HONG KONG, 23 July, 2003 - Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group garnered top marks in Travel + Leisure magazine’s Annual World’s Best Awards, with eight hotels capturing 11 placements in six categories.  Among the hotels chosen for the esteemed publication’s awards were: The Oriental, Bangkok; Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong; Mandarin Oriental, San Francisco; The Oriental, Singapore; Mandarin Oriental, Miami; Elbow Beach, Bermuda; Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park, London; and Kahala Mandarin Oriental, Hawaii. 
Three of the Group’s properties ranked in the Top 100 Overall category, including The Oriental, Bangkok; Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong and The Oriental, Singapore.  Mandarin Oriental, Miami and sister hotel Mandarin Oriental, San Francisco in the Top US & Canada hotels category, while Elbow Beach, Bermuda ranks among the Top 25 Hotels - Caribbean, Bermuda and Bahamas; Kahala Mandarin Oriental, Hawaii was a high contender in the Top 25 hotels in Asia and Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park, London placed in the Top 50 Europe category. 

The World’s Best Awards results were gathered from a questionnaire made available to Travel + Leisure subscribers at www.tlworldsbest.com. Respondents were asked to rate hotels, islands and airlines on five characteristics; spas and hotel spas on four characteristics; and cities, cruise lines and tour operators on six characteristics. 
Mandarin Oriental is the award-winning owner and operator of some of the world’s most prestigious hotels and resorts.  In total, the Group operates 18 luxury hotels in key business and leisure destinations, with five additional hotels under development in New York (opening late 2003), Washington D.C. (opening 2004), Hong Kong (opening 2005) as well as Tokyo and Boston (opening 2006).  Mandarin Oriental now operates some 7,000 rooms in eleven countries with nine hotels in Asia, six in The Americas and three in Europe.

——-