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The 66th annual hospitality awards have fun the world’s finest lodges, spas, eating places and ocean cruises.
By Jennifer Kester, Contributor
Following the pandemic, vacationers flocked to massive, iconic locations, like Paris, Rome and the Maldives. Whereas these locations will at all times have their attract, vacationers at the moment are searching for out extra significant journeys the place they’ll embark on once-in-a-lifetime experiences, like a safari. In addition they are reserving journeys to smaller metropolitan areas, cities wealthy with tradition, gastronomy and actions however with out the crowds.
Forbes Travel Guide’s 2024 Star Awards replicate these trending tastes amongst vacationers. For the 66th annual listing of the perfect lodges, eating places, spas and ocean cruises, FTG explored locations providing significant experiences in addition to smaller U.S. cities which are usually missed. The awards additionally expanded to new locations, together with Azerbaijan, Curacao, Iceland, Kenya, Sardinia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
FTG compiles its rankings utilizing an goal, unbiased and data-driven course of. Incognito inspectors pose as on a regular basis company and keep at lodges, board cruises, obtain spa providers and dine at high-quality eating places all over the world. They take a look at some 900 exacting requirements—corresponding to whether or not a room is designed to advertise sleep high quality or whether or not the food-and-beverage selections help a visitor’s well-being—emphasizing distinctive service, which accounts for 70 p.c of a property’s ranking. Newer requirements deal with the visitor expertise, corresponding to making certain “cocktails are dynamically attention-grabbing and photogenic” and even asking if the inspector would “readily suggest this property to others.” The remaining 30 p.c comes from the standard and situation of the services. Lastly, inspectors at the moment are required to replicate on whether or not there was nice worth within the expertise.
See the whole listing of 2024 Star Awards winners here, and study extra in regards to the latest additions to the gathering beneath.
Raffles Doha
Nice Features within the Center East
The Center East emerged because the area with essentially the most new 5-Star awards. Waldorf Astoria Kuwait received the highest honor for each its art-deco-influenced resort and its 13,560-square-foot spa. Talise Spa at Jumeirah Messilah Beach Hotel & Spa in Kuwait additionally acquired 5 Stars for its water-themed haven. Over in Qatar, established native favourite Four Seasons Hotel Doha and newcomer Raffles Doha earned 5-Star rankings.
For the second consecutive 12 months, Macau held onto its grip as town with essentially the most 5-Star lodges on the planet—it clocks in at 22 with the brand new addition of Paiza Lofts, an all-suite, French-themed resort inside The Parisian Macao. However Dubai gave a powerful exhibiting, logging extra new 5-Star lodges than every other location worldwide: Address Beach Resort, residence to the world’s tallest infinity pool; Armani Hotel Dubai, a trendy designer keep contained in the Burj Khalifa; Atlantis, The Royal, a brand new architectural feat; The Ritz-Carlton, Dubai, a family-friendly oceanfront oasis; and The St. Regis Dubai, The Palm, a gilded getaway with a rooftop of vacation spot eating, pushed Dubai’s 5-Star resort tally to 12.
A number of Dubai eating places additionally made their debut on the 2024 listing. Armani/Ristorante Dubai, which serves subtle Italian fare overlooking the Dubai Fountain, and Stay by Yannick Alléno, a French establishment at One&Only The Palm, earned 4-Star accolades.
One&Solely Gorilla’s Nest
A Sense of Journey
As vacationers search out extra once-in-a-lifetime adventures, there are extra luxurious choices than ever. Rwanda debuted on the listing with two 5-Star winners: One&Only Gorilla’s Nest, a basecamp within the foothills of the Virunga Mountains for gorilla treks, and One&Only Nyungwe House, a retreat on a tea plantation near Nyungwe Forest Nationwide Park.
Viking Sky
For individuals who need to get nearer to the animals, stick with the long-necked residents at Nairobi’s 4-Star Giraffe Manor—and don’t miss breakfast with them. In the meantime, Fairmont Mount Kenya Safari Club will take company on guided safaris on the close by Mount Kenya Wildlife Conservancy.
Adventurous vacationers can even discover a safari at sea aboard the Viking Neptune or the 4-Star Seven Seas Splendor, which provide Arctic expeditions alongside the shores of nations like Iceland and Norway, with attainable polar bear sightings alongside the way in which. And for the last word around-the-world journey, go for the Viking Sky, which covers as much as 37 nations in 180 days.
