199 Hotels Across the Globe Achieve Coveted Five-Star Award; 27
New Hotels Receive Top Honors for First Time
Launching in 15 New Destinations, with the Largest and Most
Diverse Group of Winners, Awards Continue Global Expansion into the
Middle East and Africa
The Middle East Debuts with Four Five-Star, 21 Four-Star and Six
Recommended Hotels; South America Earns Its First Five-Star
Hotel
Forbes Travel Guide Celebrates Its 60th Anniversary In
2018; Forbes Travel Guide Announces Website Redesign
ATLANTA, Feb. 20, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- As it
celebrates its landmark 60th anniversary, Forbes Travel Guide today
unveiled its 60th list of worldwide Star Rating winners, continuing
its exceedingly selective approach for recognizing the world's
finest properties and rewarding gracious, intuitive service.
The 2018 award winners include 27 new Five-Star hotels, 70 new
Four-Star hotels and 76 new hotels in the Recommended category.
Other first-time recipients include five Five-Star restaurants, 24
Four-Star restaurants and 10 Recommend restaurants. The list also
honors five new Five-Star spas and 29 new Four-Star spas. See the
complete list of winners here.
Forbes Travel Guide now rates properties in 50 countries
throughout the Americas, Europe,
Asia-Pacific, Africa and the Middle East. Newly added international
destinations for 2018 include: Abu
Dhabi, Amsterdam,
Aruba, Chengdu, Dubai, Hokkaido, Jamaica, Kuala
Lumpur, Madrid, Marrakech,
Okinawa, Panama, Prague, Sanya and Vienna. As Forbes Travel Guide marks its 60th
year, it will expand to inspecting in 60 countries in preparation
for its 2019 Star Ratings.
"This is a momentous year for Forbes Travel Guide. Our
anniversary commemorates 60 impressive years of serving hotels and
guests," said Gerard J. Inzerillo,
Chief Executive Officer of Forbes Travel Guide. "As the most
trusted source for travelers, we continue to carry out our mission
to verify luxury worldwide. We are delighted to honor the 2018 Star
Rating recipients, an outstanding collection of hotels, restaurants
and spas with a strong service culture. It's the largest and most
global group of Star-Rated properties in our company's history. We
congratulate these properties for their dedication to service
excellence."
In conjunction with Forbes Travel Guide's anniversary, the
company officially unveiled its redesigned website,
forbestravelguide.com, which is mobile-friendly and beautifully
showcases its global collection of Star-Rated properties.
To celebrate this year's awards, Star-Rated winners are invited
to Verified, The Forbes Travel Guide Luxury Summit at The Beverly
Hilton in Beverly Hills on
February 27 and 28. The summit will
feature an all-star lineup of chefs, including: Geoffrey Zakarian and Wilfrid Hocquet, Georgie, Beverly Hills; Jean-Georges Vongerichten and Richard Archuleta, Jean-Georges Beverly Hills;
William Bradley, Addison Restaurant,
San Diego; Samir Roonwal, The
Blvd, Beverly Hills; Hilary Henderson, CUT, Beverly Hills; Kaleo
Adams, The Polo Lounge, Beverly
Hills; Giuseppe Manco, The
Restaurant at Mr. C, Beverly
Hills; Craig Strong, Studio,
Laguna Beach; Hugo Bolanos, Wolfgang Puck at Hotel Bel-Air,
Beverly Hills; and Derek Poirier, Valrhona. Moët & Chandon,
Forbes Travel Guide's Official Champagne of 2018, will help
everyone toast the festivities. Diageo will host the spirits, and
Luxe Bloom will provide the florals.
To highlight Forbes Travel Guide's 60 years in the travel
industry, the popular Pan Am Experience will land at Verified and
transport participants back to flying's heyday with a retro
airline-inspired fine-dining event.
HIGHLIGHTS, TRENDS & FUN FACTS FOR
2018
- By the Numbers – A Breakdown of the 1,609 Winners
-
- There are 199 Five-Star, 513 Four-Star and 309 Recommended
hotels.
