When you picture hotel glamour, your mind probably goes straight to Wes Anderson’s pink-hued Grand Budapest, Bill Murray looking miserable at the Park Hyatt Tokyo, or the sun-drenched clifftops of The White Lotus at Sicily’s San Domenico Palace. According to the taste-makers at Robb Report, the greatest luxury hotels are much less obvious.
The 50 Greatest Luxury Hotels on Earth 2026 list is curated by a panel of 24 luxury travel advisors who spend their lives dreaming up itineraries for the world’s most demanding travellers. If you’re willing to splash the cash, these luxury hotels could see you trekking to see mountain gorillas at one, or having your luggage hauled up a mountain by mule at another.
Meet the word’s five greatest hotels
Taking the top spot is Shinta Mani Mustang, a Bill Bensley-designed retreat in Nepal’s remote Kali Gandaki River Valley, built from local Baglung stone with mountain views from every one of its 29 rooms. Guests can go horseback riding, explore ancient Buddhist monasteries, trek Mustang’s high-altitude trails or try traditional Tibetan healing therapies. Not bad for a hotel that only opened in August 2023.
Rwanda’s Singita Kwitonda takes second place. The lodge shares a physical boundary with Volcanoes National Park, so guests are living next door to a third of the world’s remaining mountain gorillas. The night before your trek, staff kit you out head to toe in gaiters, boots and a poncho, hand you a packed lunch, and send you off into the mist. Come back to a heated plunge pool in every one of its eight suites.
Scotland’s Hope Lodge rounds out the top three, proof that you don’t need palm trees to make a greatest hotels list; the wild surrounds of the Scottish Highlands and a lochside setting will do just fine.
Japan’s Park Hyatt Tokyo takes the fourth spot. It occupies the top 14 floors of the Shinjuku Park Tower and includes the New York Grill and Bar on floor 52, which is the bar where Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson’s characters get drunk together in Lost in Translation. It reopened at the end of last year after a 19 month renovation, with 26-foot floor-to-ceiling windows, Mount Fuji views on a clear day and guest rooms panelled with Hokkaido water elm wood.
The rest of the top 10 spans Collegio alla Querce in Italy, London’s own Claridge’s (which, incidentally, ‘s own reviewers crowned the best hotel in London just weeks ago – Mayfair’s art deco icon is clearly having a moment), Le Bristol in Paris, Panama’s remote island retreat Islas Secas, and Malta’s Casa Bonavita.
The 10 greatest luxury hotels on Earth in 2026
- Shinta Mani Mustang, Nepal
- Singita Kwitonda, Rwanda
- Hope Lodge, Scotland
- Park Hyatt Tokyo, Japan
- Shakti Prana, India
- Collegio alla Querce, Italy
- Claridge’s, United Kingdom
- Le Bristol Paris, France
- Islas Secas, Panama
- Casa Bonavita, Malta
Fancy more design-led stays? Here are Europe’s coolest hotels, according to editors.
Plus: Check out ’s latest hotel reviews and best-of lists for more inspiration.
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