Conde Nast Traveler announced the results of its 2011 Readers’ Choice Awards, ranking the best cities, islands, cruise lines, airlines, hotels, and resorts worldwide. These awards will appear in the November issue (on newsstands October 18) and are tabulated from the Conde Nast Traveler Readers’ Choice survey. A record 28,876 readers cast a combined eight million votes on thousands of properties and destinations around the world.
The top U.S. city was Charleston, South Carolina. The top European city was Florence, Italy. The top Canadian city was Quebec City. The top resort in Europe was the Hotel Caesar Augustus on the island of Capri. The top foreign airline was Singapore Airlines. The top U.S. carrier was Virgin America.
Here are the Top 3 in each category. The full results can be found by clicking here.
Top Cities: United States
1. Charleston, South Carolina
2. San Francisco
3. Santa Fe
Top Cities: Europe
1. Florence
2. Barcelona
3. Rome
Top Cities: Asia
1. Kyoto
2. Bangkok
3. Hong Kong
Top Cities: Africa/Middle East
1. Cape Town
2. Beirut
3. Byblos, Lebanon
Top Cities: Canada
1. Quebec City
2. Vancouver
3. Victoria, British Columbia
Top Cities: Oceania
1. Sydney
2. Queenstown, New Zealand
3. Melbourne
Top Cities: Mexico
1. San Miguel de Allende
2. Oaxaca
3. Merida
Top Cities: Central/South America
1. Buenos Aires
2. Cuzco
3. Antigua de Guatemala
Top Islands: Caribbean/Atlantic
1. Bermuda
2. St. John
3. Nevis
Top Islands: Oceania
1. Bora Bora
2. Great Barrier Reef
3. Moorea
Top Islands: Asia
1. Maldives
2. Bali
3. Phuket
Top Islands: United States
1. Maui
2. Kauai
3. Kiawah, South Carolina
Top Islands: Europe
1. Bozcaada and the Turkish Aegean Islands
2. Mykonos and the Cyclades
3. Madeira
3. Mallorca and the Balearics
Top Resorts: Asia
1. Ayana Resort & Spa, Bali
2. Four Seasons Resort Bali at Sayan
3. Four Seasons, Chiang Mai
3. Oberoi Vanyavilas, Rajasthan
Top Resorts: Mexico
1. One&Only Palmilla, Los Cabos
2. Rancho La Puerta, Tecate
3. The Tides, Riviera Maya
Top Resorts: Africa
1. Four Seasons Sharm El Sheikh
1. Safari Lodges at Phinda Private Game Reserve, South Africa
3. Kirawira Luxury Tented Camp, Tanzania
Top Resorts: Europe
1. Hotel Caesar Augustus, Capri
2. Perivolas, Santorini
3. Park Hotel Kenmare, County Kerry
Top Resorts: Hawaii
1. Travaasa Hana (formerly Hotel Hana-Maui)
2. Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea
3. Trump International Hotel Waikiki Beach Walk
Top Resorts: Atlantic
1. The Reefs, Bermuda
2. Parrot Cay, Turks and Caicos
3. One&Only Ocean Club, Bahamas
Top Resorts: Middle East
1. Burj Al Arab, Dubai
2. Ritz-Carlton, Dubai
3. Emirates Palace, Abu Dhabi
Top Resorts: Oceania
1. Lodge at Kauri Cliffs, New Zealand
2. Four Seasons, Bora Bora
3. Le Taha’a Island Resort & Spa, French Polynesia
Top Resorts: Mainland U.S.
1. Resort at Pelican Hill, Newport Coast, California
2. Westin Riverfront Resort & Spa at Beaver Creek Mountain, Avon, Colorado
3. Sanctuary at Kiawah Island Golf Resort, South Carolina
Top Small Resorts: Mainland U.S.
