The 66th annual hospitality awards celebrate the world’s best hotels, spas, restaurants and ocean cruises.

_{By Jennifer Kester, Contributor}

Following the pandemic, travelers flocked to big, iconic destinations, like Paris, Rome and the Maldives. While those destinations will always have their allure, vacationers are now seeking out more meaningful trips where they can embark on once-in-a-lifetime experiences, like a safari. They also are booking trips to smaller metropolitan areas, cities rich with culture, gastronomy and activities but without the crowds.

Forbes Travel Guide’s 2024 Star Awards reflect these trending tastes among travelers. For the 66th annual list of the best hotels, restaurants, spas and ocean cruises, FTG explored destinations offering meaningful experiences as well as smaller U.S. cities that are often overlooked. The awards also expanded to new destinations, including Azerbaijan, Curacao, Iceland, Kenya, Sardinia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

FTG compiles its ratings using an objective, independent and data-driven process. Incognito inspectors pose as everyday guests and stay at hotels, board cruises, receive spa services and dine at fine restaurants around the world. They test some 900 exacting standards—such as whether a room is designed to promote sleep quality or whether the food-and-beverage choices support a guest’s well-being—emphasizing exceptional service, which accounts for 70 percent of a property’s rating. Newer standards focus on the guest experience, such as ensuring “cocktails are dynamically interesting and photogenic” and even asking if the inspector would “readily recommend this property to others.” The remaining 30 percent comes from the quality and condition of the facilities. Finally, inspectors are now required to reflect on whether there was great value in the experience.

See the complete list of 2024 Star Awards winners here, and learn more about the newest additions to the collection below.

Great Gains in the Middle East

The Middle East emerged as the region with the most new Five-Star awards. Waldorf Astoria Kuwait won the top honor for both its art-deco-influenced hotel and its 13,560-square-foot spa. Talise Spa at Jumeirah Messilah Beach Hotel & Spa in Kuwait also received Five Stars for its water-themed haven. Over in Qatar, established local favorite Four Seasons Hotel Doha and newcomer Raffles Doha earned Five-Star ratings.

For the second consecutive year, Macau held onto its grip as the city with the most Five-Star hotels in the world—it clocks in at 22 with the new addition of Paiza Lofts, an all-suite, French-themed hotel inside The Parisian Macao. But Dubai gave a strong showing, logging more new Five-Star hotels than any other location worldwide: Address Beach Resort, home to the world’s tallest infinity pool; Armani Hotel Dubai, a stylish designer stay inside the Burj Khalifa; Atlantis, The Royal, a new architectural feat; The Ritz-Carlton, Dubai, a family-friendly oceanfront oasis; and The St. Regis Dubai, The Palm, a gilded getaway with a rooftop of destination dining, pushed Dubai’s Five-Star hotel tally to 12.

Several Dubai restaurants also made their debut on the 2024 list. Armani/Ristorante Dubai, which serves sophisticated Italian fare overlooking the Dubai Fountain, and Stay by Yannick Alléno, a French institution at One&Only The Palm, earned Four-Star accolades.

A Sense of Adventure

As travelers seek out more once-in-a-lifetime adventures, there are more luxurious options than ever. Rwanda debuted on the list with two Five-Star winners: One&Only Gorilla’s Nest, a basecamp in the foothills of the Virunga Mountains for gorilla treks, and One&Only Nyungwe House, a retreat on a tea plantation close to Nyungwe Forest National Park.

For those who want to get closer to the animals, stay with the long-necked residents at Nairobi’s Four-Star Giraffe Manor—and don’t miss breakfast with them. Meanwhile, Fairmont Mount Kenya Safari Club will take guests on guided safaris at the nearby Mount Kenya Wildlife Conservancy.

Adventurous travelers can also find a safari at sea aboard the Viking Neptune or the Four-Star Seven Seas Splendor, which offer Arctic expeditions along the shores of countries like Iceland and Norway, with possible polar bear sightings along the way. And for the ultimate around-the-world adventure, opt for the Viking Sky, which covers up to 37 countries in 180 days.

