While luxury travel destinations that look flawless on your Instagram feed can be underwhelming (or downright disappointing), some companies do successfully give wealthy travelers the high-end experience they're hoping for when they book a trip.
To that end, LTI - Luxury Travel Intelligence (a members-only digital resource for all things luxury travel) recently released its annual ranking of the top luxury hotel brands in the world. Turns out, the consensus on which chains are the best of the best has shifted drastically since the company's last list was released.
LTI's ranking (which focused only on brands with 10 or more properties) is based on 123 "touch points" relating to overall brand performance. The assessment process took place over the course of 12 months.
"It's all about a brand's ability to deliver: its passion, commitment, ethos and values, as well as the quality of its management and staff," LTI said in a release, adding that "continuing investment" in new and existing properties is another important factor.
LTI said that it decided not to adjust its typical ranking algorithm as a result of COVID-19, since "each brand's response is still unfolding."
Here are the world's best luxury hotel brands, ranked in ascending order.
12. Alila
Alila scored 69.9%. It didn't make the top 12 in LTI's 2019 ranking.
Source: Luxury Travel Intelligence
11. Peninsula
Peninsula scored 72.1%. It did not make the top 12 in LTI's 2019 ranking.
Source: Luxury Travel Intelligence
10. COMO
COMO scored 72.8%. It also placed 10th in LTI's 2019 ranking.
Source: Luxury Travel Intelligence
9. St. Regis
St. Regis scored 73.3% and also placed 9th in LTI's 2019 ranking.
Source: Luxury Travel Intelligence
8. Four Seasons
Four Seasons scored 74.5% and dropped from 3rd place in LTI's 2019 ranking.
Source: Luxury Travel Intelligence
7. Rosewood
Rosewood scored 76% and also placed 7th in LTI's 2019 ranking.
Source: Luxury Travel Intelligence
6. One&Only
One&Only scored 76.6% and moved up from 11th place in LTI's 2019 ranking.
Source: Luxury Travel Intelligence
5. Mandarin Oriental
Mandarin Oriental scored 78% and dropped from 2nd place in LTI's 2019 ranking.
Source: Luxury Travel Intelligence
4. Belmond
Belmond scored 78.7% and dropped from 1st place in LTI's 2019 ranking.
Source: Luxury Travel Intelligence
3. Auberge
Auberge scored 79.3% and moved up from 5th place in LTI's 2019 ranking.
Source: Luxury Travel Intelligence
2. Aman
Aman scored 82.3% and also earned 2nd place in LTI's 2019 ranking.
Source: Luxury Travel Intelligence
1. Six Senses
Six Senses scored 82.8% and moved up from the 8th place in LTI's 2019 ranking, taking the top spot in LTI's ranking for the first time.
Source: Luxury Travel Intelligence
Other brands that didn't make the cut but ranked highly enough to be monitored throughout the upcoming year included (in alphabetical order): &Beyond, Anantara, Banyan Tree, Dorchester Collection, Fairmont, Firmdale, Jumeirah, Oberoi, Park Hyatt, Raffles, Ritz Carlton, Rocco Forte, Shangri-La, Soho House, Taj, and The Luxury Collection.
Source: Luxury Travel Intelligence
LTI's ranking only took into account brands with 10 or more properties. Those with less than 10 that still ranked highly according to LTI's algorithm included (in alphabetical order): Althoff Collection, Bulgari, Capella, Cheval Blanc, Maybourne, Montage, Nikki Beach, Oetker Collection, and Soneva.
Source: Luxury Travel Intelligence