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7 luxe Aussie hotels made the 2026 Forbes Travel Guide Star Awards for the first time

Kassia ByrnesBy Kassia Byrnes
Australian luxury hotels have been ranked as some of the best in the world.

Australians are lucky when it comes to hotel options. From five-star luxury to truly unique stays to total luxury of experience, hotels around Australia have an answer. And only the best of the best then make it onto the yearly Forbes Travel Guide Star Awards winners list.

This year, a global trend shows that hotels in the luxury space are moving away from the generic and towards a more customised approach to better reflect and embrace the destination in which it sits. By the same token, it appears that the Quiet travel trend is strong, and travellers are opting for smaller destinations with fewer crowds. Of course, for Australia, that didn’t stop some of the country’s biggest cities from appearing on the prestigious list, time and again.

What are the Forbes Travel Guide Star Awards?

bathroom inside suits at COMO The Treasury in perth
COMO The Treasury was awarded four stars.

The Forbes Travel Guide is an independent, global rating system for luxury hotels, restaurants, spas and ocean cruises, culminating in the Star Awards. In 2026, the 68th annual list covers more places around the world than ever before, spanning more than 100 countries, with new destinations like Bhutan, Croatia, Poland, Tanzania and Uzbekistan being added to the list.

To gain five stars, the properties “deliver an outstanding experience and consistently offer a highly customised level of service". Four stars “are exceptional properties, offering high levels of service and quality of facility to match". While Recommended properties are considered “excellent properties with consistently good service and facilities".

In the hotel category, a massive 2422 properties were judged, with 343 sorted into the five-star rating, 708 into four-star and 679 into Recommended hotels. This makes it all the more impressive that seven Australian properties were honoured with a four-star rating, and a further 13 properties graced the ‘Recommended’ list.

New Australian hotels gracing the winners’ list

the Lizard Island Resort as seen from above
Lizard Island Resort is a world of its own.

Of the 20 Australian hotels honoured by Forbes, eight were featured for the first time, all earning a place on the Recommended list.

In NSW, Capella Lodge on Lord Howe Island sits in an unbeatable destination with a light-filled, free-flowing design that invites guests deeper into their island surroundings while delivering a deep sense of luxury to this UNESCO site.

The Gold Coast had a couple of new entries with JW Marriott Gold Coast Resort & Spa and The Darling at The Star making the list. Elsewhere in Queensland, the spectacular private getaway, Lizard Island Resort, made a place for itself.

Southern Ocean Lodge and The Louise joined the list for South Australia, located in Kingscote and Marananga, respectively.

And Melbourne added yet another feather in its luxury hotel cap with The Ritz-Carlton, for its gorgeous rooms and service to match.

4-star Aussie hotels

exterior of Park Hyatt Sydney
Sydney hotels, like Park Hyatt Sydney, are well represented on the list.

Sydney, Perth and Melbourne all collected four stars for luxury hotels, most of them more than once. Sydney had the most wins, with Capella Sydney, The Darling Sydney and The Langham Sydney (who also happen to be pet-friendly and ready to shower your pooch in as much luxury as its human guests) all being included. As was Park Hyatt Sydney, sitting right on the waterfront at Circular Quay with uninterrupted views of the Opera House.

Park Hyatt was also awarded four stars for its Melbourne property, where a Presidential Suite really ups the luxurious ante as soon as guests step through its grandiose doors to plenty of space, and even a grand piano.

Meanwhile, Perth gained four stars for both COMO The Treasury and Crown Towers Perth.

The full Australian Recommended list

  • Capella Lodge, Lord Howe Island
  • The Ritz-Carlton, Melbourne
  • Shangri-La Hotel, Sydney
  • Sofitel Sydney Darling Harbour, Sydney
  • Southern Ocean Lodge, Kangaroo Island
  • The Darling at The Star Gold Coast
  • Four Seasons Hotel Sydney
  • Grand Hyatt Melbourne
  • InterContinental Sydney
  • JW Marriott Gold Coast Resort & Spa
  • The Langham, Melbourne
  • Lizard Island Resort, Cairns
  • The Louise, Barossa Valley

How are the winners decided?

A hotel bathroom with a freestanding bath overlooking Sydney Harbour Bridge
The Capella Sydney Liberty Suite looks out to the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Forbes Travel Guide’s highly trained inspectors visit every property to receive a rating, judging them on up to 900 standards. Facility are among those standards, but the system emphasises service, “because exceptional service is what sets the best hospitality experiences apart". Think making a reservation, cleanliness, efficiency, staff knowledge, sense of luxury and guest comfort. Even wellness and sustainability factor into the final rating score.

