TripAdvisor names The Best Hotels in the World

All Inclusives, Budget Travel, Destinations, Hostels, Hotels & Resorts, In-Room Reviews, Planning, Staying There, Staying There Deals, Websites and Blogs — By Lost Girls on March 30, 2009 at 11:17 am

The World’s Best Awards. The Mobile Five Star Awards. The Gold List. The Hot List.

What do these and countless other travel and hotel awards have in common? Each one is culled by a small group of editors who often seem to equate “best value” with “most expensive” or “most exclusive.” As our friends at Hotel Chatter pointed out certain lists appear to be little more than phone book directories for oldest, priciest grand dame properties in any given city. Looking through the run-down of winners, you have to wonder-why are they so darn similar to the list of advertisers?

For those of us looking for a fantastic night’s sleep-and not necessarily looking to throw away what’s left of our retirement fund at the check-out counter-there’s TripAdvisor’s 2009 Travelers’ Choice Awards. The 443 winning hotels on the list were chosen based on popularity ratings given by website’s 23 million readers-and nearly 1/3 of the properties have a nightly price tag of $150 or less.

This year, noting that travelers are more budget-conscious than ever, TripAdvisor introduced a “Best Bargains” category, which includes 100 hotels that average $116 per night. Other categories include Best for Families, Best Hidden Gems, Best Inns & B&Bs, Best for Romance, Best Luxury, Best Service, Best All-Inclusive and Best Brands.

“Our Traveler’s Choice Winners aren’t necessarily the most opulent hotels out there,” says Brooke Ferencsik, a TripAdvisor travel expert. “The properties are distinguished by having a great value for the price and high quality of service.”

Ferencsik explains that readers tend to focus on three specific areas when rating hotels on the site: cleanliness, customer service and quiet. “If you can’t go to sleep when you’re staying at a hotel-then nothing else matters.”

Here are a few selected categories from TripAdvisor’s 2009 Travelers’ Choice Awards. For the full list, visit the website at www.tripadvisor.com/TravelersChoice.

Select 2009 Winners

Best Bargain in the World
Hotel Vecchio Asilo, San Gimignano, Italy

Best Bargain in the U.S.
SeaCoast Inn, Hyannis, Massachusetts

Best Luxury (4&5 star hotels) in the World
Aria Hotel, Prague, Czech Republic

Best Luxury in the U.S.
Dunton Hot Springs, Dolores, Colorado

Best for Families in the World
Hotel Princesa Playa, Ciudadela, Spain

Best for Families in the U.S.
Homewood Suites Carlsbad, Carlsbad, California

Best Hidden Gem in the World
Anastasis Apartments, Imerovigli, Greece

Best Hidden Gem and Best for Service in the U.S.
SeaCoast Inn, Hyannis, Massachusetts

Best for Service in the World
Anastasis Apartments, Imerovigli, Greece

Best Inn & B&B in the U.S.
Canyon Villa Bed and Breakfast Inn of Sedona, Sedona, Arizona

Best for Romance in the World
Etu Moana, Aitutaki, Cook Islands

Best for Romance in the U.S.
Mauna Lani Bay Hotel & Bungalows, Kamuela, Hawaii

Best All-Inclusive in the World
The Caves, Negril, Jamaica

Best Brand in the World
Ritz-Carlton

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Tags: hotel awards, travelers' choice awards, TripAdvisor

5 Comments

Clare says:

March 30, 2009 at 1:37 pm

I remember reading TripAdvisor’s 2008 “Best Values” list in Budget Travel and being dismayed that it was mostly chains. It seems they’ve put more of an emphasis on local hotels this year, thankfully, but I still think it’s time for the LGs (and their intrepid readers) to create their own list of hotels and hostels that have that perfect combination of character, service, and reasonable prices. (Like the Ninos Hotel in Cusco, Peru, for example, which I stayed at on the Lost Girls’ recommendation and absolutely loved.) What do you say, girls?

[Reply]
Schmanders says:

March 30, 2009 at 1:42 pm

We love that idea! You’re right, it’s high time for Lost Girls “Best” Awards…and we’ll invite you, our readers to send in their noms for the best budget oriented properties around the world. Email us at [email protected]

[Reply]
vacation in ny says:

February 17, 2012 at 3:53 am

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[Reply]