What are the best Leading Hotels of the World? The best is Hôtel Hermitage Monte-Carlo because:
- The Bell Epoque Setting Is Pristine Ornate And Beautiful
- The Views Are Amazing
- The Staff Really Care
- The Sun Almost Always Shines On This City In The South Of France
Leading Hotels of the World (LHW) have their own loyalty club, so if you book a Leading hotel on their website, you will collect points. We have reviewed how much a leaders club point is worth in detail, but as a rule of thumb, each point is worth around $0.08 USD.
This sounds great, but bear in mind that the benefits you get if you book via LHW, do not include a $100 USD resort credit anymore. This perk was recently removed. If you book via our luxury travel concierge, you will get $100 USD hotel credit on top of virtually the same benefits that you would get by booking on Leading Hotels of the World.
The benefits we can share at Leading Hotels of the World hotels include a $100 USD hotel credit, breakfast for two, welcome amenity, and prioritized room upgrade. Contact our luxury travel concierge for an even better deal.
Here are the 10 best Leading Hotels of the World:
1. Hôtel Hermitage Monte-Carlo
Hôtel Hermitage Monte-Carlo is a Belle Époque dream built in the early 1900s and is one of the two best luxury hotels in Monte Carlo.
From the moment you arrive at the Hotel Hermitage, you can’t fail to fall in love with this Grande Dame. The historic facade is prettier than a wedding cake with intricate designs etched out of the creamy stonework. The competent concierge always parks a selection of the latest supercars outside on the cobbled driveway for passers-by to look at in awe.
Around Christmas, a mini Narnia style forest is set up in the gardens in front of the hotel, complete with a festive merry-go-round and Santa Claus. The Hermitage is a magical hotel, whatever time of year you visit.
The main foyer is an ornate room with high ceilings. The decoration is made up of cream pillars, chandeliers, works of art, beautiful flower arrangements, and comfy sofas resting on a detailed mosaic floor. Behind this sits the tea area where you can sip a light beverage whilst enjoying sumptuous cakes layered with chocolate and drizzled with lemon.
Behind the tea area is the Grand Hall where I had a most glorious Christmas meal on Christmas day last year. If you take a stroll down the endless marble corridors, each more impressive than the last, you will eventually reach the second hotel foyer. This hall is a grand red-carpeted affair with another reception and concierge desk, sweeping stairwells, and layers of ornate balconies all under an enormous stained-glass roof.
Other facilities at the hotel include an indoor swimming pool and an extensive spa and fitness facility located in the Thermes Marins Monte Carlo spa and Health Centre. The rooms here are great, the views are phenomenal. This is definitely one of the top Leading hotels in the world.
Leading Hotels Of The World is a selection of over 400 of the best independent luxury hotels in the world. LHW does not own hotels but provides sales and marketing for these individually owned hotels, as well as a loyalty scheme. We list our pick of the best below.
2. J Hotel Shanghai Tower
J Hotel Shanghai Tower is one of the best hotels in Shanghai and is a member of Leading Hotels Of The World. Discover stunning art and architecture in the clouds at J Hotel Shanghai Tower. Located in the heart of Shanghai’s bustling Lujiazui financial hub, J Hotel Shanghai Tower sits perched high in the clouds atop the Shanghai Tower, the tallest skyscraper in China and the second-tallest in the world.
This new hotel is an oasis of peace and tranquility combined with a gracious blend of modern Chinese hospitality. Occupying the 84th to 105th floors and 120th floor of this unique skyscraper, the hotel’s 165 luxurious rooms and suites are among the highest and largest in the city.
Boasting the Reiki spa and fitness center on the 84th and 85th floor, swimming pool, hair salon, in-room dining, and the exclusive services of a J Hotel Personal Butler, this hotel takes care of its guests.
In terms of dining, guests can choose between 7 restaurants and bars, including Heavenly Jin, the highest restaurant in a building in the world, with height of 556.36 meters. All restaurants and bars offer the art of fine dining in the clouds, some with open-plan kitchens to allow guests to enjoy the show as master chefs perform, create and inspire.
3. Hotel Royal Riviera
Hotel Royal Riviera, sits on the Beaulieu-sur-Mer side of the glamorous St-Jean-Cap-Ferrat peninsula on Côte d’Azur in France.
I particularly love the location of Hotel Royal Riviera because it is connected to a little pathway that winds around the waterfront of the St-Jean-Cap-Ferrat peninsula. You step down the staircase around the corner from the Hotel Royal Riviera pool, and you can walk for miles and miles, with the sea sloshing to one side of you and luxurious mansions to the other.
The foyer of the Hotel Royal Riviera is stylish and airy, and glass doors lead out onto the gardens, which offer an inviting tropical paradise. Beyond days lounging by the pool, one of the biggest joys at this hotel is taking breakfast on the vast terrace that overlooks the pool and sea framed by palms and banana trees. You are also right by the sea if you get a seat at the end. This has to be the nicest venue for breakfast in the South of France.
4. Marbella Club Hotel, Golf Resort & Spa
The Marbella Club is the epitome of beachfront luxury. It basks in more than 300 days of sunshine a year and enjoys the rare European micro-climate that enables short sleeves in the winter and outdoor swimming and sunbathing around the pool from March to November. Drive through the pantheon-style arch at the entrance to this iconic hotel, and you drive into a slice of tropical beach-side paradise on the Marbella coastline.
