincian Hill — one of the few hotels in Rome's centro storico with genuine outdoor green space. The garden restaurant, Le Jardin de Russie, seats guests under lemon trees. Picasso, Cocteau, and Stravinsky all stayed in the original 19th-century building.

257 rooms and 44 suites on Piazza della Repubblica since 1927, now part of the Dorchester Collection. The Presidential Suite on the 10th floor has its own private pool, gym, Turkish bath and panoramic city views. The hotel is scheduled to close temporarily on 1 January 2027 for an extensive restoration and is expected to reopen in 2029.

A villa built for Cardinal Tolomeo Gallio in 1568, opened as a hotel in 1873, with 152 rooms and suites across the historic villa and a 19th-century annexe. The oldest private garden on Lake Como — 10 hectares of terraces, fountains, and century-old plane trees — surrounds a floating swimming pool moored on the lake, one of the most widely reproduced hotel photographs in the world. The hotel closes from November to March.

82 rooms at the very top of the Spanish Steps, in a position occupied since 1885 by the Wirth family, who still operate it independently. The rooftop restaurant Imàgo commands a panoramic view of Roman rooftops unmatched by any other hotel in the city. Audrey Hepburn filmed scenes for Roman Holiday on the Steps below. The Presidential Suite's private rooftop terrace with personal butler service is one of the most-requested rooms in Rome.

Run by the same family since 1834, set in five acres of citrus and olive terraces on the cliff above Marina Piccola, reached from the port by a private lift cut through the rock; Caruso’s suite is kept as he left it.

84 suites fill the top six floors of the Otemachi office tower in central Tokyo, arranged so every one is a suite. The spa spans two full floors with onsen-style hot baths and a 30-metre pool, and Musashi, the in-house sushi counter, serves a 21-course omakase.

179 rooms across floors 30 to 36 of the Nihonbashi Mitsui Tower in Tokyo's historic merchant district, with clear-weather views of Mt. Fuji from the upper floors. The spa occupies the 37th floor, while the intimate Tapas Molecular Bar serves an inventive tasting menu at a single counter.

171 rooms on floors 39 through 52 of the Shinjuku Park Tower, known worldwide as the setting of Sofia Coppola's Lost in Translation (2003). The hotel reopened on 9 December 2025 after a 19-month restoration, retaining its high-rise views of Mt. Fuji and the Shinjuku skyline.

On a ridge in Abdali, Amman's modern financial district, with panoramic views across the city's hills from the upper floors. The building is wrapped in limestone in keeping with Jordan's requirement that all Amman structures use the local stone, so it reads as Jordanian even from a distance. The rooftop terrace and outdoor pool overlook the city; the Aish restaurant serves contemporary Levantine cuisine. The hotel is a 15-minute drive from the Roman Theatre and Amman Citadel, and operates day trips to Petra and Wadi Rum.

47 pool villas on a private island in Noonu Atoll, 45 minutes from Malé by seaplane. The owner, Czech billionaire Jiří Šmejc, built a cheese cave, a chocolate room, and a caviar bar into the resort alongside a full 18-hole putting course. Spa treatments are co-designed by Czech F1 doctors who work with the Red Bull Racing team.

71 suites along a private stretch of Sea of Cortés, each assigned a personal butler and fitted with a wood-burning fireplace — the desert cools sharply after dark and the fire is used. A telescope on every terrace points at Scorpius, visible most of the year from Baja. The hotel operates its own tequila blending program and a saltwater aquarium stocked with species endemic to the Cortés.

Built in 1863 on Place du Casino opposite the Casino de Monte-Carlo, the hotel emerged from a major renovation in 2019 with 207 rooms. Le Louis XV – Alain Ducasse holds three MICHELIN Stars and Le Grill holds one; the historic wine cellars extend beneath the property.

King Mohammed VI commissioned this hotel of 53 private riads, each three stories with its own rooftop terrace and plunge pool. Service corridors run beneath the property so staff can move discreetly between riads. La Grande Table Marocaine is led by Hélène Darroze with executive chef Karim Ben Baba and belongs to Les Grandes Tables du Monde.

Built by royal commission in 1985 to house heads of state for the Gulf Cooperation Council summit — a domed palace of 250 rooms set between the Hajar Mountains and the Gulf of Oman, 15 kilometres from central Muscat. The lobby atrium rises 40 metres beneath a hand-painted dome, and the hotel sits on a private beach with its own marine reserve. Rebuilt and expanded in 2009, retaining the original hall-of-state rooms used by visiting monarchs. One of the few hotels in the world purpose-built for state guests rather than converted.

