The hotel has its own appeal, too: Don’t miss the trompe l’oeil decorated swimming pool on the sixth floor, and make sure to pause to pet Socrate, Le Bristol’s most important permanent resident-its in-house cat. “It’s the ultimate location in the city boasting amazing views across the skyline, including Sacré Coeur and the Eiffel Tower,“ he says, of the property on the Faubourg St Honoré. The Oetker-operated Bristol sits in one of the best spots in the City of Light, per Red Savannah’s Edward Granville. Ashley Isaacs Ganz of Artisans of Leisure puts it more simply. Unique Properties and Events co-owner Cedric Reversade calls the entire place “perfection” and recommends truffle French fries in the foyer washed down with a dry martini, and the service of the “divine concierges, Nigel or Martin” whenever you leave its walls. What other hotel can count both the late Queen Elizabeth II, a regular, protocol-stretching lunch guest and Mick Jagger as devotees? The Maybourne-operated property is a sister to sites in Beverly Hills and the French Riviera, as well as another London spot, including the Connaught, but it outstrips them all-book in at the Mews Terrace for a charming only-in-London experience on a discreet back alley. The hotel, which opened in 1812, outpaces even the almost-90-year-old acting legend-in fact, it just added a subterranean wellness center kitted out in signature zen wood and limestone by designer André Fu. If Judi Dench were a hotel, she’d be Claridge’s-this grande dame of the London hotel scene is a beloved, determinedly British institution that’s been part of English life for decades yet retains a youthful vigor. It’s a call to action for hoteliers there, we hope, to rally their efforts and maybe, just maybe, squeak onto next year’s list. There are some glaring omissions, too: No property in New York or Miami made the Travel Masters’ list, nor anywhere in vacation mainstays Mexico and Hawaii. Some of the winners aren’t unexpected-the European classics, for example, will be familiar to most-while others are more off-beat, like a cell phone service-free lodge in Alaska. The rest we have organized by geography for ease of reference. Unsurprisingly, there were many overlaps, with multiple properties receiving endorsements from several operators-these are the hotels which earned a spot in the top 10. We asked each of them for up to 10 properties which they vouch for, and regularly recommend to clients, explaining in detail what makes that hotel, resort or ranch a true standout. This brain trust of the travel industry’s five-star experts has first-hand knowledge of every need-to-know room around the world, so who better to tap for nominations. Our methodology for this list was rigorous but simple: Few specialists in the world are deft and connected enough to earn the endorsement of Robb Report just 21 of them, in fact, can be considered true Travel Masters, a mark of the caliber of their expertise and clients. Year in and year out, they’ve consistently earned accolades and loyalty in equal measure. Think of this rundown as a cheat sheet or shortcut to a guaranteed stellar trip: Every hotel, safari camp or resort endorsed here has been tried and tested, again and again, by the world’s pickiest travelers. For that reason, they are, inarguably, the World’s Greatest Hotels-and for the first time, Robb Report has compiled a list of the top 50 such properties across the globe. But they share one thing: a commitment to exemplifying the best in luxury hospitality. Those esteemed hotels vary wildly: They might be centuries old or have opened just a few years ago, city center hideaways or country estates, exemplars of bleeding-edge, contemporary design or reassuringly retro.

Each of those new openings is hoping not only to make an impactful start, but also to ascend to a rarefied pantheon: the roster of classic hotels that transcends trends, properties with a permanent place on speed-dial for any discerning traveler. Candidates to spotlight in the annual Best of the Best must be splashy, five-star debuts that are instantly earmarked to be globetrotters’ staples. Every year, Robb Report scours the world to unearth the best new luxury hotels from the last 12 months.

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