Summary of the 2023 Hotel Award Winners

How Voting Works
What Readers Loved
The Winner
The Full List

How Voting Works

The post-pandemic hotel boom continued at a rapid pace this year, with several new openings around the world—providing travelers with opportunities to experience the latest from their favorite hospitality groups. Every year for our World’s Best Awards survey, GoTravelDaily invites readers to weigh in on travel experiences globally. Travelers share their opinions on top hotels, resorts, cities, islands, cruise ships, spas, airlines, and more. This year, nearly 165,000 readers completed the survey—an increase of almost 25 percent over pre-pandemic voting levels. More than 685,000 votes were cast across over 8,500 unique properties.

Hotel brands were rated based on the following criteria:

Locations
Rooms/facilities
Food
Service
Value

For each characteristic, respondents assigned ratings of excellent, above average, average, below average, or poor. The final scores represent averages of these responses.

What Readers Loved

Readers expressed excitement for Six Senses Hotels Resorts Spas, which secured spot No. 7 this year. The brand has recently expanded its collection with new properties in Rome, Crans-Montana in Switzerland, and Dehradun, India—located approximately 154 miles north of New Delhi. Known for its wellness-focused programming and waste-reduction initiatives, such as eliminating single-use plastics, this brand continues to grow: expect new hotels later this year in London, the Maldives, and Saudi Arabia.

Moreover, Rosewood Hotels & Resorts (voted No. 10) also celebrated a significant year with the debut of Rosewood Vienna in August—marking a milestone in the city’s hotel landscape. Located on Petersplatz, one of the city’s main squares, this property occupies a renovated 19th-century building just steps from the famed St. Stephen’s Cathedral.

Smaller hotel brands also made a mark on the list, including the Bunkhouse Group (No. 4), based in Austin. With 11 properties across states like Texas, California, and Kentucky, the company offers an intimate scale and often occupies reimagined motels, creating a unique, slightly quirky atmosphere that attracts free-spirited travelers. Similarly, Standard Hotels (No. 6) is renowned for establishing bars and restaurants with a youthful energy, making locals part of the social scene.

However, it was the Singapore-based Capella Hotels & Resorts, which recently opened its first outpost outside of Asia, that was voted into the No. 1 position by our readers. Continue reading for details on what makes it so special to GoTravelDaily fans and discover which other brands made this year’s best hotel brands list.

The Winner

Capella Hotels & Resorts

This year’s favorite among readers has a strong presence in Asia, featuring properties in Bali, Bangkok, Hanoi, and Singapore. Furthermore, the new Capella Sydney occupies an entire block in the city’s Central Business District. The renovated historic building, originally constructed in the early 1900s for the Department of Education, includes 192 guest rooms and suites, three restaurants, an indoor swimming pool filled with natural light, and a spa. This marks one of Australia’s most significant hotel openings in recent memory. What does the future hold for Capella? New hotels are set to open in Riyadh, the Maldives, Taipei, and Kyoto.