Two Aussie hotels named among world’s top 50 for 2024

Rachael Thompson Rachael Thompson
hero media
The results for The World’s 50 Best Hotels 2024 have just been announced and Australia has made its mark.

Hotels have become a major influence on travel decisions in recent years, often holding equal importance as the destination itself. Accommodations with opulent amenities, unique experiences, and arresting design hold significant appeal for discerning travellers. And The World’s 50 Best Hotels list serves as an annual benchmark for the best hotels and luxury hospitality experiences worth travelling for. 

The results for 2024 have just been announced in London featuring hotels from 36 destinations across six continents, including two Aussie hotels: The Calile, Brisbane and The Tasman, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Hobart. This reflects the growing recognition and quality of Australian hospitality on a global scale and underscores the unique offerings of Australian hotels. 

The winners

Urban oasis Capella Bangkok claimed the number one spot with its sleek design, lush landscaping, and panoramic views of the Chao Phraya River. The World’s 50 Best highlighted the calming nature of the hotel in one of the world’s most lively cities noting “The Capella is a masterclass in serenity and calm, from the neutral-toned, clean-lined, Japan-esque design to the brilliant and seemingly semi-psychic service that anticipates your every waking need." The recently opened Singapore outpost also featured on the list at no. 33. 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Capella Bangkok (@capellabangkok)

Last year’s winner, luxury boutique hotel Passalacqua, Lake Como, was named no. 2. The palatial lakefront accommodation sits within an 18th-century villa once owned by Pope Innocent XI, and features immaculate terraced gardens and ornate Baroque design.

Passalacqua, Lake Como
Experience la dolce vita at Passalacqua. (Image: Edwina Hart)

The Aussie hotels that made the list

For the second consecutive year, The Calile Hotel is featured on the list. In 2023, it was awarded no.12 and this year it has come in at no. 25 as well as receiving the accolade for The Best Hotel in Oceania 2024. Located in the hip precinct of James Street in Brisbane, The Calile has elevated the city’s design landscape and become a hotspot for stylish Aussies since it opened in 2018.

The Calile Brisbane
The urban resort boasts a retro cool design.

Taking cues from modernist Miami and Palm Springs aesthetics combined with elements of 1960s Australia, the tropical oasis is swathed in a sophisticated palette of rich-veined rose marble, smooth concrete, and blonde timber. 

The Calile Brisbane
The sleek rooms exude calm.

The Tasman Hobart claimed no.49 this year, putting the port city on the map for international travellers. An elegant heritage reconstruction of former state government offices, The Tasman is a study in sensitively bringing a historic building into the 21st century.

The Tasman Hotel Hobart
Rooms and suites boast soaring ceilings. (Image: Adam Gibson)

Sitting pretty on the waterfront, guestrooms feature original Georgian details, exposed sandstone walls, sweeping water views, and custom furnishings. 

The Tasman Hotel Hobart
Old meets new at The Tasman Hotel Hobart. (Image: Sean Fennessy)

Bali-loving Aussies planning on visiting The Island of the Gods in the near future should turn their attention to Seminyak beauty Desa Potato Head which came in at no. 21.

Need tips, more detail or itinerary ideas tailored to you? Ask AT.

