The World’s Best Boutique Hotels Are Announced

Honouring boutique hotels from Queenstown to California, and shortlisted by a panel of trailblazing travel experts, these selections reveal the very best boutique spots for discerning travellers to visit.

The world’s best boutique hotels are:

World’s Best Boutique Hotel –  San Ysidro Ranch, Santa Barbara, California

World’s Best Beach Hotel – Velaa Private Island, Maldives

World’s Best Chic Hotel – Hotel TwentySeven, Amsterdam, Netherlands

World’s Best City Hotel – Casa Polanco, Polanco, Mexico

World’s Best Classic Hotel – Akademie Street Boutique Hotel, South Africa

World’s Best Design Hotel – Hotel Motto, Vienna

World’s Best Eco Hotel – Cielo Lodge, Golfito, Costa Rica

World’s Best Family Hotel – ASTER Natur & Idylle im Zillertal, Tyrol, Austria

World’s Best Honeymoon Hotel – San Ysidro Ranch, Santa Barbara, California

World’s Best New Hotel – Casa Silencio, Oaxaca, Mexico

World’s Best Romantic Hotel – The Carlin Hotel, Queenstown, New Zealand

World’s Best Spa Hotel – Green Spa Resort Stanglwirt, Going am Wilden Kaiser, Austria

World’s Best Hotel with a View – Athina Luxury Suites, Santorini, Greece

World’s Best Nature Hotel – The Crocodile Hunter Lodge, Australia

BACKGROUND

For 14 years the Boutique Hotel Club has carefully selected the world’s best boutique hotels, accepting nominations and conducting on-site reviews to quality-test the true guest experience of each nominee. The Club independently tests for quality, style and emotional impact using a proprietary Boutique Hotel Club Quality Assessment. This system comprises 400 gold standards of facilities and service execution covering every aspect of guest experience. 

Though all the Club’s properties are one-of-a-kind some threads run through them, connecting proudly different hotels in shared ideals. Hotels making the cut possess these five characteristics that form the pillars of the brand:

Sharing wholeheartedly – It is a state of mind where the joy of living in a place spills over into a desire to connect and share that wonderful something with a guest.

Connection to the region – Through a passion for celebrating the local culture, our properties give guests the true wonder of travel: exploration of lands unknown. This can be through experiences, cuisine or through people firmly rooted in the country and region. 

Emotional impact – True hospitality goes beyond delivering fastidious service and material luxury. From the creators to the day-to-day staff, our hotels possess the emotional intelligence to heighten the internal experience of their guests.

Unique sense of place – Each property should possess a creative design flair that affords it a unique place in the memory of each traveller that walks through its doors. When you’re there, you feel as though you couldn’t be anywhere else.

Alchemy – The real magic comes in the balance between the good ingredients chosen. We look for the design, location, personalities, history and character to come together in harmony to achieve an overarching immersive experience.