- There are 64 Five-Star, 171 Four-Star and 83 Recommended
restaurants.
- There are 60 Five-Star and 210 Four-Star spas.
- New and Noteworthy
-
- In its Forbes Travel Guide debut, the Middle East emerged with big wins. The region
picked up four Five-Star hotels (Burj Al Arab Jumeirah,
Dubai; Emirates Palace,
Abu Dhabi; Four Seasons Hotel
Dubai International Financial Centre; Four Seasons Resort Dubai at
Jumeirah Beach). It also tallied an impressive 21 Four-Star hotels
and six Recommended hotels.
- South America captured its
first Five-Star hotel. Tucked inside Brazil's Iguacu National Park amid the Iguassu
Falls and the jungle, Belmond Hotel das Cataratas leads the region
in service excellence.
- Marrakech launched with two Five-Star hotels (Mandarin
Oriental, Marrakech; Royal Mansour Marrakech), a pair of Four-Star
properties (Four Seasons Resort Marrakech, La Mamounia) and two
Recommended hotels (Amanjena, Selman Marrakech).
- New York City seized two new
Five-Star wins: Baccarat Hotel and Residences and Four Seasons
Hotel New York Downtown. The last time the city had a new Five-Star
hotel was in 2016, with the addition of Park Hyatt New York. A new
Four-Star hotel was added, too: Archer Hotel New York.
- Munich welcomed its inaugural
Five-Star hotel, Mandarin Oriental, Munich. It joined Four-Stars The Charles
Hotel, a Rocco Forte Hotel; Hotel Bayerischer Hof; and Hotel Vier
Jahreszeiten Kempinski Munich, along with Recommended properties
Hotel München Palace and Sofitel Munich Bayerpost.
- Japan had some significant
gains. The Ritz-Carlton, Kyoto
brought the Japanese city its first Five-Star accolade. Four
Seasons Hotel Kyoto and Suiran, A Luxury Collection Hotel snagged
Four-Stars awards. Kyoto Hotel Okura earned a Recommended honor.
Over in Tokyo, Shangri-La Hotel,
Tokyo won a Five-Star award. The
Capitol Hotel Tokyu and The Prince Gallery Tokyo Kioicho picked up
Four-Star honors.
- Independent hotels made a strong showing. First-time Five-Star
awards went to Le Richemond Genève, Magee
Homestead in Wyoming,
Meadowood Napa Valley, Nemacolin Woodlands Resort — Falling Rock in
Farmington, Pennsylvania and
Williamsburg Inn in Virginia.
- The new Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills is Hilton's first
Five-Star hotel in the Western Hemisphere. The brand also has
Five-Star Waldorf Astoria Shanghai on the Bund.
- Rosewood Beijing achieved a
Five-Star rating—a first-time win for the brand in Asia. This was Rosewood's first property in
China, opening in 2014. The
Peninsula Beijing also scooped up a new Five-Star distinction.
- Trump Hotels earned Five-Star honors for its D.C. and
Vancouver outposts, which is
unusual for new properties. These and other just-opened winners
(like Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills, and Four Seasons Hotel New
York Downtown) show that hotels are becoming increasingly vested in
their pre-opening strategies, including recruitment and training
practices.
- New hotel wins helps further
anchor the Riviera Nayarit as a destination that should remain high
on luxury travelers' lists. The St. Regis Punta Mita Resort earned
the Five-Star award, and Grand Velas Riviera Nayarit achieved a
Four-Star honor.
- Forbes Travel Guide made significant gains this year in its
global expansion, bringing its ratings to new destinations such as
Amsterdam (Four-Star hotels
Conservatorium, De L'Europe Amsterdam and Hotel Okura Amsterdam; as
well as Recommended properties Andaz Amsterdam Prinsengracht, The
Dylan, Hotel Pulitzer Amsterdam, InterContinental Amstel Amsterdam,
Sofitel Legend The Grand Amsterdam, W
Amsterdam) and Vienna
(Four-Star properties Hotel Sacher Wien, Palais Coburg, Palais
Hansen Kempinski and The Ritz-Carlton, Vienna; along with Recommended properties
Grand Hotel Wien; Hotel Bristol, A Luxury Collection Hotel,
Vienna; Hotel Imperial, A Luxury
Collection Hotel; Hotel Sans Souci Wien; Park Hyatt Vienna; and The
Ring Hotel Vienna).
