What Makes A Hotel One Of The World’s 50 Best?

01.10.2023 - 17:59 / forbes.com / Taylor Swift / Lake Como / Louis Xiv XIV (Xiv) / Mick Jagger / Harry Potter / John Lennon / Ronald Reagan

A recent report ten years in the making recently boldly selected The World’s 50 Best Hotels. So what makes a great hotel?

Luxury, beauty, comfort, cuisine, relaxation, privacy and service are all key. But I would argue that a truly great hotel needs to both be a destination and have a great story.

Destination can certainly mean a great hotel at an exotic destination. On the 50 Best list are many such, like the Soneva Fushi and Soneva Jani in the Maldives, the One&Only Mandarina in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, the Desa Potato Head in Bali, or the Amangalla in Galle, Sri Lanka. The #1 hotel on the “Best” list is the Passalacqua in beautiful Lake Como, Italy, a destination described as glamorous, luxurious, but with “a hint of bohemianism.”

But a destination hotel can also be in a bustling metropolis, a special place that travelers don’t want to leave even to enjoy the city. The 50 Best list has many such urban, urbane destinations, like the Rosewood Hong Kong, (#2 on the list, a 413-room, 65-story tower overlooking Victoria Harbor); the art-soaked Four Seasons Madrid, the Hotel del Crillon in Paris, (commissioned by Louis XIV in 1752) and the Savoy in London.

At the beach or in the city, a great hotel will be your destination, a pleasant little world to call your own for a week. It also helps if a great hotel has a great story.

The Savoy, for example, has been the choice of celebrities from the 19^th century’s Sarah Bernhardt to the 21^st century’s Taylor Swift. The late Irish actor Richard Harris (HARRY POTTER, GLADIATOR) spent $10,000 a week to live at the Savoy, so he could have someone make him a sandwich at 4AM. He famously bellowed at diners while being carried out on a stretcher shortly before his death, “it was the food!"

Similarly, the Fairmont Century Plaza, on Avenue of the Stars in Los Angeles, is famous for its own star sightings. Not on the 50 Best list, the hotel has nonetheless been the choice of the wealthy and famous since its 1966 opening and 2021 remodel. In 1974 alone, John Lennon and Mick Jagger were photographed partying there, while at a separate meeting, President Gerald Ford and future President Ronald Reagan huddled in a guestroom.

As I was drafting this story, I was invited to meet the representatives of some Small Luxury Hotels from around the world. While the hotels participating were not among the 50 Best (yet) most had both a destination and a story.

A group of Swedish surfers discovered the beach, the jungle, waterfalls and the river at Itacare in Brazil. Their passion for the place helped create the small Barracuda Hotels and Villas, built to be environmentally friendly, with more than 85% of employees coming from the area.

Similarly, arriving guests at the 37-room Nanuku