The Best Hotels, Restaurants and Bars in the World — Prestigious New Award Winners Revealed

Start packing your Louis Vuitton and Tumi bags world travelers. Winners of the coveted Best of Travel Awards, the Oscars of the jet setting world, were just revealed during VirtuosoTravel Week in Las Vegas and the selection is terribly tempting.

Awards were presented at the travel week annual dinner, attended by more than 1,800 luxury travel experts, many of whom had voted in the competition,  from around the world. They had gathered for four days of schmoozing with reps from the world’s top tier travel companies  including hotels, cruise lines, tour operators, etc.  Among them was Houston-based Libby Cagle of SmartFlyer, who just returned from the Vegas adventure.

“Monday through Thursday, advisors sat in four-minute and 10-minute appointments making personal connections with GMs, hoteliers, owners, and sales directors who will personally be caring for our clients on property, on the ship or in-country,” Cagle explains. “Lunches, cocktail parties, and dinners thrown by suppliers equal out the work with a little fun.”

Highlight of the week was presentation of the awards. Fasten your seat belts and wheels up, for these winning properties are stunning and represent the crème de la crème of luxury travel.

Heading the pack  in Sustainable Tourism Leadership is Emirates One & Only Wolgan Valley in Australia.  The ultra-luxe, conservation-based resort is tucked into a 7,000 acre nature preserve in the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area, located less than three hours by car from Sydney.

Receiving top honors for Best Achievement in Design was the Rosewood Hong Kong, a stylish contemporary hostelry overlooking the Kowloon waterfront of Victoria Harbor.

Travel aficionados such as Cagle were over the moon with the selection of Le Sirenuse Champagne Bar in the Four Seasons Hotel at the Surf Club in Surfside, Florida.

“As a Four Seasons alum, and cocktail connoisseur, I loved seeing the Best Bar Award go to Four Seasons Surfside, and the Best Hotel Award to the legendary George V in Paris,” Cagle says. ” The Le Sirenuse Champagne Bar is the only American outpost for this family-owned Positano hot spot. Owner Antonio Sersale was in attendance to accept the award alongside Four Seasons Surfside GM Cornelia Samara”

And, yes, the Four Seasons George V in Paris was named Hotel of the Year.

“While Paris has no shortage of luxury properties, none shine brighter than the George V.  Four Seasons took over management of the George V in 1999, matching the architecture with world renown service,” she adds. “Regional vice president and general manager, Jean Claude Weitzel was in attendance to accept the award, as well as Christian Clerc, president of Four Seasons’ Worldwide Hotel Operations.”

The Best Dining Experience also went to a luxe Parisian haunt, Restaurant Le Gabriel in Hotel La Rèserve Paris Hotel and Spa. Noted for its gilded, Old World elegance, we vote that this gem is tops for more than mere dining.

Honors flowed to Grand Velas Riviera Maya in Playa Del Carmen for Best Family Program, to Miraval Arizona Resort & Spa for its Best Wellness Program, to Montage Los Cabos as Best Virtuoso Newcomer, to Amanda Hyndman of London’s Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park as Hotelier of the Year and to Carlos Quereda of Querido Representation Company as Best Virtuoso Hotel Ambassador.