AI Prompt

The World’s 50 Best Hotels 2024 list

  1. Capella Bangkok, Bangkok
  2. Passalacqua, Lake Como
  3. Rosewood Hong Kong, Hong Kong
  4. Cheval Blanc, Paris
  5. The Upper House, Hong Kong
  6. Raffles Singapore, Singapore
  7. Aman Tokyo, Tokyo
  8. Soneva Fushi, Maldives
  9. Atlantis The Royal, Dubai
  10. Nihi Sumba, Sumba Island
  11. Claridge’s, London
  12. Mandarin Oriental Bangkok, Bangkok
  13. Raffles London at the OWO, London
  14. Four Seasons Bangkok at Chao Phraya River, Bangkok
  15. Hôtel de Crillon, Paris
  16. Chablé Yucatán, Chocholá
  17. Hotel Du Cap-Eden-Roc, Antibes
  18. Maroma, Riviera Maya
  19. Four Seasons Firenze, Florence
  20. Borgo Santandrea, Amalfi
  21. Desa Potato Head, Bali
  22. Bulgari Tokyo, Tokyo
  23. The Lana, Dubai
  24. Rosewood São Paulo, São Paulo
  25. The Calile, Brisbane
  26. The Siam, Bangkok
  27. Park Hyatt Kyoto, Kyoto
  28. Mount Nelson, Cape Town
  29. One&Only Mandarina, Riviera Nayarit
  30. The Carlyle, New York
  31. La Mamounia, Marrakechch
  32. Four Seasons Madrid, Madrid
  33. Capella Singapore, Singapore
  34. Four Seasons at The Surf Club, Surfside
  35. Hotel Bel-Air, Los Angeles
  36. Eden Rock, St. Barths
  37. Aman New York, New York
  38. Royal Mansour, Marrakech
  39. Amangalla, Gaelle
  40. Le Bristol, Paris
  41. Gleneagles, Auchterarder
  42. Castello di Reschio, Lisciano Niccone
  43. Suján Jawai, Rajasthan
  44. Singita – Kruger National Park, Kruger National Park
  45. Six Senses Zighy Bay, Zaghi
  46. The Connaught, London
  47. The Brando, Tetiaroa
  48. Hotel Esencia, Tulum
  49. The Tasman, Hobart
  50. Kokomo Private Island, Yaukuve Levu Island

Want to see more stories from Australian Traveller in your Google search results?

  1. Click here to set Australian Traveller as a preferred source.
  2. Tick the box next to "Australian Traveller". That's it.
Rachael Thompson
Rachael Thompson is Australian Traveller's Evergreen Editor and Hotel Addict. She's responsible for the foundational content on AustralianTraveller.com, helping to manage and grow the brand’s destination guides. With a background in design and travel media, Rachael is dedicated to curating content that is as much informational as it is beautiful. She began her career at Belle magazine, before taking up editorial roles at Homes to Love and Bed Threads. When she's not writing, editing or optimising content, Rachael enjoys exploring the city's newest restaurants, bars and hotels. Next on her Aussie travel wish list is Lord Howe Island.
View profile and articles
jetstar carry-on luggage fees
Australia

Jetstar to charge for overhead carry-on baggage, a move that’s illegal overseas

In a controversial overhaul of its carry-on policies, Jetstar will charge fees from $25 for carry-on luggage stored in the overhead lockers from 2027.

Read more
Shinju Matsuri, Broome WA
Australia

What’s on around Australia in August 2026

Your go-to guide for farewelling winter.

Read more
Pumphouse Point in Tasmania
Australia

Forget vitamin D, psychotherapists say rainy holidays are better for your brain

What if rain was the secret to a better holiday?

Read more
Sunrise hike with views of the city below after checking in at Quest Apartment Hotels.
Australia

Insider tips to 6 of Australia’s best road trips

There’s nothing like the freedom and flexibility of a road trip – made all the better with local knowledge.

Read more
hero media

3 wild corners of Australia that let you reconnect with nature (in comfort)

    Kassia Byrnes Kassia Byrnes
    Continue
    The country’s rawest places offer some of its most transformative, restorative experiences.

    Australia offers sublime opportunities to disappear into the ancient, untouched wilderness, worlds away from modern stress. Wild Bush Luxury offers a collection of experiences that are a portal into the continent’s wildest, most undiscovered landscapes, from wide floodplains to vast savannas, where the only distractions are birdsong, frog calls, curious wallabies and the daily drama of sunset. With a focus on conservation and Indigenous knowledge, these all-inclusive experiences allow guests to slow down and quiet their minds for intimate encounters with the natural world.

    1. Bamurru Plains

    safari tent at Bamurru Plains wild bush luxury
    Let nature take front row.

    In the remote Top End, just outside Kakadu National Park on the fringes of the spectacular Mary River floodplains, you’ll find Bamurru Plains, a peerless Australian safari camp. After a quick air transfer from Darwin to the camp’s private airstrip, you’ll be whisked away via 4WD to a vivid natural wonderland of shimmering floodplains, red earth, herds of peacefully grazing water buffalo and 236 bird species (Bamurru means magpie goose to the Gagadju people).

