Condé Nast Traveller reveals its editors’ all-time favourite hotels from around the world

800 450 Hamish Kilburn
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As we prepare to wrap up another year of innovation, design and style, here are what our friends over at Condé Nast Traveller believe are the hotels to visit in 2019… 

If there’s one thing we have learned in 2018, when it comes to predicting the next hotel design hotspot, it’s that location is everything. Towns, cities, villages – even islands – that evoke one-off experiences tend to become destinations that lend themselves naturally to luxury design-led hotels. We have seen this time and time again, which is why Africa for example has long been a destination that many hotel owners and chains have bookmarked for future development. The real task is designing the seamless link between the design of the hotel and its setting.

With a recent survey suggesting that 95 per cent of consumers would rather spend money on an experience over product, it’s clear that designers, architects and hoteliers need to further consider location and how the property would blend into its surroundings. In order to establish, from a consumer point of view, which hotels are at the top of their game, we have peered over the fence to understand what our friends over in London’s Vogue House believe are the best hotels in the world.

With 78 hotels ranging from game-changer Heckfield Place in Hampshire, to the romantic Castello di Vicarello in Tuscany, the nostalgic St. Regis New York and plenty to choose from in far-flung destinations, Condé Nast Traveller shines a rather bright and dynamic spotlight on the most wonderful places to stay next year with The Gold List 2019:

UK

Claridge’s, London
Covent Garden Hotel, London
The Kensington, London
Soho Farmhouse, Oxfordshire:
Lucknam Park, near Bath
Heckfield Place, Hampshire

Image credit: Firmdale Hotels

EUROPE

FRANCE

Hôtel de Crillon, Paris
La Réserve Paris
Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc, Antibes
Les Fermes de Marie, Megève

Image credit: Oetker Collection

ITALY

Aman Venice
Belmond Hotel Caruso, Amalfi Coast
Le Sirenuse, Positano
JK Place Capri
Grand Hotel a Villa Feltrinelli, Lake Garda
Castello di Vicarello, Tuscany
Borgo Egnazia, Puglia
Hotel Il Pellicano, Tuscany

SPAIN

Soho House Barcelona
Sant Francesc Hotel Singular, Palma de Mallorca

IRELAND

Ballyfin

GREECE

Perivolas, Santorini

CYRPUS

Anassa Hotel

DENMARK 

Hotel Sanders, Copenhagen

SWEDEN

Ett Hem, Stockholm

ICELAND

Deplar Farm

NORWAY

The Thief, Oslo

AFRICA & THE INDIAN OCEAN

 MOROCCO

La Mamounia, Marrakech
L’Hôtel Marrakech

TANZANIA

Singita Sasakwa Lodge, Grumeti

SOUTH AFRICA

Ellerman House, Cape Town

Image credit: Ellerman House, Cape Town

KENYA

&Beyond Bateleur Camp, Masai Mara

BOTSWANA

Jack’s Camp

MALDIVES

Amilla Fushi
Soneva Fushi

MAURITIUS

One&Only Le Saint Géran

SEYCHELLES

Six Senses Zil Pasyon

 THE MIDDLE EAST

 OMAN

Six Senses Zighy Bay

Image credit: Six Senses

DUBAI

Bulgari Resort Dubai
Madinat Jumeirah

ASIA

INDIA

Umaid Bhawan Palace, Jodhpur
The Oberoi Udaivilas, Udaipur
The Leela Palace New Delhi

JAPAN

Aman Tokyo

Image credit: Aman Tokyo

THAILAND

Mandarin Oriental, Bangkok
The Siam, Bangkok

CAMBODIA 

Song Saa Private Island

CHINA

The Upper House, Hong Kong
The Peninsula Shanghai
The Opposite House, Beijing

Image Credit: The Upper House, Hong Kong

AUSTRALASIA & THE SOUTH PACIFIC

 NEW ZEALAND

The Lodge at Kauri Cliffs, North Island

AUSTRALIA 

Halcyon House, New South Wales

FRENCH POLYNESIA

The Brando

SOUTH AMERICA & MEXICO

BRAZIL 

Uxua Casa Hotel & Spa, Trancoso
Hotel Unique, São Paulo

Image credit: Hotel Unique

CHILIE 

Awasi Atacama

ARGENTINA

Palacio Duhau Park Hyatt, Buenos Aires

Image credit: Park Hyatt

MEXICO

Chablé, Yucatan
Hotel Esencia, Quintana Roo

NORTH AMERICA & CARIBBEAN

 USA

The Beekman, A Thompson Hotel, New York
The St. Regis New York
The Carlyle, New York
Four Seasons Resort Hualalai, Hawaii
Amangiri, Utah
Four Seasons Hotel at the Surf Club, Miami
Hotel Bel-Air, LA
Sunset Tower Hotel, LA
The Dewberry, Charleston
The Robey Chicago
Farmhouse Inn Sonoma
Wynn Las Vegas
The Peninsula Chicago

Image credit: The Beekman, New York

CANADA 

Clayoquot, Vancouver Island

THE CARIBBEAN

GoldenEye, Jamaica
Playa Grande Beach Club, Rio San Juan, Dominican Republic
The Cotton House, Mustique
COMO Parrot Cay, Turks & Caicos
Bahama House, Harbour Island

Image credit: COMO Hotels & Resort

Through Condé Nast Traveller’s award-winning editorial team under Editor-in-Chief, Melinda Stevens, The Gold List 2019 provides inspiration and expert consumer advice for discerning travellers on where to stay. Hotel Designs will be following this in January with an editorial around the top hotel openings of 2019.

Main image credit: Four Seasons Hotel at the Surf Club, Miami

Hamish Kilburn / 11.12.2018

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