NEW YORK, Oct. 16, 2009 - Conde Nast Traveler today announced the results of its 2009 Readers' Choice Awards, ranking the best cities, islands, cruise lines, airlines, hotels, resorts, and car rental agencies worldwide. The awards appear in the November issue (on newsstands October 20) and are derived from the Conde Nast Traveler Readers' Choice survey. This year, 25,008 readers voted on more than 10,000 properties and destinations.

"The big news is that, undaunted by tough times, our readers are still out there, discovering the coolest experiences and reaffirming an enduring passion for travel," said Conde Nast Traveler Editor in Chief Klara Glowczewska. "It's clear that our readers are as devoted to the worldwide diversity of travel as ever." 

The results of the 2009 Readers Choice Awards reveal some surprising news: 

• With so many superb hotels with fewer than 50 rooms, this year's survey has three new categories: Small Hotels in Europe, Small Hotels in the United States, and Small Resorts in the United States with the Kenwood Inn and Spa taking first place.
• Fully one-third of the hotels and resorts on our Top 100 list began their journey on our Hot List of the world's best new properties, published each May, confirming that Conde Nast Traveler readers are ahead of the curve and connoisseurs of the cutting edge.
• The friendliest U.S. cities are Charleston, Savannah, and Honolulu, while the least friendly, by an uncomfortable margin is New York (54/100--ouch)
• Ubud, Bali, is the friendliest town of all
• Santa Fe, New Mexico, bumped New York City out of the #3 spot for best U.S. city to visit. San Francisco remained #1 and New York City slid to #4.
• San Francisco takes the Best U.S. Cities category for a whopping 17th year in a row, a feat never before accomplished by any destination or property. One reason: its worldwide high restaurant score. 
• Ubud dethrones Bangkok as the Best Asian City. Bangkok held the top spot since the category debuted in 2004.
• Newcomer Virgin America was once again named the Best Domestic Airline, for the second year in a row, with JetBlue Airways at #2.
• Singapore Airlines is again the #1 International Route Airline, and has led this category for 21 of the past 22 years. (Only Swissair, in 1994, has taken the top spot from Singapore Airlines.) 
• The growing number of mega-ship cruise lines merit their own category for the first time, led by Celebrity.

The Top Three Winners the Hotel and in the Resort Category.
 

Top Hotels

Top Resorts

Top Hotels United States 21c Museum Hotel, Louisville The Peninsula, Chicago Mandarin Oriental, Boston Top Small Hotels United States Blantyre, Lenox, Mass. The Swag, Great Smoky, Mountains, N.C. Tu Tu' Tun Lodge, Gold Beach, Oregon Top Hotels Southern Europe Il San Pietro di Positano, Positano, Italy Il Pellicano, Porto Ercole, Tuscany Four Season George V, Paris Top Hotels Northern Europe Hotel Taschenbergpalais Kempinski Dresden Four Seasons Gresham Palace, Budapest Ritz-Carlton, Berlin Top Small Hotels Europe La Scalinatella, Capri La Colombe d'Or, St-Paul de Vence Grand Hotel a Villa Feltrinelli, Lake Garda Top Hotels Central America  Lapa Rios Ecolodge, Osa Peninsuala, Costa Rica Casa Santo Domingo, Antigua Villas Caletas, Costa Rica Top Hotels Oceana Blankey Bay, South Island, New Zealand Henry Jones Art Hotel, Hobart Park Hyatt, Sydney Top Hotels British Isles Chewton Glen, Hampshire  Milestone Hotel, London The Goring, London Top Hotels Caribbean/Atlantic Peninsula House, Samana, Dominican Republic  The Caves, Jamaica  Hotel Le Toiny, St. Barts Top Hotels Asia Oberoi Udaivilas, Rajasthan Ritz-Carlton, Tokyo The Peninsula, Hong Kong  Top Hotels Africa The Saxon, Johannesburg Table Bay Hotel, Cape Town  Cape Grace, Cape Town Top Hotels Canada Auberge Saint-Antoine, Quebec City Fairmont Vancouver Airport Hotel Le Germain-Dominion, Quebec City Top Hotels Mexico Casa Natalia, San Jose del Cabo Las Mananitas, Cuernavaca JW Marriott Hotel, Mexico City Top Hotels South America Hotel Monasterio, Cuzco Four Seasons Hotel, Buenos Aires Alvear Palace Hotel, Buenos Aires  Top Hotels Middle East Jumeirah Beach Hotel, Dubai David Citadel Hotel, Jerusalem Park Hyatt Dubai