31 rooms in the only hotel permitted to operate at the entrance to Machu Picchu itself — not in Aguas Calientes below, but at the gate of the citadel. There is no road: the only way in is by train from Cusco, then a bus up the switchbacks. Guests enter the site at dawn before day-visitor access opens and stay until after the crowds leave at dusk, giving each side of the visit to themselves.

A 19th-century manor house ringed by vine terraces above the Douro, converted into 57 suites with a spa that folds local grape skins, wine lees, and port into its treatment menu. The cellar hosts the Douro Boys — five of the valley's most respected small producers — for twice-weekly tastings. The Douro train line runs directly past the property; Pinhão, the most photogenic river bend in Portugal, is 15 minutes away.

Eleven villas on a private island in the Indian Ocean, each facing a different beach, with one of the most significant tortoise and seabird conservation programs of any private resort — giant tortoises wander the grounds freely. The villa interiors are built from reclaimed teak and ship timber; the only other structure on the island is a research station. Barack and Michelle Obama stayed here after his presidency ended.

115 suites in the restored 1887 colonial building, each with a private parlour and bedroom — standard rooms were removed entirely in 2019. The Singapore Sling was invented at the Long Bar in 1915 by bartender Ngiam Tong Boon, and the original recipe is still used. The Lawn Butler greets every guest by name at the driveway gate. William Somerset Maugham described this as "standing for all the fables of the exotic East."

Six suites and six cottages in the private Sabi Sand concession that borders Kruger National Park — the same unfenced ecosystem, with game drives that almost always produce lions and leopards because the reserve's density of both is among the highest in Africa. The wine cellar holds over 6,000 South African bottles and the sommelier runs tastings on request between drives. Two game drives daily are included.

On a five-hectare wooded hillside in central Seoul, a short walk from Namsangol Hanok Village and the N Seoul Tower cable car. The Shilla has hosted state visits since opening in 1979. La Yeon on the 23rd floor holds two MICHELIN Stars and serves contemporary Korean cuisine alongside views of Namsan Mountain; the outdoor pool sits within the estate garden.

Opened in 1910 from plans by Charles Mewès, executed by Spanish architects Luis de Landecho and Lorenzo Gallego with César Ritz involved in the project. The hotel reopened under Mandarin Oriental in 2021 after a three-year restoration. Quique Dacosta's Deessa restaurant holds two MICHELIN Stars, and the Prado Museum is a four-minute walk away.

Thirty pool suites in low-lying whitewashed pavilions set above a crescent of beach at Tangalle on Sri Lanka's south coast, opened in 2005. The design draws from local vernacular architecture with coconut-thatch rooflines and polished granite floors within a grove of coconut palms. Each suite has a private 10-metre pool, garden, and open-air bathroom. Blue whales pass the bay from November through April, and traditional stilt fishermen still work the shore at dusk.

Operating since 1896 and still only open in winter (December to April) and a short summer season (July to September), Badrutt's Palace is the hotel most responsible for transforming St Moritz from a spa village into a global ski resort — the Badrutt family invented the practice of hosting wealthy British guests through the winter season in the 1860s to prove the weather was survivable. The King's Club basement nightclub, opened in 1976, is credited with inventing European alpine après-ski.

119 rooms in a family-owned hotel that has operated on the same site at the head of Lake Zurich since 1844 — now in its sixth generation of the Kracht family. Richard Wagner premiered Die Walküre in the hotel's salon in 1856 to a private audience including Gottfried Semper and Franz Liszt. The private park runs down to the Schanzengraben canal and is one of the only green spaces in the Bahnhofstrasse district.

101 rooms, suites and riverfront villas along the Chao Phraya, each with a dedicated Culturist — a concierge who curates the stay — and a private balcony over the water. Côte by Mauro Colagreco holds two MICHELIN Stars.

Thailand's first hotel, opened in 1876 when the country was still the Kingdom of Siam, with 331 rooms along the Chao Phraya River. The Authors' Suites — named for Joseph Conrad, Somerset Maugham, and Noël Coward, all of whom stayed — face the water. The hotel's Thai cooking school is the oldest in any luxury hotel in Asia and runs daily classes in a teak house across the river, reached by the hotel's own shuttle boat.

