ATLANTA, 25 February 2019: Two Southeast Asian nations, Vietnam and Malaysia, joined Forbes’ five-star rated hotels list for the first time.
Forbes Travel Guide debuted its 61st annual list of star rated winners, last week, recognising the world’s top properties.
The 2019 award recipients include 21 new five-star hotels, 49 new four-star hotels and 62 new hotels in the recommended category.
Forbes Travel Guide rates properties in 76 countries throughout the Americas, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Africa and the Middle East. Newly added destinations for 2019 include Anguilla, Bahrain, Belize, Danang, Doha, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Hoi An, Istanbul, Oman, Perth, the Swiss Alps, Tel Aviv and Uruguay.
Several countries captured their first five-star hotel: Malaysia (Crockfords at Resorts World Genting), Portugal (Four Seasons Hotel Ritz Lisbon), South Korea (The Shilla Seoul), Turkey (Raffles Istanbul) and Vietnam (Four Seasons Resort The Nam Hai, Hoi An).
Other first-time recipients include six five-star restaurants, eight five-star spas and 21 four-star spas.
Globally, cities with the most five-star spas include Macau (9), Hong Kong (5) and Las Vegas (4).
A standout was The Peninsula Hotels, which made Forbes Travel Guide history by becoming the world’s first all five-star hotel company. The Peninsula Manila earned its fifth star this year, which pushed the Hong Kong-based brand’s tally to 10 five-star hotels.
London unseated Macau as the city with the most five-star hotels, thanks to four new additions (Bulgari Hotel & Residences, London; The Langham, London; Mandarin Oriental, Hyde Park, London; Shangri-La Hotel, At The Shard, London). London finished with 13 top-ranked hotels, with Macau at a close 12.
The US added two five-star hotels (Hawaii’s Four Seasons Resort Lanai and the D.C. area’s Salamander Resort & Spa). These countries gained one new five-star hotel: Canada (Fairmont Pacific Rim), China (Bulgari Hotel Beijing), France (Hotel de Crillon, A Rosewood Hotel), Indonesia (Bulgari Resort Bali), Mexico (Rosewood San Miguel de Allende), the Philippines (The Peninsula Manila) and United Arab Emirates (Four Seasons Hotel Abu Dhabi at Al Maryah Island).
The company will honour winners at Verified, The Forbes Travel Guide Luxury Summit at The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills on February 26 and 27.
For highlights and trends from the 2019 Star Awards, click here
