Nearly Two Dozen New Hotels Join Forbes Five-Star Rating List
by Jessica Montevago /
Forbes Travel Guide released its 61st annual list of Star Rating winners, recognizing the world's finest properties and welcoming 21 new hotels to the prestigious five-star list.
Peninsula Hotels emerged as the year’s biggest winner, marking the first all-Five-Star hotel company in the award’s history, according to Forbes. The Peninsula Manila earned its inaugural Five-Star award, giving the Hong Kong-based brand a total of 10 top-rated hotels.
London now has the most Five-Star hotels, stealing the spot from Macau, China. London is host to these properties, all earning the Five-Star hotel distinction: The Langham, London; Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park, London; and Shangri-La Hotel At the Shard London.
The 21 new Five-Star hotels named in the Forbes Travel Guide list are: Four Seasons Resort Lanai in Hawaii; Hôtel de Crillon, A Rosewood Hotel in Paris; Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park, London; Carlton Hotel St. Moritz in Switzerland; The Chedi Andermatt in Switzerland; Bulgari Hotel, Beijing; Four Seasons Hotel Abu Dhabi at Al Maryah Island in the United Arab Emirates; Bulgari Resort Bali; Crockfords at Resorts World Genting in Pahang, Malaysia; Fairmont Pacific Rim in Vancouver, Canada; Four Seasons Resort The Nam Hai, Hoi An in Vietnam; Four Seasons Ritz Lisbon in Portugal; Alpina Gstaad in Switzerland; Raffles Istanbul; Rosewood San Miguel de Allende in Mexico; Salamander Resort & Spa in Middleburg, Virginia; Shangri-La Hotel At the Shard, London; Bulgari Hotel & Residences, London; The Langham, London; The Peninsula Manila in the Philippines; and Shilla Seoul in South Korea.
The 2019 Star Award winners included 210 Five-Star hotels, 69 Five-Star restaurants and 64 Five-Star spas. This year’s list also includes 49 new Four-Star hotels, six new Five-Star restaurants, and eight Five-Star spas.
Forbes' anonymous professional inspectors determine the rankings according to 900 objective standards, paying specific attention to exceptional service, with 75 percent of a hotel’s score based on its level of service, while 25 percent is determined by the quality of its facilities.
The ratings span 76 countries in the Americas, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Africa and the Middle East. This year, the list features several new destinations: Anguilla, Bahrain, Belize, Da Nang, Doha, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh, Hoi An, Istanbul, Oman, Perth, the Swiss Alps, Tel Aviv, and Uruguay.
See Forbes’ full list of Star-Rated properties here.