Mandarin Oriental has been named the best luxury hotel brand in the world.
Source: LTI — Luxury Travel Intelligence
There are rankings of the best hotels in the world.
But a new list, released by members-only group LTI – Luxury Travel Intelligence, ranks hotel brands rather than individual properties.
The ranking analyzes multiple hotels within a brand in “granular detail,” using more than 100 “touch points” to assess a brand’s “ability to deliver,” from its behavior down to the staff, according to a press release.
Luxury Travel Intelligence memberships cost $700 per year and provide access to the group’s travel research. It does not sell advertising, and the research is independent and funded by subscriptions, according to its website.
The Luxury Travel Intelligence rankings for 2023 are:
- Mandarin Oriental
- Oetker Collection
- Collection of Auberge Resorts
- Six senses
- Aman
- Belmond
- Four Seasons
- One & Only
- Hotels in Rocco Forte
- Rosewood
- Peninsula
- Raffles
For the first time, Mandarin Oriental took the top spot — ahead of Oetker Collection by a very narrow margin, according to the results.
Mandarin Oriental Singapore.
Source: LTI — Luxury Travel Intelligence
The Oetker Collection operates 12 hotels worldwide, including Le Bristol in Paris, Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc in Antibes, France, and The Lanesborough, London, according to the Oetker Collection’s webpage.
The Auberge Resorts Collection – ranked third on the list – operates hotels such as Mauna Lani in Hawaii, The Lodge at Blue Sky in Park City, Utah, and The Vanderbilt in Newport, Rhode Island. These are just three of the 27 hotels and resorts under the Auberge brand.
In 2022, Six Senses is ranked No. 1, followed by Mandarin Oriental (No. 2) and Rosewood (No. 3).
The Oetker Collection’s Hotel La Palma in Capri, Italy.
Source: LTI – Luxury Travel Intelligence
Two brands are new to the list this year: Peninsula Hotels and Raffles Hotels & Resorts.
Michael Crompton, co-founder of Luxury Travel Intelligence, told CNBC Travel that “matching the sector’s continued explosive growth with the highest caliber of management and staff has proven to be a significant challenge.”
He said that he expects this to be a determination of the group’s ranking in the future.
Luxury Travel Intelligence uses an algorithm to evaluate hotel brands, which have a maximum of 4,663 points, Crompton said.
This year, it measured 130 “touch points,” evaluating factors such as in-room dining, a guest’s pre-arrival process and a brand’s social media engagement, Crompton told the CNBC Travel. The group uses a points-based system to remove “inevitable emotion and personal opinion” from the rankings, he said.
Raffles Doha, Qatar.
Source: LTI — Luxury Travel Intelligence
Crompton also noted that investments by brands – either in new hotels or in the renovation of existing ones – was a key factor this year.
Crompton did not disclose how the touch points are weighted, but told CNBC Travel that “every year we tweak the touch points and the weight.”
LTI also highlights other brands it says are “gifted enough” to keep an eye on.
The brands are: 1 Hotels, Alila, Anantara, Banyan Tree, Como, Dorchester Collection, Firmdale, Jumeirah, Leela, Oberoi, Park Hyatt, Ritz-Carlton, Shangri-La, Soho House, Red Carnation, St. Regis, Taj, The Luxury Collection and Viceroy.
In addition, the brands with less than 10 properties – the minimum required to make the list – but given a high grade are: Airelles, Althoff Collection, Bulgari, Capella, Cheval Blanc, JK Place, La Reserve, Maybourne, Montage, Nikki Beach, Pendry , Soneva, Ultima Collection and Virgin Limited Edition.