News and notes from around the interweb:
- It’s weird that the ’50 best hotels’ ranks 1-100. There are several snubs here, and a few that really don’t belong.
Rosewood Hong Kong at #1 in the world? Not a single Belmond. Hotel Bel Air as the best hotel in the United States, The Mark as second best and best in New York (better than the Aman, The Carlyle, etc)…
The Beverly Hills Hotel is ranked ahead of Aman Kyoto, Aman Venice, Amangalla, Amangiri and Amanbagh – as well as the Four Seasons Hong Kong and Madrid, and Hôtel Plaza Athénée Paris. Okey dokey.
What do you think?
World’s 50 Best Hotels 2025 List
by
u/Crafty-Leave-8880 in
luxuryhotel - Florida Woman, 31, Accused of Peeing on and Damaging More Than $3,000 Worth of Property in Multiple Airbnbs. Videos of the act were made for upload to an “adult content website.”
The owner found that an antique Crown Royal chair, rug, typewriter, four dining room chairs, coffee maker, bed, TV, record player, toaster and electric fireplace had been ruined, per the police report, according to the outlet.
- GHA Discovery is offering triple Discovery Dollars and a $25 Discovery Dollar bonus on your first two stays with Minor Hotels brands (Anantara Hotels & Resorts, Avani Hotels & Resorts, Elewana Collection, iStay Hotels, Minor Hotels, NH Hotels & Resorts, Oaks Hotels, Resorts and Suites, The Wolseley Hospitality Group, Tivoli Hotels and Resorts) – and an additional $50 bonus if the second stay is at a different brand than the first.
Register and book direct by August 31 for stays through September 30, 2026 (but pre-existing stays don’t count, so consider whether it makes sense to cancel and rebook).
- 25% bonus transferring Citi points to Avianca LifeMiles through April 18.
- 30% bonus transferring Citi points to Virgin Atlantic through April 18.
Credit: God Save the Points - 43-year study tracking 130,000 people finds “those who regularly consumed [2-3 cups a day] of caffeinated coffee or tea had an 18 percent lower risk of developing dementia compared to those who rarely touched the stuff.” Thank goodness American Airlines is ditching Fresh Brew for Lavazza (and, especially, thank goodness United ditched Fresh Brew years ago for Illy).
Caffeine swiggers also scored better on some cognitive tests and were less likely to complain about memory slips, according to the study.
- ‘Iron Chef’ and ‘Sandwich King’ take over The St. Regis Deer Valley for second year
- Perhaps we shall see!
ICE when someone tries to board an AeroMexico flight with a full size bottle of shampoo. pic.twitter.com/wPFMz0BJ7v
— Maine (@TheMaineWonk) March 22, 2026
“The World’s 50 Best List” more like “List of Who Paid Us Most.”
Hotel das Cataratas (76th out of 50) is a Belmond. We just had a lovely stay there last month.
GHA only credits stays around 15% of the time so make sure to keep the printed invoice when you check out and then go through the process to get credit. It is not a great program although the hotels are usually decent and there are frequent offers.
Park Hyatt Kyoto is the only one on the list where I’ve stayed. Likely to stay the only one.
Not a single Peninsula or Shangri-La. About the only property that I’d agree with is the Mandarin Oriental Bangkok. There is an upside: The ones that I like that didn’t make the list may be less crowded though…
I’ve stayed at zero of those top hotels, but I have stayed at the Aman Summer Palace. It didn’t make the list. I have so much more of the world to see 😉
I think my top hotel stay in the world was Awasi Atacama, but all the included private excursions definitely added to the experience.