Top Resorts Mainland U.S. Sanctuary at Kiawah Island  Inn at Spanish Bay, Pebble Beach Montage Laguna Beach Top Small Resorts Mainland U.S. Kenwood Inn and Spa, Sonoma Casa Palermo, Pebble Beach Lake Austin Spa Resort, Austin Top Resorts Asia Four Seasons Tented Camp Golden Triangle, Chiang Rai Oberoi Vanyavilas, Rajasthan  Four Seasons Resort Bali at Sayan Top Resorts Mexico One & Only Palmilla, Los Cabos  The Tides, Riviera Maya The Tides, Zihuatanejo Top Resorts Africa Mombo and Little Mombo Camps, Botswana Sandibe Safari Lodge, Botswana Safari Lodges at Phinda Private Game Reserve, South Africa Top Resorts Europe Hotel du Palais, Biarritz Ashford Castle, Co. Mayo Adare Manor Hotel & Golf Resort, Co. Limerick Top Resorts Hawaii Four Season Resort Maui at Wailea Four Season Resort Hualalai at Historic Ka'upulehu, Big Island Four Seasons Resort Lana'i, The Lodge at Koele Top Resorts Atlantic Ocean The Reefs, Bermuda One & Only Ocean Club, Paradise Island, Bahamas Grace Bay Club, Turks and Caicos Top Resorts Middle East Burj Al Arab, Dubai Madinat Jumeirah, Dubai  One & Only Royal Mirage, Dubai Top Resorts Oceana Bora Bora Lagoon Resort & Spa Huka Lodge, Taupo, New Zealand La Taha'a Island Resort & Spa, French Polynesia Top Resorts Canada King Pacific Lodge, Princess Royal Island Emerald Lake Lodge, Alberta Wickaninnish Inn, Tofino, Vancouver Island Top Resorts Caribbean Ritz-Carlton, Grand Cayman Curtain Bluff, Antigua Nisbet Plantation Beach Club, Nevis  Top Resorts Central/South America Four Seasons Resort Carmelo, Uruguay  Four Seasons Resort Costa Rica at Peninsula Papagayo Hotel Salto Chico, Explora en Patagonia, Chile

The full list of winners is on cntraveler.com at: cntraveler.com/readerschoice

The Readers Choice Awards gala was held on Thursday, October 15th in New York City at the IAC Building and was hosted by Stanley Tucci and Mary Louise Parker. Select photos and video from the event are available upon request.

Methodology
Every year since 1988, a select sample of Conde Nast Traveler readers have taken the Readers' Choice Survey. In 2009, the questionnaire was available to all readers through a secure Web site. The final tabulations of 25,008 responses were done by Mediamark Research, Inc., of New York City. Poll categories (Cities, Hotels, etc.), and the criteria for each appear at the bottom of the first page in every category. Questionnaires contained lists of candidates (individual cities, hotels, etc.), and write-ins were allowed. Only candidates that received a required minimum number of responses were deemed eligible for an award. Each candidate was rated, by various criterion, on a five-point scale: excellent, very good, good, fair, poor. Criterion scores, which represent the percentage of respondents rating a candidate excellent or very good, were averaged to determine the final score - e.g., in the category of Islands, Maui's 90.1 is the average of its scores for Activities, Atmosphere/Ambience, Beaches, Friendliness, Lodging, Restaurants, and Scenery.