21 of the world’s 50 Best Hotels for 2026 are in Europe

Europe has once again dominated The 50 Best Hotels list, with 21 properties on the continent making the cut for 2026.

Asia came in a close second, with 18 hotels, followed by North America with six, South America and Africa with two apiece, and one in Oceania.

The World’s Best Hotel gong went to Rosewood Hong Kong, which first took the title last year, having been placed third in 2024. The ranking is now in its fourth edition.

The 413-key skyscraper property above Victoria Harbour was praised for its foodie credentials, with 11 restaurants and bars across the 65 storeys, as well as its wellness offering, with the multi-level Asaya spa and a 25-metre-long infinity pool.

“Rosewood Hong Kong retaining its No.1 position for a second consecutive year underlines Asia’s continued influence at the very highest level, while Europe’s strong representation and this year’s 10 new entries point to a dynamic, diverse and competitive global hotel landscape,” Faye Huggett, director of community for The 50 Best Hotels, said.

“As The 50 evolves, our ambition is to continue to champion the people, places and ideas setting the agenda for the future of hospitality.”

The best hotels in Europe

Ranked in top spot in 2023, Lake Como’s Passalacqua is the highest-ranked European hotel for the second year in a row, coming in fifth, one place lower than in 2025.

The 18th-century property has just 24 rooms, and was also handed the Best Boutique Hotel Award for the third consecutive year.

Four Seasons Firenze was the next best-ranked European property, coming in 12th.

Both Italy and France have six hotels on the list. The remaining four in Italy are Casa Maria Luigia in Modena (18th), Bulgari Roma (32nd), Portrait Milano (39th) and San Domenico Palace in Taormina (50th).

Casa Maria Luigia was the highest new entry on the list, while you’ll likely recognise San Domenico Palace as being the setting for the second season of The White Lotus.

In France, four of the top-ranked hotels are in Paris – Hôtel de Crillon (14th), Le Bristol (19th), Cheval Blanc Paris (20th) and Plaza Athénée (41st). Hôtel du Couvent in Nice ranked in 38th place while winning the Johnnie Walker Art of Design Award, while Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc placed 44th.

Across the Channel, four hotels in the UK made the 50 Best, including three in London: Claridge’s (13th), Raffles London at The OWO (28th), and The Connaught (49th). Estelle Manor in Witney was the exception outside of the UK capital, claiming number 43.

The other European entries on the list are as follows: Four Seasons Astir Palace in Greece (27th), The Peninsula Istanbul in Türkiye (31st), Badrutt’s Palace in Switzerland (36th), Hôtel de Paris Monte-Carlo in Monaco (40th), and Hotel Sacher Vienna in Austria (42nd).

The top 20 hotels in the world

Rosewood Hong Kong
Capella Bangkok, Thailand
Four Seasons Bangkok at Chao Phraya River, Bangkok
Atlantis The Royal, Dubai, UAE
Passalacqua, Lake Como, Italy
Rosewood São Paulo, Brazil
Mandarin Oriental Qianmen, Beijing, China
Upper House Hong Kong
Chablé Yucatán, Chocholá, Mexico
Mandarin Oriental Bangkok, Thailand
Aman Tokyo, Japan
Four Seasons Firenze, Florence, Italy
Claridge’s, London, UK
Hôtel de Crillon, Paris, France
Jumeirah Marsa Al Arab, Dubai, UAE
Capella Sydney, Australia
Raffles Singapore
Casa Maria Luigia, Modena, Italy
Le Bristol, Paris, France
Cheval Blanc Paris, France

How the rankings are decided

The 50 Best Hotels list is decided by an 800-strong academy. There are 13 academy chairs split across 13 geographical regions who create their voting panel, which consists of hoteliers, travel journalists, hotel educators, business travellers and consumer travel aficionados.

Academy members cast seven votes for any hotel they have stayed in around the world (no matter which region they live in) in order of preference. Voters must have stayed in said hotel within the last three years.

All voters are anonymous apart from the academy chairs so that there can be no lobbying, and the results are adjudicated by Deloitte.

Read the full article here