Celebrate with the 2023 Award Winners!

The year’s top islands, cities, hotels, cruise lines, airports, and more — as voted by the readers of Travel + Leisure.

Few travelers are as insightful or engaged as the readers of Travel + Leisure, which is why the annual World’s Best Awards are considered the travel industry’s most trusted rankings. Each year, you share your opinions on a broad range of experiences based on recent trips you’ve taken. For 2023, T+L has a whopping 122 lists of reader favorites, including two brand-new categories: trains and luxury villa rental companies.

World’s Best Hotels

Many reader-favorite hotel brands made a great showing, especially Auberge Resorts Collection with seven properties (led by Goldener Hirsch, the third property tied at No. 4). Rosewood, Oberoi, and Four Seasons follow, with the latter claiming the year’s No. 1 hotel. But local or regional hotel groups also made an impact — Grace Bay Resorts in the Turks and Caicos Islands, Greek brands Andronis and Katikies, Brazil’s Fasano, South Africa’s Royal Portfolio — as did plenty of independent properties, like Secret Bay (No. 24), a boutique beach getaway in Dominica, and the legendary Babylonstoren (tied for No. 14), surrounded by South African farmland.

Here are the 2023 winners

1. Four Seasons Hotel Istanbul at Sultanahmet: Istanbul, Turkey

Booking.com

After a two-year renovation by London firm Goddard Littlefair, the most luxurious hotel in Istanbul’s Sultanahmet district is also the best hotel in the world, according to T+L readers. One survey respondent described the location as “the most beautiful spot in the Old City,” just steps from Sultanahmet Square — home to sites like the Blue Mosque and the German Fountain. The 65 rooms and suites at this Four Seasons come with neutral tones, rich wood, and leather accents, with some incorporating Ottoman-inspired art or colorful Turkish rugs and other textiles. Also with the redesign came new and varied dining options: Avlu, a modern Anatolian restaurant in a pavilion in the courtyard garden, designed to evoke an Ottoman tent; the all-day mezze spot Lingo Lingo; Süreyya, a rooftop lounge with Turkish wines and Hagia Sofia views; and the hotel’s own patisserie, La Pistache, with both French pastries and Turkish sweets. No stay is complete without a steam and scrub at the Kurna Spa’s traditional hammam.

2. The Bushcamp Company’s Mfuwe Lodge: South Luangwa National Park, Zambia

This favorite lodge has 18 air-conditioned chalets with private decks, plus a pool and views of Mfuwe Lagoon. But what really sets it apart is the wildlife and the people who spotlight it: “the guides are incredibly impressive,” wrote one reader. “They know the park — from the Big Five to the smallest flora — better than I know my own home.”

3. Andaz Bali: Bali, Indonesia

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Set on the beach in Sanur, on Bali’s southeast coast, this two-year-old property is modeled after a traditional Balinese village, with thatch-roofed pavilions, intricate wood detailing, and plenty of communal courtyards. Its 149 rooms, suites, and villas have views of either the pool, the gardens, or the ocean.

4. (tie) Playa Vik José Ignacio: José Ignacio, Uruguay

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From the luxury South American group Vik Retreats comes this art-filled high-design property in José Ignacio, a fishing-town-turned-seasonal-getaway for chic citydwellers from Buenos Aires and beyond. Three suites and six two- or three-bedroom casas are just steps from Mansa Beach.

4. (tie) Goldener Hirsch, Auberge Resorts Collection: Park City, Utah

“My new favorite hotel in Deer Valley,” wrote a T+L reader of this recently renovated 68-key resort. Conveniently located to Silver Lake Express and Sterling Express lifts, among others, it also has plenty to offer outside of ski season — from hiking to Park City cultural events to elegant Austrian-influenced cuisine from chef Nicolas Lebas.

4. (tie) Hotel Xcaret Arte: Playa del Carmen, Mexico

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The largest property on the list, this adults-only all-inclusive from Mexico’s sustainability-focused Xcaret brand is a village of its own just south of downtown Playa del Carmen. The resort, which opened in summer 2021, includes 900 suites, 10 restaurants, and full access to any of Xcaret’s nature parks around the region.

4. (tie) Il Sereno Lago di Como: Torno, Italy

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Forty contemporary suites, with interiors by Milanese designer Patricia Urquiola, have floor-to-ceiling windows providing views of the sparkling lake. Take it in from the water’s-edge infinity pool or head out in one of the hotel’s three wooden boats, custom commissioned from Cantiere Ernesto Riva in nearby Laglio.

8. Four Seasons Hotel Istanbul at the Bosphorus: Istanbul, Turkey

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The fully restored 19th-century building faces the Bosphorus from the European side and has 170 rooms, including the 2,765-sq-ft Atik Pasha Suite — a reference to the historic name of this Ottoman-era palace.

9. Rosewood Phnom Penh: Phnom Penh, Cambodia

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This hotel — occupying the top 14 floors of the dragon-shaped Vattanac Capital Tower — has 175 rooms, each with sweeping views of either the city or the Mekong River, as well as six restaurants including venues focused on Cambodian, Chinese, Japanese, and French cuisine. Readers loved the sense of serenity in the middle of one of Southeast Asia’s most dynamic cities.

10. Capella Singapore: Singapore

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The highest-ranking of three properties from Singapore-based Capella Hotels is what readers called an “impeccable” resort on Sentosa Island. Its 112 rooms and suites are spread between a white colonial-era building, a modern extension by Norman Foster, 38 villas with private plunge pools, and four exclusive-use manors.

Read the full list