The Ritz-Carlton, Grand Cayman
Triple 5-Star Standouts
A number of lodges joined the elite ranks of the triple 5-Stars, a gaggle of 15 properties that earned the very best ranking for 3 completely different shops below its roof (sometimes, it’s a resort, restaurant and spa that earn the 5 Stars). The Ritz-Carlton, Grand Cayman is the primary property within the Caribbean to achieve triple 5-Star standing. Sprawled throughout 144 acres alongside Seven Mile Seaside, the resort earned the highest ranking together with its Blue by Eric Ripert, a seafood-focused restaurant from the celebrated chef, and The Ritz-Carlton Spa, Grand Cayman, a 20,000-square-foot ultra-modern sanctuary.
Stateside, Rosewood Miramar Beach in Montecito, California, garnered triple 5-Star recognition with Sense, A Rosewood Spa at Miramar Beach, which options therapies utilizing extraordinary native crops and flowers, and Caruso’s, a Southern Italian fine-dining spot overlooking the ocean. An hour from Washington, D.C., Salamander Middleburg provides vacationers an opulent place to remain in Virginia’s horse and wine nation, with Harrimans Grill (which serves seasonal Southern delicacies) and the state’s solely 5-Star spa on its 340 pastoral acres.
Christian Horan Pictures; Montage Large Sky
The Solely 5-Star Resort Model
Montage Big Sky, an alpine ski retreat in Southwestern Montana that opened in 2021, picked up its inaugural prime ranking. The win marked a 5-Star sweep for Montage Hotels & Resorts throughout its seven properties, giving it the title of the world’s solely all-5-Star resort model. The Montage assortment spans from Bluffton, South Carolina, to Los Cabos with a powerful presence on the West Coast with properties in Sonoma, Laguna Beach and Park City, Utah.
The U.S.-based firm is a longtime luxurious hospitality purveyor—it celebrated its twentieth anniversary in 2023 and boasts the longest-running 5-Star spa. California’s Spa Montage Laguna Beach was the primary spa to earn the 5-Star distinction in 2005 and has maintained the ranking ever since.
4 Seasons Resort New Orleans
The Rise of Smaller Cities
One of many largest journey developments for 2024 is the surge of smaller metro areas in the US which are prepared for bigger crowds. In Nashville, JW Marriott Nashville lures them in with chef Michael Mina’s Bourbon Sky Lounge, town’s highest rooftop restaurant and bar. Conrad Nashville caters to those that prioritize well-being with Wellness Rooms that include a Peloton bike, an Echelon Replicate Health Mirror, free weights and a wholesome minibar.
4 Seasons New Orleans
Elsewhere within the South, The Charleston Place reigns as Charleston’s grande dame, however the boutique resort is forward-looking with seasonal choices like a dream concierge for higher sleep and a guide butler who works with an area bookstore.
And as New Orleans will get prepared for Mardi Gras, there are different causes to have fun the Crescent Metropolis. Two properties snagged new 4-Star awards: Four Seasons Hotel New Orleans, with eating places from famed native cooks Donald Hyperlink and Alon Shaya and the glittering Chandelier Bar, and The Ritz-Carlton Spa, New Orleans, the most important spa within the metropolis is a bathed-in-gray refuge with domestically impressed therapies just like the Voodoo Ritual.
R&R MVPs
For individuals who scour FTG’s Star Awards listing for gorgeous seaside getaways, there are many newly minted 5-Star lodges, together with the non-public island hideaway Hurawalhi Island Resort and eco-friendly LUX South Ari Atoll within the Maldives; newly renovated LUX Belle Mare and tropical paradise Royal Palm Beachcomber Luxury in Mauritius; art-driven La Casa de la Playa and glossy, trendy Nizuc Resort & Spa in Mexico; and unique all-suite Mandarin Oriental, Canouan in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
Mandarin Oriental, Canouan
Nicely-being continues to be a precedence for vacationers. These searching for to recharge bodily and mentally can take a look at new 5-Star spas like The St. Regis Spa Chicago, which opened on the planet’s third-tallest constructing final 12 months; The Spa at Seafire in Grand Cayman, the place company can unwind in a mosaic hammam; The Spa at Mandarin Oriental, Shenzhen, a 68th-floor haven that blends Jap and Western therapies; Evian Spa at Palace Hotel Tokyo, a singular facility from the mineral water model; and SpaHalekulani Okinawa, additionally in Japan, that pulls from Okinawan and Hawaiian traditions for its bliss-inducing therapies.
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