These Are the Hotels That Made the World’s 50 Best Hotels Longlist for 2025

A good hotel gives you fluffy towels and free shampoo. A great hotel makes you want to quit your job, call room service, and never go home again. That’s where the World’s 50 Best Hotels comes in — the same people who crown the planet’s top bars and restaurants are back, this time with their first-ever longlist of hotels.

Yep, for the first time ever, the World’s 50 Best team has gone beyond the big 5-0 to spotlight 100 stays worth obsessing over. Think of it as the Oscars “runner-up” list — but with more infinity pools and fewer speeches

Badrutt’s Palace, Switzerland

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This extended lineup spans 40 cities across every inhabited continent, mixing high-end chains with boutique boltholes and one-of-a-kind independents. According to the organisers, it’s all about celebrating “an even larger pool of hotels and territories” — or, in other words, giving you more excuses to plan a holiday you definitely can’t afford (yet).

Italy absolutely crushed it this year, with nine entries in total. The Amalfi Coast’s Borgo Santandrea leads the pack at #53, because of course it does — who doesn’t want to wake up to those views? Europe claimed 17 spots overall, while Asia followed closely behind with 16, including the list-topper, Aman Nai Lert in Bangkok. Africa only has one contender this year — Cape Town’s Mount Nelson, a pink Belmond dream of old-school glamour — but it’s a good one.

Borgo Santandrea, Italy

While big names like Four Seasons and Aman made predictable appearances, 13 independent hotels also made the cut. The legendary Badrutt’s Palace in St. Moritz landed at #52, proving that old-school luxury still has game.

The official Top 50 will be revealed at a glitzy bash at London’s Old Billingsgate on October 30 — but until then, this longlist is basically your new travel bucket list. Fair warning: once you start Googling these places, you might find yourself booking “just one night”… and then another… and another.

The world’s best hotels right now, in order from 100-51