The Voting System
How the voting works
The 50 Best Hotels (formerly The World's 50 Best Hotels) list provides an annual snapshot of the experiences of more than 800 international travel experts. It is a globally recognised reference point, which showcases leading trends and highlights truly exceptional experiences.
What constitutes 'best' is left to the judgement of these trusted and well-travelled experts. There is no pre-determined checklist of criteria, but there are strict voting rules.
How The 50 Best Hotels voting works
The 50 Best Hotels list and awards are part of the world of The 50 and are organised and compiled by William Reed. None of the employees of the organiser, or of any of the sponsors associated with the awards, can be part of the voting Academy.
The list is created from the votes of The 50 Best Hotels Academy, comprising more than 800 international travel industry experts, with a 50/50 gender balance, of which at least 25 per cent are refreshed annually.
The Academy is split into 13 separate regions, with some spanning more than one country, territory or SAR. The decision as to how the region is divided is left to The 50, in consultation with its global Chairs, and is debated and reassessed annually. The divisions are designed to represent the global hotel scene as fairly as possible.
Each region has its own voting panel and is led by an Academy Chair, who is tasked with recruiting a set number of voters for their designated region.
The panel in each region is made up of one third travel journalists; one third hoteliers; and one third seasoned luxury travellers.
The 50 Best Hotels voting rules
- Voting is strictly confidential – Academy Chairs have no knowledge of the votes cast by their panellists
- Academy members (aside from Academy Chairs) must remain anonymous
- Each Academy member votes for seven hotels anywhere in the world
- Academy members submit their choices in order of preference
- Academy members must have stayed in the hotel they nominate in the last three years
- Academy members are asked to upload a 'proof of visit'. This could include a booking confirmation, receipt or photo from the hotel
- Academy members are not permitted to vote for hotels they own or have a financial interest in
- Academy members cannot vote for a hotel that is closed or will close within three months of the lists being published
- Hotels must receive votes from more than one country, territory or SAR to feature on the list
- Nominations must be made for the hotel, not for the hotelier or hotel group (except in the case of special individual awards)
- Voters cannot vote for any more than three properties or imprints from within the same hotel group. We define 'group' as more than three hotels that are under a particular group's management and belong to the same brand of hotels. For hotel groups that comprise multiple hotel brands, nominations for properties belonging to brands that sit under a shared parent hotel group are counted as part of the three votes
The 50 Best Hotels voting criteria
There are no criteria a hotel has to meet. They do not have to sell a certain product, or any of The 50's partner brands. They do not need to have been open a certain number of years and they do not need to have won any other awards and accolades.
Hotels cannot apply to be on the list and cannot be nominated for inclusion.
Every style of hotel in the world is eligible, unless it has permanently closed at the time the lists are announced, or we receive notice that it will be closing in the period shortly after the results are published.
This is designed to allow our panellists to vote far and wide. They could vote for a small, unknown boutique bolthole in a remote location, or select the best-known and historic hotel in their own country, territory or SAR – it is their opinion and the experiences they have had that matter.
Independent adjudication
The 50 Best Hotels' voting process and results are subject to independent adjudication by world-renowned professional services consultancy Deloitte.
Deloitte is granted full and independent access to the voting process and data and performs procedures and checks to confirm the integrity and authenticity of the voting process and the resulting list.