1. Keswick Hall at Monticello, Virginia
2. Mii Amo, Sedona
3. Amangani, Jackson Hole
Top Resorts: Canada
1. King Pacific Lodge (Rosewood), British Columbia
2. Emerald Lake Lodge, British Columbia
3. Long Beach Lodge Resort, Vancouver Island
Top Resorts: Caribbean
1. Nisbet Plantation Beach Club, Nevis
2. Jade Mountain, St. Lucia
3. Anse Chastanet, St. Lucia
Top Resorts: Central/South America
1. Four Seasons Resort Carmelo, Uruguay
2. Xandari Resort & Spa, Costa Rica
3. Kanantik Reef & Jungle Resort, Belize
Top Cruise Lines: Small-Ship Lines
1. Seabourn
2. Silversea
3. Windstar
Top Cruise Lines: Medium-Ship Lines
1. Crystal Cruises
2. Regent Seven Seas Cruises
3. Disney
Top Cruise Lines: Large-Ship Lines
1. Celebrity
2. Princess
3. Royal Caribbean
Top Cruise Lines: River Cruises
1. Uniworld Boutique River Cruises
2. Grand Circle Travel
3. Viking River Cruises
Top Foreign Airlines
1. Singapore Airlines
2. Virgin Atlantic
3. Emirates
Top U.S. Airlines
1. Virgin America
2. JetBlue Airways
3. Hawaiian Airlines
Top Small Airlines
1. OpenSkies
2. Porter Airlines
3. Air Tahiti Nui
Top Hotels: Southern Europe
1. Hotel de Paris, Monte Carlo
2. Il San Pietro di Positano, Italy
3. Four Seasons Hotel Istanbul at Sultanahmet
Top Hotels: Northern Europe
1. Mandarin Oriental, Prague
2. Beau-Rivage Palace, Lausanne
3. Regent Berlin
Top Small Hotels: Europe
1. Palazzo Sasso, Ravello
2. Chateau de La Chevre d’Or, Cote d’Azur
3. Villa San Michele, Fiesole, Tuscany
Top Hotels: Central America
1. Lapa Rios Ecolodge, Costa Rica
2. Casa Santo Domingo, Antigua Guatemala
3. Inn at Robert’s Grove, Belize
Top Hotels: Oceania
1. Observatory Hotel, Sydney
2. Sydney Harbour Marriott Hotel at Circular Quay
3. The Langham, Auckland
3. Westin Sydney
Top Hotels: British Isles
1. Culloden House, Inverness, Scotland
2. Chewton Glen, Hampshire
3. The Halkin, London
Top Hotels: Caribbean/Atlantic
1. Peninsula House, Dominican Republic
2. The Caves, Jamaica
3. Eden Rock, St. Barts
Top Hotels: Asia
1. Ritz-Carlton Shanghai, Pudong
2. Mandarin Oriental, Bangkok
3. The Peninsula, Tokyo
Top Hotels: Africa
1. Steenberg Hotel, Cape Town
2. The Saxon, Johannesburg
3. Cape Grace, Cape Town
Top Hotels: Canada
1. Langdon Hall Country House Hotel & Spa, Cambridge, Ontario
2. Auberge Saint-Antoine, Quebec City
3. Hotel Nelligan, Montreal
Top Hotels: Mexico
1. Las Mananitas, Cuernavaca
2. La Casa Que Canta, Zihuatanejo
3. Casa de Sierra Nevada, San Miguel de Allende
Top Hotels: United States
1. Elysian Hotel, Chicago
2. 21c Museum Hotel, Louisville
3. The Peninsula, Chicago
Top Small Hotels: United States
1. Colonial Houses, Williamsburg, Virginia
2. Fairbanks House, Amelia Island
3. Fearrington House Inn, Pittsboro, North Carolina
Top Hotels: South America
1. Hotel Fasano, Sao Paolo
2. Alvear Palace Hotel, Buenos Aires
3. Palacio Duhau-Park Hyatt, Buenos Aires
Top Hotels: Middle East
1. Park Hyatt Dubai
2. Al Faisaliah Hotel (Rosewood), Riyadh
3. Four Seasons, Doha
The Readers’ Choice Awards gala was held on Monday, October 10th in New York City at the Edison Ballroom and was hosted by Christine Baranski and Chris Noth. Select photos and video from the event are available upon request.
Methodology
The Conde Nast Traveler Readers’ Choice Survey, begun in 1988, is available to all readers through a secure Web site. This year’s final tabulations of 28,876 responses were done by Global Market Insite, Inc., of Boston. Organization: The online questionnaire contains lists of candidates in various categories (Cities, Hotels, etc.). Individual candidates are judged by relevant criteria for each. Those that receive a required minimum number of responses are deemed eligible for a Readers’ Choice Award. Evaluation: Each candidate is rated, criterion by criterion, on a five-point scale: excellent, very good, good, fair, and poor. Those scores, which represent the percentage of respondents rating a candidate excellent or very good, are averaged to determine the final score published here. For example, the Park Hyatt Seoul’s rating, 95.2, is the average of its scores for all hotel criteria: Food/Dining, Location, Overall Design, Rooms, and Service.
SOURCE Conde Nast Traveler
Charlie Leocha is the President of Travelers United. He has been working in Washington, DC, for the past 14 years with Congress, the Department of Transportation, and industry stakeholders on travel issues. He was the first consumer representative to the Advisory Committee for Aviation Consumer Protections appointed by the Secretary of Transportation from 2012 through 2018.
