TripAdvisor names world’s top 25 hotels
TripAdvisor, the world’s biggest travel website, has named the 25 best hotels in the world. The site’s annual Traveller’s Choice awards, based on millions of user reviews submitted to the site, named the Phoenix Resort in San Pedro, Belize as the world’s best.
The site features 255 reviews of the hotel, with 251 giving the Phoenix Resort the top ranking of ‘excellent’ and the remaining four rating it as ‘very good’.
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The top five is rounded out by Anastasis Apartments in Imerovigli, Greece; Hamanasi Adventure and Dive Resort, Hopkins, also in Belize; Riad Kniza, Marrakech, Morocco and Derwent House Boutique Hotel, Cape Town, South Africa.
The No.1 spot went to Akama Resort in Hervey Bay, followed by the Southern Ocean Lodge on Kangaroo Island, Martinique on Macrossan in Port Douglas, the Emirates-owned Wolgan Valley Resort and Spa in the Blue Mountains and Summit Apartments Airlie Beach.
Though hotels and tourism bodies are quick to celebrate good results from TripAdvisor, the powerful site has come under increasing criticism over the past year. Hotel owners have claimed that the site is clogged up with fake reviews, with operators posting negative reviews about rival hotels while spruiking their own accommodation.
This is it folks, the best hotel in the world – according to you, the people who stay in them
In the UK, complaints have been made to the Advertising Standards Board about the way the site advertises its content. The site last year scrapped its “reviews you can trust” slogan in favour of “reviews from the community”.
A group of hoteliers is currently taking legal action against the site through a company specialising in reputation management.
TripAdvisor carries more than 50 million reviews, but there are claims as many as 10 million of them could be fake.
Perhaps in response to the increasing criticism of the site, this year TripAdvisor scrapped its annual “world’s dirtiest hotels” list claiming it wants to focus less on the negative, the New York Times reported. But the site’s “world’s dirtiest” list has been cited by some as one of the actions most likely to get TripAdvisor into legal trouble.
The top 25 hotels in the world according to TripAdvisor…
1. The Phoenix Resort, San Pedro, Belize
2. Anastasis Apartments, Imerovigli, Greece
3. Hamanasi Adventure and Dive Resort, Hopkins, Belize
4. Riad Kniza, Marrakech, Morocco
5. Derwent House Boutique Hotel, Cape Town, South Africa
6. Castlewood House, Dingle, Ireland
7. Palais Amani, Fes, Morocco
8. Loch Lein Country House, Killarney, Ireland
9. Tambo del Inka, Urubamba, Peru
10. Golden Well (U Zlate Studne),Prague, Czech Republic
11. Elysian Hotel Chicago, Chicago, USA
12. Wellness Hotel Casa Barca, Malcesine, Italy
13. Strandhill Lodge and Suites Hotel, Strandhill, Ireland
14. Alchymist Residence Nosticova, Prague, Czech Republic
15. Charterhouse Hotel, Torquay, United Kingdom
16. Taj Lake Palace Udaipur, Udaipur, India
17. Cocoa Island Resort, South Male Atoll
18. Blackheath Lodge, Cape Town, South Africa
19. Naturhotel Waldklause, Langenfeld, Austria
20. CERVO Zermatt, Zermatt, Switzerland
21. Century Park Motor Lodge, Nelson, New Zealand
22. Layana Resort and Spa, Ko Lanta, Thailand
23. Hotel Villa Ducale, Taormina, Italy
24. Astra Suites, Imerovigli, Greece
25. Reid’s Palace by Orient-Express, Funchal, Portugal
The complete list of TripAdvisor’s 2012 Travelers’ Choice winners can be found here. There’s also a regional breakdown here of the best hotels with some 39 different categories – some by country, others by continent – for example, the USA, Italy, Europe, the UK, South America, Australia, the Middle East…etc. Plus other categories like budget, all-inclusive, luxury and so on.
Scott Snowden
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