The first thing that strikes you when you arrive is how perfectly manicured the beautiful grounds are. The tropical trees and flourishing Bougainvillea-clad whitewashed Spanish-style buildings are almost LEGO perfect.
Many of the Marbella club rooms sit in outbuildings, reached via a short golf cart drive and then winding paths that intertwine between the buildings right down to the sea. The rooms are so spread out that each block has its own garden area and is beautifully secluded beneath the trees. Styled by Jean-Pierre Martel and Kamini Ezralow, the rooms are chic.
5. Villa d’Este
For centuries the home of the aristocracy, after princesses, marquises, sultans, and tsars, since 1873, it has been an elegant five-star resort, a charming hotel among the most celebrated in the world.
Overlooking one of the most romantic lakes in the world, Lake Como, Villa d’Este is surrounded by a wonderful 10-hectare private park. The rooms and suites overlooking the lake or the park are divided into two buildings: the Cardinal Building and the Queen’s Pavilion. Windows and terraces overlooking the lake, a view of the marina, boats returning in the silent evenings.
6. Kulm Hotel St. Moritz
Kulm Hotel St. Moritz is a historic ski hotel right in the heart of St. Moritz and conveniently located up the mountain from the main St. Moritz railway station. This stunning hotel has a huge and exclusive spa with a gorgeous indoor and outdoor pool perched on the side of the mountain, numerous restaurants, and wonderful rooms.
The hotel celebrates its heritage at every corner with historic pictures of the old British Aristocracy who used to ski there 100 years ago and who put St. Moritz on the map.
The views here are astounding, particularly from the rooms, where they reach out over the length of the valley and look out over the lake and across to the mountain on the other side. Weather travels down the valley, so you can watch clouds form below your room, further down the valley, as if you were in an airplane.
For anyone who is a weather nerd, watching the weather patterns travel down the valley and across the lake is such fun. While we were there, we had snow, rain, thunder, and brilliant sunshine.
The rooms here are stunning and beautifully decorated with modern furnishings and stunning five-star bathrooms. The beds combined with the mountain air give a brilliant night’s sleep, and you’re right on the doorstep of the main ski lifts, the pretty village center, toboggan runs, and gold and tennis.
7. The Lanesborough London
Steps from Buckingham Palace and Hyde Park, residence honoring Regency-era luxury, The Lanesborough offers its guests complimentary, around-the-clock butlers to attend to every need.
The hotel celebrates modern British cuisine in their reimagined flagship restaurant & home to Executive Chef, Shay Cooper, focusing on seasonal produce from around the country. The Library Bar offers a vibrant ambiance and spectacular mixology. The Lanesborough Club & Spa is one of London’s most exclusive private fitness and health clubs, offering hotel guests access to internationally recognized experts in the fields of fitness, beauty, and wellness.
8. Faena Hotel Miami
Perched overlooking spectacular white sand and turquoise waters, Faena Hotel Miami Beach boasts decadent design, luxe amenities, and legendary service, making each and every guest feel like a star.
Central to Alan Faena’s visionary new beachfront neighborhood, the 179-room hotel offers art deco flair, two signature award-winning restaurants by celebrated chefs Paul Qui and Francis Mallmann, a private screening room, and a 150-seat theater offering a diverse lineup of live entertainment and original cabaret productions. The Tierra Santa spa provides ancient South American healing techniques and indigenous ingredients; the double-height hammam is especially impressive.
9. Le Sirenuse
Stay in this 18th-century palazzo converted into a 5-star deluxe hotel, located in the heart of Positano, owned and managed by the Marchesi Sersale. Facilities include a heated swimming pool open from Apr. 1 to Oct. 15, a fitness center with a new spa, an indoor and outdoor bar, and a Michelin star (*) restaurant serving local specialties.
All rooms are full of light and decorated with a combination of antique and contemporary furniture and contrasting cool whitewashed walls. The floors are covered with colorful tiles from Vietri. Most rooms have a balcony or terrace overlooking the azure sea where at night, the gentle sound of waves can be heard.
10. The Ritz Paris
The Ritz Paris has been reborn and invites you to experience anew the City of Light. Now freshly restored, its grand décor and intimate salons welcome guests to rediscover a unique atmosphere and the inimitable French art de Vivre.
Inextricably woven into the fabric of Parisian society and culture, the Ritz Paris is renowned for its incomparable savoir-faire in making every visit exceptional, from Haute Cuisine to custom cocktails at the Bar Hemingway and indulgent beauty treatments at The Ritz Club & Spa. This really is a very special hotel in Paris.
Copyright Luxury Travel Diary 2014 - 2024. Duplication outside of luxurytraveldiary.com is forbidden.
Note: Benefits & upgrades subject to availability. Benefits offered correct at the time of writing. Terms & conditions apply. Enquire for more information. Benefits offered correct at the time of writing but may be amended at discretion of the vendor. Posts may be sponsored by the proprietor or brand being appraised. All opinions remain our own & are in no way influenced.
