World’s 50 Best Hotels expands to top...

Upcoming awards in London are chance for more Middle East hotels to be recognised

The World’s 50 Best Hotels is extending its rankings from 50 to 100 for its third edition, introducing a special award for design, adding four regional chairs and expanding its voting academy from 600 to 800.

Being held in London on 30 October 2025, the awards celebrate the best hotel experiences across the globe, with experts in 13 regions, including the Middle East.

New this year, The World’s 50 Best Hotels will recognise an additional 50 hotels, ranked between 51 and 100 in the global lineup, unveiling that list a few weeks before the live awards. This means more hotels across the Middle East have the chance to be recognised.

In the 2024 edition, just three properties from the region made the top 50: Atlantis The Royal in Dubai (9th), The Lana Dubai (23rd) and Six Senses Zighy Bay in Oman (45th). Last year’s number one spot went to Capella Bangkok.

Six Senses Zighy Bay in Oman

Atlantis The Royal jumped 35 spots into the top 10, earning the Highest Climber Award 2024, and in 2023, the year of its opening in Dubai, Atlantis The Royal was the only hotel on the list from the Middle East.

At this year's event, there is also a new Johnnie Walker Art of Design Award to highlight how design can elevate the guest experience beyond architecture. It will be open to all 100 hotels and announced during the awards ceremony.

Four new Academy Chairs have been added to cover Africa, Latin America South, USA and Canada West and Central & Eastern Europe. Each chair is responsible for building a panel of hoteliers, journalists and experienced luxury travellers with a 50/50 gender balance.

Members of the voting panel select their seven best hotel stays from the last two years in order of preference. Apart from the Academy Chairs, voters are anonymous and the panel is refreshed each year by at least 25%.

Chair for the Middle East is Dubai-based Isabella Craddock, who grew up within a family of hoteliers. Craddock is the founder of luxury travel publication Near+Far and a former editor of Condé Nast Traveller Middle East.

The list of The World’s 50 Best Hotels 2025 will be revealed on 30 October 2025 at the event held at Old Billingsgate in London.

For more information, visit www.theworlds50best.com/hotels/list/1-50

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