The Mahogany Ship mystery began in 1836 when two whaleboat survivors reported having seen the wreckage of a ship high in sand hummocks between Warrnambool and Pt Fairy. (more…)
The World’s 50 Best Hotels 2025 is hot off the press – and Australia has scored big, with two local stays making the cut.
The world doesn’t want for excellent hotels. Boundary-pushing design is rife, and impeccable service is now the benchmark, with new stays cropping up globally faster than we present our passports at check-in. Safe to say it makes earning a place on the annual World’s 50 Best Hotels list – the world’s foremost gauge for hotel excellence – all the more prestigious.
The rankings for 2025 have just been announced at an awards ceremony at Old Billingsgate in London, where travel industry leaders and enthusiasts convened to celebrate groundbreaking hospitality feats. The list features 22 destinations across six continents, along with several special award categories. Here are the highlights.
Look out over dazzling Victoria Harbour. (Supplied: Rosewood Hong Kong)
The results
Climbing two places from no.3 in 2024, Rosewood Hong Kong took home this year’s crowning title of the world’s best hotel. Rising 270 metres above Victoria Harbour, the coveted 413-key address is a shining beacon of art, design and swoon-worthy water views. It has attracted Hong Kong’s elite and a continuous stream of well-heeled travellers since its grand opening in 2019.
Four Seasons Hotel Bangkok at Chao Phraya River took out second place. (Image: Supplied)
Asia continued its winning streak with 19 other hotels noted on the list – the highest number of any continent. These included Four Seasons Hotel Bangkok at Chao Phraya River and Capella Bangkok in second and third place respectively. Bali’s Desa Potato Head (no.18) was also presented the Eco Hotel Awardafter a rigorous audit by the Sustainable Restaurant Association. Close on Asia’s heels was Europe with 17 top 50 rankings and North America with six.
The Aussie hotels that made the list
Capella Sydney was named the 12th best hotel in the world. (Image: Supplied)
Capella Sydney was named The Best Hotel in Oceania 2025, scoring a strong 12th place in the overall rankings. Housed in an Edwardian sandstone building once home to the Department of Education, the heritage-listed icon exudes contemporary opulence with its grand architectural bones and curated local artwork. Expect personalised touches, intriguing objets d’art and intimate elegance across 192 rooms and suites.
Pastel hues bring a playful energy to The Calile Hotel. (Image: Supplied)
Meanwhile, The Calile Hotel, located in Brisbane’s hip hood of Fortitude Valley, was accoladed no.34 in the global rankings. This marks the third consecutive year it has been featured on the list, with the hotel awarded no.12 in 2023 and no.25 in 2024. It’s not hard to see why. The hotel leans hard into a modernist Miami-meets-Palm-Springs energy with 175 guest rooms and suites dressed in pastel palettes. But the pièce de résistance is the breathtaking botanical pool deck, where guests can kick back beneath cute-as-a-button sage umbrellas.
The World’s 50 Best Hotels 2025 list
Rosewood Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Four Seasons Bangkok at Chao Phraya River, Bangkok
Capella Bangkok, Bangkok
Passalacqua, Lake Como
Raffles Singapore, Singapore
Atlantis The Royal, Dubai
Mandarin Oriental Bangkok, Bangkok
Chablé Yucatán, Chocholá
Four Seasons Firenze, Florence
Upper House Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Copacabana Palace, Rio de Janeiro
Capella Sydney, Sydney
Royal Mansour, Marrakech
Mandarin Oriental Qianmen, Beijing
Bulgari Tokyo, Tokyo
Claridge’s, London
Four Seasons Astir Palace, Athens
Desa Potato Head, Bali
Le Bristol, Paris
Jumeirah Marsa Al Arab, Dubai
Cheval Blanc Paris, Paris
Bulgari Roma, Rome
Hôtel de Crillon, Paris
Rosewood São Paulo, São Paulo
Aman Tokyo, Tokyo
Hotel Il Pellicano, Porto Ercole
Hôtel du Couvent, Nice
Soneva Fushi, Maldives
The Connaught, London
La Mamounia, Marrakech
Raffles London at The OWO, London
The Emory, London
Maroma, Riviera Maya
The Calile, Brisbane
The Lana, Dubai
Hôtel de Paris Monte-Carlo, Monaco
Janu Tokyo, Tokyo
The Taj Mahal Palace, Mumbai
One&Only Mandarina, Riviera Nayarit
Singita – Kruger National Park, Kruger National Park
Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Hotel Bel-Air, Los Angeles
The Mark, New York
Las Ventanas al Paraíso, Los Cabos
The Tokyo Edition Toranomon, Tokyo
Hotel The Mitsui, Kyoto
Estelle Manor, Witney
Grand Park Hotel Rovinj, Rovinj
Hotel Sacher Vienna, Vienna
Mandapa, Bali
How the 50 Best voting works
The World’s 50 Best Hotels is an annual ranking of the top hotel venues across the globe as voted for by a panel of more than 800 global industry experts.To ensure the panel provides a fair representation, the Academy Chairs are split across 13 geographical regions, with each chair selected as a travel and hotel expert in their region. The 13 Academy Chairs each select a voting panel from their region comprising a balance of hoteliers, travel journalists, hotel educators and consumer travel connoisseurs.
074 Search the hills for the Mahogany Ship - Australian Traveller
