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LONDON WILL HOST THE INAUGURAL WORLD’S 50 BEST HOTELS AWARDS CEREMONY ON 19 SEPTEMBER 2023

LONDON WILL HOST THE INAUGURAL WORLD’S 50 BEST HOTELS AWARDS CEREMONY ON 19 SEPTEMBER 2023

The first-ever annual ranking of The World’s 50 Best Hotels will be announced as part of a three-day spectacle in London. The awards ceremony itself will be at the heart of the events and will take place on 19 September at the UK capital’s iconic Guildhall, built in 1411 and one of the finest examples of medieval architecture in the City of London. The new awards will join the established lists of The World’s 50 Best Restaurants and The World’s 50 Best Bars as the leading rankings in global hospitality.

The World’s 50 Best Hotels 2023 will be revealed as part of a live countdown from No.50 to No.1, concluding with the hotel which will be named The World’s Best Hotel. The ranking will be complemented by a host of special awards and will reflect the very best travel experiences around the globe, collated by 580 anonymous experts. This voting panel – the 50 Best Academy – comprises a balanced mix of hoteliers, travel journalists, educators and seasoned luxury travellers, led by a group of industry-leading Academy Chairs across nine regions globally.

Any hotel worldwide is eligible for votes and it does not have to fit any criteria or tick any pre-ordained boxes to be considered. The awards will not be ‘pay to play’ – meaning the venues themselves do not have to pay to enter the awards, nor will they have to buy tickets to the events or invest any fiscal sum in the nomination process.

Tim Brooke-Webb, Managing Director of 50 Best, says: “We feel honoured that our existing awards in restaurants and bars mean so much to the hospitality industry and the people who use our lists to inspire their curiosity. In launching The World’s 50 Best Hotels, we will present a truly independent ranking, curated by carefully selected experts from across the world.  London was the birthplace of 50 Best but it’s also a global hub for travel, so hosting the inaugural awards here felt like the logical first step. London draws more visitors per year than any other city in Europe, it is home to some of the most renowned hotels in the world and hosts an ever-growing luxury leisure scene.”

Highlights for the event programme in London will include a Welcome Event on 17 September and The Opening Banquet, which takes place the night before the reveal of The World’s 50 Best Hotels 2023, giving the hoteliers behind the 50 listed properties the opportunity to meet with their peers from around the world. It will be followed by a glittering awards ceremony on 19 September, which will feature red-carpet arrivals and interviews, a drinks reception and, of course, the ceremony and countdown itself. The awards will be followed by a press conference with live interviews with representatives from The World’s Best Hotel and other special awards winners. In the months leading up to the awards in September, various special award categories will be announced.

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Mark Sansom, Director of Content for The World’s 50 Best Hotels, says: “We’re beyond excited to bring so many important travel industry figures together under one roof to honour the best hotel experiences around the world. Our programme of events will take place over three days, allowing the hotel community to take the time to celebrate global travel, exchange ideas, create new connections and lead the conversation on the future of the hotel sector. If the initial response from hoteliers across the globe is anything to go by, it promises to be an outstanding week for everyone involved.”

How the 50 Best voting works

The nine Academy Chairs each select a voting panel from their region, ensuring a balance of hoteliers, travel journalists, hotel educators and seasoned luxury travellers. Each Academy member casts seven votes for hotels in order of preference based on stays experienced in the two-year voting period up to April 2023. Voting is carried out individually and strictly confidentially on a secure site and remains confidential before the list announcement. Academy Chairs are not privy to, nor have any knowledge of, the votes cast by the voters in their respective regions; furthermore, they are not official spokespeople for the 50 Best brand.  Additional information on the Academy Chairs and how the voting works is available on the 50 Best FAQs page here.

The Academy is the mechanism used to create The World’s 50 Best Hotels list. None of the employees of 50 Best nor any sponsors associated with the awards have any influence over the results. To ensure the 580-voter-strong Academy provides a fair representation of the global hotel scene, the Academy Chairs are split across nine geographical regions, with each Chair selected as an expert on the travel scene in their region, with outstanding hotel sector contacts. These Chairs each select a voting panel, ensuring a balanced selection of hoteliers, travel journalists, hotel educators, business travellers and consumer travel aficionados. A minimum of 25% of the panel will be renewed each year. All voters, aside from the Academy Chairs, will remain anonymous to eliminate the possibility of lobbying.

The Academy Chairs by region are as follows:

Cecilia Núñez, Latin America, including the Caribbean
Núñez is the editor of Food & Travel Mexico and is based in Mexico City. She hosts a travel-based radio show in Latin America and is a regular commentator across all media platforms on hotels and travel.

Danielle Demetriou, Japan and South Korea
Demetriou is a freelance writer based out of Tokyo. She has lived in Japan since 2007, writing on hotel design, as well as architecture and style.

Isabella Sullivan, Middle East and Africa
Sullivan is the founder and editor of Near+Far – the Middle East’s newest luxury travel publication – and a former editor at Condé Nast Traveller Middle East. Currently based in Dubai, she is South African and has also worked in the UK across a range of lifestyle titles covering travel and hotel reviews.

Jeninne Lee-St John, Southeast Asia
Lee-St John is a magazine and website editor from Washington DC who has lived in Bangkok since 2014. She is editor-in-chief of Travel + Leisure Southeast Asia.

Kee Foong, China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan
Foong was previously editor of Discovery, Cathay Pacific’s in-flight magazine, and LUXE City Guides. He is now a freelance writer for Travel + Leisure SEA, South China Morning Post and Tatler, among others.

Lauren Ho, Europe
Ho is based in London and was travel editor of Wallpaper* magazine for 14 years. She is now a contributing editor at Country & Town House and freelances for The Telegraph, Robb Report and Condé Nast Traveller.

Michael Harden, Oceania
Harden, based in Melbourne, is Victorian and Tasmanian editor for Australian Gourmet Traveller. He is the author of numerous books exploring the social, historical and cultural aspects of the hospitality industry.

Yolanda Edwards, US and Canada
Edwards is the founder and editor of Yolo Journal, a quarterly travel lifestyle publication, and a weekly newsletter. Previously, she was creative director of Condé Nast Traveler US and executive editor at Martha Stewart Living.

Zinara Rathnayake, South Asia
Rathnayake is a freelance travel and food writer based across India and Sri Lanka. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, BBC, CNN and Saveur, among others.