A Fresh Perspective on Travel Every Day
Despite the fact most cruise ships now resemble floating cities with high-speed wi-fi and virtual reality pods, there remains something pleasingly old-fashioned about travelling by sea, floating from one port to the next on a voyage of discovery.
Note: If you’re looking for our most recent recommendations, check out the 2023 list of our favorite cities in the world.
Note: If you’re looking for our most recent recommendations, check out the 2023 list of our favorite islands in the world.
For years, airports were little more than stale, gray holding grounds endured only briefly before boarding and during layovers. Cramped, tandem chairs and saran-wrapped sandwiches were the status quo. Significant innovations and attractions have transformed airports into more than just a stopover to your final destination. Efficient layouts, epicurean dining, and luxe shopping are just a few of the features turning the airport experience on its nose. That’s whyGoTravelDaily’s World’s Best Awards added airports to its annual survey in 2013. That year, Singapore’s Changi Airport took the No. 1 spot for international hubs. And it did so the following year, too. Since inaugurating the category, Changi has come out as the best international airport every time. Last year, we separated International and Domestic Airports into two distinct categories. Consequently, Portland International Airport was vaulted to the top of the U.S. list. It’s been No. 1 two years in a row, and we suspect it will continue to be a local and visitor favorite. The next time you’re traveling, consider connecting to one of the world’s best airports—both small regional terminals and major international hubs made the list—and you might even find yourself actually enjoying the wait between flights.
Liverpool is renowned as one of England’s most iconic cities for music. The lineage stretches from The Beatles to Frankie Goes To Hollywood, making it a cultural landmark. Moreover, the city offers an extensive array of activities and sights that cater to diverse interests, ensuring visitors are never short of options.
Most hotels worth their weight in eucalyptus-scented towels have a spa to their name. Gone are the days of a single treadmill parked next to a steam room. Hotels are appealing to weary travelers and wellness seekers with sleek, modern facilities that rival standalone, destination spas with stunning designs, elaborate treatments, and state-of-the-art facilities such as three tiered-swimming pools, mineral baths, and Vichy showers. However, the best hotel spas are those that evoke the comforting luxuries of their locales, with regional treatments and inspired settings. Opt for a pure macadamia nut and coconut oil hydration massage at the Fairmont Kea Lani in Hawaii, or the Four Seasons Bora Bora’sKahaia Havenspa ritual featuring Tahitian black pearl powder and native vanilla. In every region, one hotel spa reigned supreme. Read on to discover some of the best places to get pampered around the world.
Parents understand that ensuring the entire family remains happy during a vacation is quite a challenge. It requires more than just a shallow kiddie pool for a hotel to be deemed child-friendly. In recent years, a variety of travel organizations—ranging from boutique hotels to cruise lines, significant international and domestic airports, and tour operators—have shown a commitment to attracting families on the go. These companies have enhanced their childcare programs, curated exclusive activities for teenagers, and thoughtfully created opportunities for parents to take much-needed breaks from parenting while also facilitating family bonding experiences. That outdated kiddie pool? It has been transformed into a luxurious four-story, translucent water coaster that traverses the oceans.
While the words “hotel chain” may drudge up thoughts of cookie-cutter interiors, dusty bed runners and carpet long overdue for a refresh, the world’s best brands are proving that sharing the same proprietary name doesn’t mean a property is destined to be bland or mediocre. In fact, the top hotels in the world are proving that there may very well be strength in numbers. Shared management provides, if nothing else, consistency. Our favorite hotel brands foster loyalty and set reliable standards: guests know they can count on exceptional service, food and beverage programs that will rival the best independent restaurants, and design that conjures a sense of place. You should know exactly where you are just by drifting along the Rosewood Mayakobá’s mangrove-fronted lagoon or lounging in the Four Seasons Hotel Miami’s Art Deco lobby. A stay at any one of these hotel chains, from the first trademarked Ritz-Carlton property in Boston, launched in 1927, to the hotly-anticipated grand openings set for later this year, could easily banish your fears of brand-name boredom with a single step through the front door, which will inevitably be held open by a cheerful attendant or a bellhop in full regalia.
Every year,GoTravelDailysifts through tens of thousands of World’s Best Awards surveys to better understand where our readers love to go, and why. Of course, the responses say just as much, if not more, about what our readersdon’tlike. We asked readers to rank 266 cities on everything from their access to art and culture to the friendliness of their people: and some cities failed to warm tourists’ hearts. Not surprisingly, many of the cities that found themselves on our 2015 Unfriendliest Cities in America list (based on separate data from our annual America’s Favorite Places survey) were also called out in this census.
