Grand-Hotel du Cap-Ferrat
Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, France · Four Seasons
Still the benchmark for Riviera grand hotels, best taken in June or September when the funicular-pool crowd thins.
The Collection
Gastronomy
Stays built around serious kitchens and deep cellars.
The Ocean Club
Paradise Island, Bahamas · Four Seasons
The Caribbean's old-money benchmark: Bond-film glamour, Versailles Gardens and Four Seasons polish on one very private beach.
Editors Pick
Bulgari Tokyo
Tokyo, Japan · Bulgari
Proof a fashion-house hotel can be serious: Milanese polish, Japanese precision and Tokyo arranged at your feet.
Bulgari Hotel Roma
Rome, Italy · Bulgari
Rome's most assured new grand hotel: jeweller's polish applied to a rationalist palazzo, with the Mausoleum of Augustus as the front garden.
Rome Cavalieri
Rome, Italy · Waldorf Astoria
A hilltop grande dame above Rome whose museum-grade art and three-Michelin-starred La Pergola justify the trek up Monte Mario.
The Dolder Grand
Zurich, Switzerland
A genuine city resort: Alpine views, museum-grade art and Zurich's best spa, ten minutes above the Bahnhofstrasse.
Rosewood Baha Mar
Nassau, Bahamas · Rosewood
Rosewood calm on Cable Beach with the run of a vast resort campus next door, a rare balance of intimacy and scale done with real polish.
Rosewood San Miguel de Allende
San Miguel de Allende, Mexico · Rosewood
The most complete hotel in Mexico's most romantic town, and the rooftop at sunset is worth the rate on its own.
Rosewood Miramar Beach
Montecito, United States · Rosewood
Rick Caruso's beachfront fantasy of old-money Montecito, anchored by a Michelin star at Caruso's.
Four Seasons Hotel Osaka
Osaka, Japan · Four Seasons
Osaka's new benchmark: a serene tower hotel with a genuine modern ryokan hidden on the 28th floor.
Fairmont Empress
Victoria, Canada · Fairmont
Heritage hotels often coast on their postcards; the Empress backs its ivy with cooking and service that still compete.
Carton House
Maynooth, Ireland · Fairmont
The rare Irish estate hotel that is as good at golf, spa and dinner as it is at aristocratic theatre, and only 25 minutes from the airport.
The Post Oak Hotel
Houston, United States
Texas maximalism done properly: the only Forbes double five-star in the state, with the steakhouse, spa and helipad to prove it.
Waldorf Astoria New York
New York City, United States · Waldorf Astoria
New York's grande dame has come back smaller, calmer and considerably better than the legend it left behind.
Mandarin Oriental Taipei
Taipei, Taiwan · Mandarin Oriental
Old-world grandeur executed without irony, and still the address in Taipei.
Mandarin Oriental Jumeira
Dubai, United Arab Emirates · Mandarin Oriental
A sleek modern beachfront flagship that pairs a genuine Jumeirah beach with serious dining and one of Dubai's best spas.
Fairmont Singapore
Singapore · Fairmont
A 778-room location machine above two MRT lines, redeemed from anonymity by balconies, a dozen restaurants and one of Asia's biggest hotel spas.
The Dorian London
London, United Kingdom
A characterful, fairly priced Fitzrovia base that spends its budget where guests actually notice.
Fairmont Jakarta
Jakarta, Indonesia · Fairmont
Jakarta's most dependable five-star: unglamorous virtues executed properly, at a price that shames other capitals.