10 Best Hotels in the World

Naming a single “best hotel in the world” is an impossible task, but La Liste—a Paris-based company known for synthesizing global press coverage into authoritative rankings—has found a novel solution: declare a 10-way tie. In its latest hotel list, released exclusively to Bloomberg ahead of wider distribution, La Liste’s proprietary algorithm awarded identical top scores to ten hotels, reflecting the diversity and subjectivity of luxury travel experiences.

The winners span iconic destinations and renowned brands. London’s The Connaught, celebrated for its acclaimed bar and three-Michelin-starred restaurant by chef Hélène Darroze, shares the top spot with J.K. Place Capri, a 22-room cliffside retreat where summer rates reach $2,000 a night. Other top scorers include La Réserve Paris, The Savoy (London), Il San Pietro di Positano, Cheval Blanc Paris, Mandarin Oriental Bangkok, The Peninsula Shanghai, The Peninsula Chicago, and Rosewood Mayakoba in Mexico.

La Liste’s methodology is unique. Rather than relying on anonymous inspectors, it aggregates reviews from 400 sources—including The Telegraph, Forbes Travel Guide, and Bloomberg—then processes them through an algorithm to generate a 100-point scale. This approach led to the unprecedented tie, with 47 hotels also sharing second place at 99 points, including previous winner Belmond Hotel Cipriani in Venice.

The list skews European, with six of the top ten located in London, Paris, and Italian hotspots. According to La Liste’s co-founder Jörg Zipprick, this Eurocentric result mirrors the preferences of travel writers and the marketing power of established brands like Rosewood, Four Seasons, and Mandarin Oriental.

Ultimately, La Liste’s rankings highlight the subjectivity inherent in declaring any hotel “the best.” As Zipprick notes, every hotel in the top 250 could claim the title in future years. For now, travelers can look to La Liste’s top ten as a guide to the world’s most celebrated stays.