Best Hotel you have stayed!!!

Grand Hotel Excelsior Vittoria in Sorrento, Italy. The design of the property is straight out of a Wes Anderson film, the views over the bay are stunning and service is impeccable. Also the most stunning breakfast buffet I’ve ever experienced.

That looks very nice!

It reminds me of the stay we had nearby in Positano. We stayed at the Palazzo Murat
This was one of those places that the photos don’t do it justice. The perfect location in Positano right in the centre. Beautiful pool. Amazing Italian style luxury
 
Had an amazing stay at the Palacio Duhau - Park Hyatt Buenos Aires in the last year. Maybe in part it was the shock of high level service after weeks of being in South Amercia but the hotel was truely next level in all respects (food and wine incuded) and an amazing insight into the history (and wealth) of BA.
 
2 come to mind.

Conrad Centennial Singapore, good room and good lounge on the 31st floor with excellent staff, buffet breakfast which included Icecream.
Note the Conrad Centennial Singapore has been rebranded as Conrad Singapore Marina Bay since 15 April 2025.
I would hate to think what the price per room including lounge are now.

Honorable mention,
The InterContinental Sydney at Circular Quay, lounge and some room views awesome, staff aren't as good as in Singapore.
 
Intercontinental Istanbul was amazing! I have platinum from my IHG Chase credit card and was upgraded to a suite overlooking the Bosphorus and it was stunning!
 
Hotel La Perouse in Nice. Its all about getting the larger sea view toom - daybed and dining furniture room service for dinner and champagne from the local wine shoips
 
It’s hard to pinpoint a single ‘top’ hotel, but in general, I think India does exceptionally well with its Taj and Oberoi hotels, for example the Lake Palace in Udaipur, or the Umaid Bhawan Palace in Jodhpur. But there are a dozen similar!

The Devi Garh was another spectacular hotel… a 1000 room palace converted to just 39 rooms: RAAS Devigarh – RAAS Hotels
 
Hard to pick a factor that would make one hotel "the best". But Rydges have the best beds in the biz, IMO, so I enjoy staying in any of their hotels.
 
One of our more memorable ones was staying at the E&O Hotel on the waterfront in Penang in 1994. Founded in 1884 by the same brothers who founded the Raffles Hotel in Singapore. This was just before a 5 year multi million dollar makeover. The rooms had probably not been refreshed for 20 years but they were clean and huge. The bathroom alone was bigger than most of the hotel rooms we have stayed in in Europe. It was all a bit of faded glory but with a good breakfast included and at a very cheap price.
 
Park Hyatt Melbourne - first class decor, modern and extremely clean suites, breakfast buffet very generous in food offerings.
Of course the $$ matches 😉
We stayed there last time we were in Melbourne. Highlight was being emailed someone else's account :D

In all seriousness, we loved it there. The room was great and spacious, loved the TV in the bathroom, and enjoyed the pool facilities.

In terms of an underrated hotel, I think the Hotel Sardonyx in Tokyo. Not the latest and greatest decor but it was a nice, spacious room (compared to other hotels in Tokyo). A 15 minute walk to Tokyo Station, but in a fairly quiet part of Tokyo away from the hustle and bustle of other parts of Tokyo
 
In terms of places where the hotel itself is luxurious and beautiful, as well as being in a great location, then it's a toss-up between:
  • Conrad Tokyo, overlooking the Hamarikyu Gardens and Tokyo Bay
  • Waldorf-Astoria Versailles Trianon Palace, next to the Château grounds and including the old hotel where the Treaty of Versailles was finalised
 
My home after any work trip or solo travel.

Honourable mention to Shangri La Villingili, Maldives (when we summited the highest mountain in the Maldives! …and which also served as the tee box for the 8th hole 😁)
 
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Not really a hotel, but the houseboat on thr Dal lake in Kashmir in the 1970's was hard to beat, including cheap marijuan_ delivered daily (not that we were interested).

An honourable mention goes to the Hotel Rossiya (RIP) close to Red Square Moscow, where we stayed in the early 1970's. At breakfast one day, when I requested milk for my coffee, they brought a kettle full of goats milk. Did the job. Oh, and the well known trick of shouting down the toilet when you needed something fixing worked like a charm. Someone came to fix our blown lightbulb within minutes, even though we hadn't otherwise reported it. Great place, especially the vodka and smoked salmon.
 
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In a city, Conrad Osaka perhaps, Mandarin Oriental HK was also very nice.

Ryokan/Resort type, now that's more difficult....I'm going with Akakura Kanko Hotel.
 
For pure over-the-top-ness, the presidential suite at THE Hotel in Vegas (now W Las Vegas) was extraordinary. Having dinner cooked for you in your kitchen while someone plays your grand piano in the corner as you look out upon the Vegas strip was pretty much the ultimate in Hollywood-Vegas stereotype experience. Only thing missing was a tiger in a cage, and I'm sure they could have provided that if my bank balance allowed it.

As a place to actually unwind, Qualia on Hamilton Island is amazing. The layout of the resort is planned to perfection so every unit appears like it's in the middle of nowhere, you can't see or hear any neighbours. The service is sublime, from the moment they picked us up from the literal side of the plane to the champagne ready for you at check-in. The Pebble Beach restaurant is both unpretentious (all outside, only a small number of tables) and the food is worthy of a Michelin star or two. It's the only place I've been where they present the menu in a hand-written sealed envelope and ask if you'd like to open before the meal or leave it as a surprise.

My overall favourite though is Raffles OWO London (the Old War Office directly opposite the horse guard in Whitehall). From the moment you step in and smell the old leather the place just whispers perfection in an "I'm not saying it out loud but I'm actually a Lord and my family have owned this land since 1582, but please enjoy this shepherd's pie I made for you from my family's traditional recipe" British manner. I love everything about the place, from the rooms to the history to the service to the food. The Guards Bar serves the most creative (and expensive) coughtails I've ever had, and anywhere that has a 10,000 GBP nip of Glenfiddich 50yr old scotch on the menu is worthy of my admiration.
 
Great thread - of course if you pay $500 pn it's a lot different than $2000 pn and also what country.

My best / wonderful Australian hotels / resorts are some of the obvious:-
  • Lizard Island
  • Capella on LHI
  • Southern Ocean Lodge
  • Latitude 131
  • Saffire
  • The Pumphouse (Tassie)
You can't beat the Maldives for luxury - I've stayed in 3 (I'd have to look up their names) - all were amazing but really it's a beach holiday with not all that much to do besides water sports.

Some of the amazing game lodges in Africa (South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania and Botswana) - can't recall their names but they're all sort of "one and done".
 

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