The first Aman resort, opened in 1988 on Pansea Beach on Phuket's west coast. Its 40 guest pavilions and 40 private villas sit on a hillside above the beach, designed by Ed Tuttle with steep terracotta rooflines and polished terrazzo floors.

310 rooms split between the restored 1867 Ottoman imperial palace and a modern wing, on 300 meters of private Bosphorus waterfront. The palace itself — built for Sultan Abdülaziz — houses 11 suites with original marble, parquet, and gilt ceilings. The infinity pool sits directly on the strait, at water level, with cargo ships and ferries passing within shouting distance. The former imperial ballroom hosts events under chandeliers that weighed enough to require structural reinforcement during the 2007 restoration.

202 duplex suites on a man-made island connected to Jumeirah Beach by a private causeway — the smallest suite spans two floors at 169 square meters. The helipad on the 28th floor doubles as a tennis court between flights. The underwater restaurant Scape is reached by a simulated submarine journey from the lobby. The building's sail silhouette is the most immediately recognizable hotel exterior in the world.

An Art Deco landmark on Brook Street in Mayfair, operating under the Claridge's name since 1856 and long associated with royal and state guests. Claridge's Restaurant serves contemporary British cooking, while The Foyer & Reading Room hosts the hotel's traditional afternoon tea and the dedicated Wine Cellar offers tastings from its collection.

121 rooms on Carlos Place, Mayfair, operating since 1815 — originally as the Prince of Saxe-Coburg Hotel and renamed The Connaught in 1917. The Connaught Bar is known for its tableside Martini trolley, while Hélène Darroze at The Connaught holds three MICHELIN Stars.

308 rooms in the 1914 Pearl Assurance Building, a Grade II-listed Edwardian Belle Époque facade that wraps around a cobblestoned courtyard off High Holborn. Scarfes Bar is named for the caricaturist Gerald Scarfe, whose original drawings line the walls. The Grand Manor House wing has its own private entrance, kitchen and rooftop terrace.

267 rooms on the Strand since 1889, built by Richard D'Oyly Carte with profits from Gilbert and Sullivan operas performed at the adjacent Savoy Theatre. The hotel's forecourt is the only road in London where traffic drives on the right — engineered so cab passengers could step out curbside at the entrance. Kaspar, a two-foot-tall carved black cat, sits at any table of 13 as a permanent 14th guest — a tradition since 1927.

A pink Mission Revival building on Sunset Boulevard, open since 1912 and nicknamed The Pink Palace for its signature flamingo-pink facade and tropical garden bungalows. The Polo Lounge, where Howard Hughes took the same booth every day for two decades, has been a deal-making institution for the Hollywood industry for a century. 23 bungalows in the grounds have hosted Marilyn Monroe (in Bungalow 1 during her divorce from Joe DiMaggio), Elizabeth Taylor (on multiple honeymoons), and virtually every major Hollywood star since the studio era. Owned by the Dorchester Collection and a National Register of Historic Places landmark.

83 suites fill the Crown Building on Fifth Avenue, and there isn't a standard room in the building — the smallest suite still runs a soaking tub and Aman's signature minimalist design. The three-floor spa has two indoor pools and a jazz lounge, deliberately built to feel nothing like Manhattan.

282 rooms at the corner of Fifth Avenue and Central Park South since 1907, designated a National Historic Landmark in 1986. The Palm Court serves afternoon tea under a stained-glass ceiling, and the Oak Bar's dark-paneled interior has been a power-lunch institution for over a century. The fictional Eloise lived here in Kay Thompson's children's books — a painted portrait of her still hangs in the lobby. 24-karat gold fixtures throughout.

238 rooms on East 55th and Fifth Avenue since 1904, built by John Jacob Astor IV — who died on the Titanic eight years later. The King Cole Bar is the birthplace of the Bloody Mary (originally called the Red Snapper when it arrived from Paris in 1934), and the Maxfield Parrish mural behind the bar has hung in the same spot since opening day. Butler service is standard in every room — the St. Regis invented the concept of hotel butlers.

A white neoclassical building in the French Quarter, open since 1901 and among the oldest continually operating luxury hotels in Southeast Asia. 364 rooms split between the historic wing and a 1990s extension. Charlie Chaplin honeymooned here in 1936; Graham Greene wrote part of The Quiet American in a corner suite during the Franco-Viet Minh War. Workers discovered a bomb shelter beneath the pool in 2012, used by guests including Joan Baez during the 1972 Christmas bombings — now accessible as a museum below the courtyard garden.