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 Guildhall, built in 1411. 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.

The Guildhall and Art Gallery in the City of London, England, which will host the awards (iStock/JeremyRichards)

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.

“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,” Tim Brooke-Webb, managing director of 50 Best, said.

“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.

“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,” Mark Sansom, director of content for The World’s 50 Best Hotels, said.

“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.

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 per cent of the panel will be renewed each year. All voters, aside from the Academy Chairs, will remain anonymous to eliminate the possibility of lobbying.