Maybe it’s that glittering chandelier hanging in the lobby, or the cool claw-foot tub in your hotel bathroom. “Aesthetics, and thoughtful details, have a lot to do with drawing guests back to a hotel,” says Heather Richardson, the marketing and editorial director atJacada, a London-based safari and tour operator.
Years ago, while working in an investment bank in London, I found myself captivated by the intense atmosphere of a Wimbledon match happening nearby. During a pivotal point in the game, many of my colleagues joined in to watch. Despite being new to the job, I absorbed the experience and vowed to attend a match at Wimbledon someday.
When Amber Gibson checked in at London’s The Goring Hotel this past June, she encountered a common annoyance of travel: her room was not ready yet. “They graciously apologized and asked if they could ‘bother’ me to have a glass of champagne at the bar while I waited,” says thefood and travel writerfrom Chicago. “Umm,yes—you can ‘bother’ me every day of the week with a glass of champagne.” Gibson loved her “sumptuous suite,” she recalls, “but it was really the service that was most memorable.” Gibson wasn’t the only person to get such friendly treatment from The Goring: the Belgravia hotel made the top 10 amongGoTravelDailyreaders for the best hotel service in the world.
Among the top 20 winners (including a six-way tie for first place and a four-way tie for No. 20), service goes far beyond helping you with your bags. A few winning hotels offer round-the-clock butler service, and several winners employ concierges who belong to the prestigiousLes Clefs d’Or. One winning hotel in London even boasts that its staffers outnumber guests by two to one. However, readers also applauded hotels that offer intangible service: friendly staffers who seem authentically warm, rather than merely polite. The Goring did more to win Gibson’s loyalty than just ply her with bubbly. After checking in, she realized she’d left a sweater at another hotel. She asked The Goring to give that property a heads-up that she would come to get it. “There was no need,” she says. “When I got back after lunch, it was already hanging in my closet. I don’t think I’d stay anywhere else in London now. The Goring really won my heart.”
Note: If you’re looking for our most recent recommendations, check out the 2023 list of our favorite cities in Asia.
Some may love staying in the city on the weekends, but waking up to rolling fields, seaside vistas, and fresh-from-the-farm cuisine is not to be missed. Here are nine spots within a few hours drive of NYC that are well worth any bridge-and-tunnel traffic you may have to brave to make it there.
Hotels—at least, the very best of them—are so much more than a place to bed down. Often, hotels are the epicenter of a city’s nightlife, offering guests and locals everything from sleek jazz lounges to innovative mixology bars. In our annual World’s Best survey, readers were asked to rank their favorite hotels on a number of categories, including value, service, and—of course—their nightlife scene. For some, the best hotel bar is a watering hole meant for mingling with fellow travelers and unwinding after a long flight. Others seek out low-lit, bass-thumping clubs, where they can while away the evening hours before slipping quickly, and easily, back to their rooms. In Aspen, visitors to The Little Nell are after cozy, après ski sessions that can languish long after the final run of the day. In Miami, on the other hand, the most highly ranked hotels offer a far more electric scene, with DJ lineups, boozy punch bowls, and more than a city’s share of ultraviolet lights. No matter the scene, be it pearls and cigars or bikinis and blue tiki cocktails, all of these hotels and resorts offer an entry into each destination’s particular brand of nightlife. So slide into one of those cushy, pin-tucked booths and order a drink—ask for the house specialty—because these are the world’s best hotels for nightlife.citymaps.com
One of my preferred aspects of visiting Italy (particularly in summer) is the climate, an attribute that renders numerous hiking opportunities in Italy essential experiences, not limited to the summer months but enjoyable year-round.
Itineraries and onboard activities may be the first things you consider when planning a cruise, but don’t underestimate the value of a stylish stateroom. It’s tough for even the most seductive port of call or thrilling day zip-lining across the Lido Deck to make up for sleeping in a drab, windowless box. The World’s Best cruise lines—chosen each year by our readers—know that in compact cabins, every detail counts. Especially for cruisers on extended itineraries (sometimes as much as a month in length), cruise quarters are more than a place to store luggage; they are, temporarily, home. Comfortable rooms can even turn skeptics into devotees of ocean and river travel.
Being a parent is rewarding, but it’s also riddled with responsibilities and a to-do list that redefines the term “the grind.” Between cleaning bottles, grocery shopping, crafting endless incarnations of chicken, and schlepping the brood to school, soccer, and beyond, moms and dads invariably watch the concept of free time evaporate as early as in the delivery room.
Budapest boasts a rich and colorful history that captivates visitors with its stunning architecture, intriguing historical narratives, and unmatched charm. The city is replete with an array of exceptional attractions that enchant tourists, ranging from the renowned and the unique to the delightfully entertaining.