Triple Five-Star Standouts

Several hotels joined the elite ranks of the triple Five-Stars, a group of 15 properties that earned the highest rating for three different outlets under its roof (typically, it’s a hotel, restaurant and spa that earn the Five Stars). The Ritz-Carlton, Grand Cayman is the first property in the Caribbean to attain triple Five-Star status. Sprawled across 144 acres along Seven Mile Beach, the resort earned the top rating along with its Blue by Eric Ripert, a seafood-focused restaurant from the celebrated chef, and The Ritz-Carlton Spa, Grand Cayman, a 20,000-square-foot ultra-modern sanctuary.

Stateside, Rosewood Miramar Beach in Montecito, California, garnered triple Five-Star recognition with Sense, A Rosewood Spa at Miramar Beach, which features treatments using extraordinary local plants and flowers, and Caruso’s, a Southern Italian fine-dining spot overlooking the ocean. An hour from Washington, D.C., Salamander Middleburg gives travelers a luxurious place to stay in Virginia’s horse and wine country, with Harrimans Grill (which serves seasonal Southern cuisine) and the state’s only Five-Star spa on its 340 pastoral acres.

The Only Five-Star Hotel Brand

Montage Big Sky, an alpine ski retreat in Southwestern Montana that opened in 2021, picked up its inaugural top rating. The win marked a Five-Star sweep for Montage Hotels & Resorts across its seven properties, giving it the title of the world’s only all-Five-Star hotel brand. The Montage collection spans from Bluffton, South Carolina, to Los Cabos with a strong presence on the West Coast with properties in Sonoma, Laguna Beach and Park City, Utah.

The U.S.-based company is a longtime luxury hospitality purveyor—it celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2023 and boasts the longest-running Five-Star spa. California’s Spa Montage Laguna Beach was the first spa to earn the Five-Star distinction in 2005 and has maintained the rating ever since.

The Rise of Smaller Cities

One of the biggest travel trends for 2024 is the surge of smaller metro areas in the United States that are ready for larger crowds. In Nashville, JW Marriott Nashville lures them in with chef Michael Mina’s Bourbon Sky Lounge, the city’s highest rooftop restaurant and bar. Conrad Nashville caters to those who prioritize well-being with Wellness Rooms that come with a Peloton bike, an Echelon Reflect Fitness Mirror, free weights and a healthy minibar.

Elsewhere in the South, The Charleston Place reigns as Charleston’s grande dame, but the boutique hotel is forward-looking with seasonal offerings like a dream concierge for better sleep and a book butler who works with a local bookstore.

And as New Orleans gets ready for Mardi Gras, there are other reasons to celebrate the Crescent City. Two properties snagged new Four-Star awards: Four Seasons Hotel New Orleans, with restaurants from famed local chefs Donald Link and Alon Shaya and the glittering Chandelier Bar, and The Ritz-Carlton Spa, New Orleans, the largest spa in the city is a bathed-in-gray refuge with locally inspired treatments like the Voodoo Ritual.

R&R MVPs

For those who scour FTG’s Star Awards list for stunning beach getaways, there are plenty of newly minted Five-Star hotels, including the private island hideaway Hurawalhi Island Resort and eco-friendly LUX South Ari Atoll in the Maldives; newly renovated LUX Belle Mare and tropical paradise Royal Palm Beachcomber Luxury in Mauritius; art-driven La Casa de la Playa and sleek, modern Nizuc Resort & Spa in Mexico; and exclusive all-suite Mandarin Oriental, Canouan in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

Well-being continues to be a priority for travelers. Those seeking to recharge physically and mentally can check out new Five-Star spas like The St. Regis Spa Chicago, which opened in the world’s third-tallest building last year; The Spa at Seafire in Grand Cayman, where guests can unwind in a mosaic hammam; The Spa at Mandarin Oriental, Shenzhen, a 68th-floor haven that blends Eastern and Western therapies; Evian Spa at Palace Hotel Tokyo, a unique facility from the mineral water brand; and SpaHalekulani Okinawa, also in Japan, that draws from Okinawan and Hawaiian traditions for its bliss-inducing treatments.

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