The 55th Forbes Travel Guide Star Awards
As we announce Forbes Travel Guide’s new Star Award winners, we’re also celebrating our 55th year of rating
and recommending the world’s best travel experiences. Since our founding in 1958 as Mobil Travel Guide, our
inspectors have stayed in thousands of hotels, dined at countless restaurants and experienced hundreds of
spa treatments to find the best properties.
This year, we gave out more awards than ever before, with 27 new
Five-Stars, 75 new Four-Stars and 30 new Recommended properties earning the coveted distinctions in travel.
Those that surpassed our more than 500 standards clinched Five-Star awards, the industry’s highest service
accolade. Four-Star winners offered excellent experiences, and Recommended properties were well-appointed
spots.
Our inspectors visited properties in North America, China and Singapore, with Europe’s first rated
destination, London, coming in April. Scroll below to see the new inductees to our Star Rating universe.
Introducing The Newest Forbes Travel Guide Star Award Winners
Written In The Stars
In Forbes Travel Guide’s 55th year of rating and recommending the world’s best travel experiences, we’re
awarding more Stars than ever. Our inspectors traverse North America, China and Singapore — and London
beginning in April — to rate hotels, restaurants and spas. Like we did more than a half a century ago,
our professional inspectors evaluate more than 500 standards in service and facility to come up with an
objective score for each property. Only a handful of properties surpass the exacting standards, earning
the prestigious Five-Star award — the industry’s highest service accolade.
Miami emerges as a winner with its first Five-Star hotels since 1996 — Mandarin Oriental, Miami and
Acqualina Resort & Spa — alongside its brand-new Five-Star restaurants — Naoe and Mandarin Oriental,
Miami’s Azul. And both hotels earned the highest rating for their spas, as well, which makes Mandarin
Oriental, Miami a Five-Star property across the board.
Joining Mandarin Oriental, Miami in the full sweep of Five-Stars are Montage Laguna Beach with its restaurant
Studio and Spa Montage; The Ritz-Carlton, Hong Kong and its spa; Mandarin Oriental, Macau and its spa; Capella
Singapore and its spa; and Encore Macau with its spa. The Broadmoor, The Grand Del Mar and The Inn at Little
Washington all have received this honor for multiple years. In fact, The Broadmoor has retained its Five-Star
rating since 1960 — the longest of any property in the world.
Forbes Travel Guide.
The authority in luxury hospitality since 1958.
luxury travel
About the Forbes Travel Guide Star Ratings
When Forbes Travel Guide was founded as Mobil Travel Guide in 1958, its anonymous team of professional
inspectors set out on a newly created U.S. highway system to identify America’s finest hotels and
restaurants. Travel and food experts were called upon to identify the list of properties that should be
inspected (we’re sure more than a few martini-fueled lunches must have been had at 1960 Five-Star Award
winning New York City restaurant 21 Club while creating that list).
Today, we inspect and rate hotels, restaurants and spas in much the same way they did 55 years ago—our
professional inspectors evaluate more than 500 standards in service and facility to derive an objective
score that serves as a benchmark for what you’ll experience if you choose to stay at our collection of
rated properties.
And our inspectors have the experience to back up their evaluations. Our team has worked inside the
world’s best luxury hotels and restaurants, and we know how to spot the behind-the-scenes training and
operations that contribute to a consistently excellent experience in service and quality. Our inspectors
go through the most rigorous training process in the business before they hit the road—and we’re
constantly retraining to stay on top of global trends in travel.
Our mission is to define the global standard for excellence in hospitality service and facilities, and
to share with you, the discerning traveler, what you’ll experience if you choose to spend your time and
money at one of our Star Rated properties. To learn more about our Ratings,
click here.
Discover the Most Outstanding Places
Startle is the home of Forbes Travel Guide, the originator of the Five Star Rating System and the leading
travel authority since 1958. Visit Startle for advice from our inspectors, editors and hospitality experts
to help you plan unique travel experiences.
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