No money is ever accepted, stays last for a minimum of two nights, and the identities of the global team of inspectors are anonymous.

All of this to say, the results are unbiased and a true accomplishment. To receive any of the Rating levels indicates a property is among the very best in its destination.

Kassia Byrnes
Kassia Byrnes is the Native Content Editor for Australian Traveller and International Traveller. She's come a long way since writing in her diary about family trips to Grandma's. After graduating a BA of Communication from University of Technology Sydney, she has been writing about her travels (and more) professionally for over 10 years for titles like AWOL, News.com.au, Pedestrian.TV, Body + Soul and Punkee. She's addicted to travel but has a terrible sense of direction, so you can usually find her getting lost somewhere new around the world. Luckily, she loves to explore and have new adventures – whether that’s exploring the backstreets, bungee jumping off a bridge or hiking for days. You can follow her adventures on Instagram @probably_kassia.
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Victoria’s surprising new outdoor adventure hotspot

    Craig TansleyBy Craig Tansley
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    A town charmingly paused in time has become a hot mountain biking destination. 

    There’s a forest reserve full of eucalyptus and pines surrounding town – when you combine all the greenery with a main street of grand old buildings still standing from the Victorian Gold Rush, Creswick looks more period movie set than a 21st-century town.  

    old gold bank Victoria
    Grand buildings from the Victorian gold rush. (Image: Visit Victoria)

    This entire region of Victoria – the Central Goldfields – is as pretty-as-a-picture, but there’s something extra-special about Creswick. I used to live 30 minutes north; I’d drive in some evenings to cruise its main street at dusk, and pretend I was travelling back in time. 

    It was sleepy back then, but that’s changed. Where I used to walk through its forest, now I’m hurtling down the state’s best new mountain bike trails. There’s a 60-kilometre network of mountain bike trails – dubbed Djuwang Baring – which make Creswick the state’s hottest new mountain biking destination.  

    Meet Victoria’s new mountain biking capital 

    Creswick bike trail
    This historic town has become a mountain biking hotspot.

    Victoria has a habit of turning quiet country towns into mountain biking hotspots. I was there in the mid-2000s when the tiny Otways village of Forrest embarked on an ambitious plan to save itself (after the death of its timber cutting industry) courtesy of some of the world’s best mountain bike trails. A screaming success it proved to be, and soon mountain bike trails began popping up all over Victoria. 

    I’m no expert, so I like that a lot of Creswick’s trails are as scenic as they are challenging. I prefer intermediate trails, such as Down Martuk, with its flowing berms and a view round every corner. Everyone from outright beginners to experts can be happy here. There’s trails that take me down technical rock sections with plenty of bumps. But there’s enough on offer to appeal to day-trippers, as much as hard-core mountain-bikers. 

    I love that the trails empty onto that grand old main street. There’s bars still standing from the Gold Rush of the 1850s I can refuel at. Like the award-winning Farmers Arms, not to be confused with the pub sharing its name in Daylesford. It’s stood since 1857. And The American Creswick built two years later, or Odessa Wine Bar, part of Leaver’s Hotel in an 1856-built former gold exchange bank.  

    The Woodlands
    The Woodlands is set on a large bushland property. (Image: Vanessa Smith Photography)

    Creswick is also full of great cafes and restaurants, many of them set in the same old buildings that have stood for 170 years. So whether you’re here for the rush of the trails or the calm of town life, Creswick provides. 

    A traveller’s checklist 

    Staying there 

    1970s log cabin
    Inside the Woodlands, a chic 1970s log cabin. (Image: Vanessa Smith Photography)

    RACV Goldfields Resort is a contemporary stay with a restaurant, swimming pool and golf course. The Woodlands in nearby Lal Lal comprises a chic log cabin set on a 16-hectare property abundant in native wildlife. 

    Eating there 

    Le Peche Gourmand
    Le Peche Gourmand makes for the perfect pitstop for carb and sugar-loading.

    The menu at Odessa at Leaver’s Hotel includes some Thai-inspired fare. Fuel up for your ride on baguettes and pastries from French patisserie Le Peche Gourmand . The Farmers Arms has been a much-loved local institution since 1857. 

    Playing there 

    Miss NorthcottsGarden
    Miss Northcotts Garden is a charming garden store with tea room. (Image: Visit Victoria)

    Creswick State Forest has a variety of hiking trails, including a section of the 210-kilometre-long Goldfields Track. Miss Northcotts Garden is a quaint garden store with tea room.