Travel + Leisure 2022 ‘World’s Best’ wrap-up

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Travel + Leisure has released the results of its annual World’s Best Awards for 2022. This year’s results – based on the feedback of hundreds of thousands of T+L readers – spanned a whopping 120 categories among hotels, resorts and hospitality brands in cities, countries and regions globally; to spas, favourite global cities, and best islands, cruise lines, tour operators, safari outfitters, airlines, car rental companies and National Parks.

Participants in the survey collected data from late October 2021 through to the end of February 2022. They rated hotels, airlines, cruise lines, tour operators, etc on numerous characteristics, with the option of rating excellent, above average, average, below average and poor. A minimum number of responses was necessary for a candidate to be eligible for Travel + Leisure‘s World’s Best Awards.

Top of the table in the 100 Best Hotels in the World for 2022 was, as to be expected, dominated by ultra-luxury properties. In #1 position was Rosewood Castiglion del Bosco in Montalcino, Italy with a score of 99.25, followed by Auberge Resorts Collections’ Grace Hotel in Santorini, Greece with a score of 99.22. In third spot was Waldorf Astoria Maldives Ithaafushi, in South Male Atoll of the Maldives. Other revered destinations that were in the Top 10 included Marrakech, Paris, New York, Madrid and Bali.

Travel + Leisure‘s readers also voted for the Best Hotel Brands, which featured 25 brands and was lead by Oberoi Hotels & Resorts (97.50), One&Only (96.20), Oetker Collection (96.15), Raffles Hotels & Resorts (95.50) and The Travel Corporation’s Red Carnation Hotel Collection (95.32).

Speaking of The Travel Corporation, their luxury cruise product, Uniworld Boutique River Cruises, sailed into third place in the 10 Best River Cruise Lines. That field was taken out by Viking (96.77), then Tauck (96.60).

Viking also took the crown for Best Midsize-ship Ocean Cruise Lines (95.16), with Seabourn (92.84), Silversea (92.08), Regent Seven Seas Cruises (90.85) and Oceania Cruises (89.68) rounding out the Top 5.

The Best Intimate-ship Ocean Cruise Lines (fewer than 150 cabins) category was Quasar Expeditions (98.69), followed by Overseas Adventure Travel, Variety Cruises, Ponant and SeaDream Yacht Club.

Closer to home, in Australia and New Zealand, Sydney scooped up four of the five Best City Hotels in the region – Park Hyatt Sydney (90.40), Four Seasons Hotel Sydney (88.30), InterContinental Sydney (87.76) and Shangri-La Sydney (86.40), however it was Melbourne that scored the fan’s favourite, with The Langham, Melbourne (92.53) retaining its coveted No. 1 spot.

Sydney did however place first in the Best Cities in Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific, with its score of 86.40 slightly ahead of Hobart on 85.00. Also in the top 5 were Queenstown, NZ (83.59), Melbourne (82.70) and Auckland (82.52).

Within the same region, the Fiji Islands (92.38) were well clear of Moorea, French Polynesia (90.24) in the Best Islands category, followed by Bora Bora, French Polynesia (87.70), the Great Barrier Reef Islands (86.90) and Tahiti, French Polynesia (83.33).

In the air, the Best International Airlines were lead by Singapore Airlines (92.68), Qatar Airways (90.67) and Emirates (89.92), while the Best International Airports field went to Singapore Airlines’ home-hub, Changi Airport (94.80), Istanbul Airport (94.06) and Hamad International, Doha (93.80).

Some other interesting observations LATTE noted:

• Oberoi Hotels & Resorts had the most number of properties in the 100 Best Hotels in the World for 2022, with six. Taj Hotels & Resorts had five, while Rosewood Hotels & Resorts, Auberge Resorts Collection and Shangri-La each had three.
• The only property in the Oceania region to feature in the 100 Best Hotels in the World was Fiji’s Namale Resort, Savusavu – positioned at 59th. Namale was the #1 Best Resorts in the South Pacific, followed by three ultra-luxury hotels in Bora Bora and in Tahiti, French Polynesia.
• Last year’s top hotel, with a score of 99.73, Virgin Limited Edition’s Mahali Mzuri in Kenya’s Masai Mara did not appear in the 2022 results, and missed out on a spot in the Top 10 Best Safari Lodges in Africa (which did include two other properties in Kenya).
• The USA had the highest number of properties in the 100 Best Hotels in the World, with 19 properties (a market where most votes in the poll would have derived, being a US-based publication, and the thriving domestic tourism travel scene due to the pandemic). India and Italy both had 11 properties.

A snapshot of all this year’s winner can be found below, or view them all on Travel + Leisure‘s website here.

Lead image: Rosewood Castiglion del Bosco/Source: Facebook

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