- Stars All Around
-
- An elite group of 13 properties earned Five-Star awards for
their hotel, restaurant and spa. These triple Five-Star winners
include: Banyan Tree Macau; The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs; The
Cloister in Sea Island, Georgia;
Fairmont Grand Del Mar in
San Diego; The Landmark Mandarin
Oriental, Hong Kong; Mandarin
Oriental, Las Vegas; Mandarin
Oriental, Macau; Meadowood Napa
Valley; Montage Laguna Beach; Ocean House in Watch Hill, Rhode Island; The Peninsula Hong
Kong; Wynn Las Vegas; and Wynn Palace, Macau.
- Altira Macau and Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong received a total
of four Five-Star awards for the hotel, spa and two
restaurants.
- Nüwa Macau won a total of five
Five-Star awards for the hotel, spa and three restaurants.
- Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong
and Wynn Macau achieved a remarkable total of six Five-Star awards
for the hotel, spa and four restaurants.
- Where the Hotel Stars Shine Brightly
-
- In the United States, the
greatest number of Five-Star hotels is in: California (19), New
York (11), Florida (7),
Massachusetts (6) and Nevada (5). California gained one new Five-Star hotel this
year: Napa's Meadowood Napa
Valley.
- U.S. cities with the highest number of Five-Star hotels
include: New York (10),
Beverly Hills (6), Las Vegas (5) and Miami (5).
- Globally, Macau reclaimed its
spot as the city with the most Five-Star hotels (12). Last year, it
tied Paris (both had 10). Other
cities with the largest number of Five-Star include: Paris (10), London (9) and Hong
Kong (8).
- Where the Restaurant Stars Shine Brightly
-
- In the United States, the
greatest number of Five-Star restaurants resides in New York (7), Nevada (6) and California (5).
- Cities in the United States
with the most Five-Star restaurants are New York (7) and Las
Vegas (6).
- Worldwide, cities with the highest number of Five-Star
restaurants are Macau (12) and
Hong Kong (9).
- Disney gets its first Five-Star restaurant. Victoria &
Albert's makes fine dining an attraction in Walt Disney World
Resort in Orlando.
- The Peninsula Hotels group received its first Five-Star award
for a restaurant. French fine-dining spot Gaddi's at The Peninsula
Hong Kong was the winner.
- Where the Spa Stars Shine Brightly
-
- In the United States, the
greatest number of Five-Star spas is located in: California (9), Florida (5) and Nevada (5). California's new Five-Star spa addition is The
Spa at Rancho Valencia in San
Diego.
- Luna y Mar in Los Cabos and The Spa at Mandarin Oriental,
Guangzhou mark the first Five-Star
spas in their respective destinations.
- Globally, cities with the most Five-Star spas include:
Macau (8), Hong Kong (5), Las
Vegas (5) and Shanghai
(4).
For details on how Forbes Travel Guide compiles its Star
Ratings, click here.
To view the complete list of 2018 Forbes Travel Guide Star
Rating winners, click here.
ABOUT FORBES TRAVEL GUIDE
Forbes Travel Guide is the
only independent, global rating system for luxury hotels,
restaurants and spas. Started as Mobil Travel Guide in 1958, the
company created the first Five-Star rating system in the United States. Today, Forbes Travel
Guide's incognito inspectors travel the world, evaluating
properties based on up to 900 rigorous, objective standards. The
company's annual Star Ratings, reviews and daily travel stories
help discerning travelers select the world's best luxury
experiences. For more information about Forbes Travel Guide, visit
forbestravelguide.com.
Connect with Forbes Travel Guide:
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