    Accommodations consist of 10 mesh-walled bungalows and two luxe stilted retreats where guests enjoy panoramic, up-close views that invite them into their rightful place in the landscape (and binoculars to see it even better). Being an off-grid experience designed to help guests disconnect, the only distractions are birdsongs, frog calls, curious wallabies, the occasional crocodile sighting and the daily drama of the spectacular golden sunset.

    It’s a place where nature’s vastness rises to the level of the spiritual, and Bamurru’s understated, stylish,  largely solar-powered lodgings are designed to minimise human impact and let nature take front row.  Guests relax in comfort with plush linens, an open bar, communal tables that allow for spontaneous connections and curated dining experiences from the in-house chef using local ingredients and bush-inspired cooking methods.

    Bamurru Plains airboat tour
    Zoom across the floodplains. (Image: Adam Gibson)

    It’s a restorative backdrop for days spent zooming across the mist-covered floodplains in an airboat, birding with expert guides, taking an open-sided safari drive or river cruise through croc country. Spend time at the Hide, a treehouse-like platform that’s perfect for wildlife spotting.

    In fact, nature is so powerful here that Bamurru Plains closes entirely during the peak monsoon season (October to April), when the floodplains reclaim the land and life teems unseen beneath the water. Yet Wild Bush Luxury’s ethos continues year-round through its other experiences around Australia – each designed to immerse travellers in a distinct Australian wilderness at its most alive and untouched.

    2. Maria Island Walk

    woman on a headland of Maria Island Walk
    Maria Island Walk offers sweeping coastal scenes.

    Off Tasmania’s rugged east coast, the iconic Maria Island Walk is an intimate four-day journey through one of the country’s most hauntingly beautiful and unpopulated national parks, encompassing pristine beaches, convict-era ruins, and wildlife sightings galore. Accessible only by a small ferry, Maria Island feels like a place reclaimed by nature, which is exactly what it is: a penal settlement later used for farms and industry that finally became a national park in 1972.

    These days, the island is known as ‘Tasmania’s Noah’s Ark’ and its only human inhabitants are park rangers. It’s a place where wombats amble through grassy meadows, wallabies graze beside empty beaches, dolphins splash in clear water just offshore and Tasmanian devils – successfully reintroduced in 2012 after near-extinction on the mainland – roam free and healthy.

    Each day unfolds in an unhurried rhythm: trails through coastal eucalyptus forests or along white-sand bays, plateaus with sweeping ocean views, quiet coves perfect for swimming. Midway through the journey, you’ll explore Darlington, a remarkably preserved 19th-century convict settlement whose ruins tell stories of human ambition at the edge of the known world.

    At night, sleep beneath a canopy of stars in eco-wilderness camps – after relaxing with Tasmanian wine and locally-sourced meals, and swapping stories with your fellow trekkers by candlelight.

    3. Arkaba

    two people standing next to a 4wd in Arkaba
    Explore Arkaba on foot or on four wheels.

    For a bush immersion with more of an outback flavour, Arkaba offers a completely different type of experience. A former sheep station and historic homestead in South Australia’s striking Flinders Ranges that has been reimagined as a 63,000-acre private wildlife conservancy. It’s now patrolled mainly by kangaroos and emus.

    Small-scale tourism (the homestead has just five ensuite guestrooms) helps support rewilding projects, and guests become an essential part of the conservation journey. Days begin with sunrise hikes through ancient sandstone ridges or guided drives into the ranges to spot yellow-footed rock-wallabies. And end with sundowners on a private ridgetop watching the Elder Range glow vibrant shades of gold, crimson and violet as the air cools and time stands still.

    Here, you can join conservation activities like tracking native species or learning about Arkaba’s pioneering feral-animal eradication projects, then unwind with chef-prepared dinners served alfresco on the veranda of the homestead, which is both rustic and refined. The highlight? Following Arkaba Walk, a thriving outback wilderness where emus wander and fields of wildflowers grow.

    It’s an unforgettable immersion in Australia’s vast inland beauty, a place where the land’s deep and complicated history – and astounding resilience – leave their quiet imprint long after you return home. In a world where genuine awe is rare, Wild Bush Luxury offers a return to what matters most in the untamed beauty of Australia’s wilderness.

    Disconnect from the grind and reconnect with nature when you book with at wildbushluxury.com