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The Travel + Leisure 2012 World's Best Awards of  Top Hotels, Cities,
Islands, Cruise Lines, Airlines, and More


Waldorf Astoria Chicago is Top Large City Hotel in U.S.
Bangkok Named World's Best City; New York City is Best in America


New York, NY (July, 2012) – Osprey at Beaver Creek, Colorado is named Best Resort in the Continental U.S., Honolulu makes its debut on the list of Top 10 Cities in the U.S. and Canada, Nayara Hotel, Spa & Gardens is the first Costa Rican resort to rank among the top 10 hotels overall, and Vieques, Puerto Rico is voted the Best Island in the Caribbean, Bermuda, and the Bahamas in the Travel + Leisure 2012 World’s Best Awards readers’ survey, announced today. The results of the 17th annual Travel + Leisure World’s Best Awards survey revealing readers’ favorite hotels, cities, islands, cruise lines, airlines, car-rental agencies, spas*, safari outfitters, and tour operators are listed on www.TravelandLeisure.com now, will be featured in the August digital editions on iPad®, NOOK Color™, and Kindle Fire™, and is the cover story of the August issue of the magazine, on newsstands July 20.

Singita Grumeti Reserves in northern Tanzania is the top-ranked World’s Best Hotel overall for the second consecutive year and is one of four properties in Africa to place in the top 10 among hotels worldwide. Australia’s four-year-old Southern Ocean Lodge, on Kangaroo Island, makes its debut on the Top 100 Hotels list at No. 3. Hotel Santa Caterina, Amalfi, Italy is the top Resort in Europe and is featured on the T+L August issue cover. Triple Creek Ranch in Darby, Montana is the No. 1 Inn and Small Lodge in the Continental U.S. for the third year, and is ranked  No. 2 among hotels worldwide. New York City holds its title for the twelfth year in a row as the Best City in the U.S. and Canada, and ranks No. 7 among top cities overall, while Bangkok retains its number one ranking in the world for the third year in a row. Istanbul rises to its highest ranking ever in the survey at No. 3 on the list of Top Cities Overall. Among cities in the U.S. and Canada, Chicago rises to the No. 2 spot and New Orleans moves up to No. 5 this year from No. 6 in 2011. 

Two companies have held onto their No. 1 rankings every year since the poll began in 1996: Crystal Cruises (Best Large-Ship Cruise Line) and Singapore Airlines (Best International Airline). The 2012 results, including the Top 100 Hotels, Top 50 Resorts in the Continental U.S., Top 10 Cities Overall, and Top 10 Islands Overall, among other lists, are featured on www.TravelandLeisure.com/worldsbest now.

TRAVEL + LEISURE  2012 WORLD’S BEST AWARDS WINNERS OVERALL

WORLD’S BEST CITY

WORLD’S BEST HOTEL


WORLD’S BEST ISLAND

WORLD’S BEST LARGE-SHIP CRUISE LINE

WORLD’S BEST SMALL-SHIP CRUISE LINE

WORLD’S BEST RIVER CRUISE LINE

WORLD’S BEST INTERNATIONAL AIRLINE

WORLD’S BEST DOMESTIC AIRLINE

WORLD’S BEST SAFARI OUTFITTER

WORLD’S BEST TOUR OPERATOR

WORLD’S BEST CAR-RENTAL AGENCY

WORLD’S BEST DESTINATION SPA

WORLD’S BEST HOTEL SPA
Bangkok

Singita Grumeti Reserves
Serengeti National Park, Tanzania

Boracay Philippines

Crystal Cruises

Seabourn

Viking River Cruises

Singapore Airlines

Virgin America

Micato Safaris

Row Adventures

Hertz   

Red Mountain Resort Ivins, Utah

Capella Pedregal Los Cabos, Mexico

Travel + Leisure Editor-in-Chief Nancy Novogrod said, "Even after 17 years, the opportunity to see what travel experiences resonate with our readers still intrigues and delights me. While some passions change over time, the allure of the exotic and the new remains as strong as ever, as does the attraction to trips that provide distinctive and long-lasting memories. Along with great service, our readers crave adventure and the outdoors, reflected in their selection of this year's top three resorts in the Continental U.S., all located in Colorado mountain towns. And, this year, we're introducing our World's Best Awards Hall of Fame, celebrating the winners who have been recognized for the last ten years or more of the survey—congratulations to all 97 of you!"
 
TRAVEL + LEISURE 2012 WORLD’S BEST HOTEL WINNERS BY REGION

CONTINENTAL U.S.
TOP RESORT
TOP LARGE CITY HOTEL
TOP SMALL CITY HOTEL
TOP INN/SMALL LODGE

HAWAII
TOP RESORT

CANADA
TOP RESORT
TOP CITY HOTEL

THE CARIBBEAN, BERMUDA, AND THE BAHAMAS
TOP RESORT

MEXICO
TOP RESORT
TOP CITY HOTEL

CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA
TOP RESORT
TOP CITY HOTEL

EUROPE
TOP RESORT
TOP LARGE CITY HOTEL
TOP SMALL CITY HOTEL
TOP INN/SMALL COUNTRY HOTEL

ASIA
TOP RESORT
TOP CITY HOTEL

AFRICA AND THE MIDDLE EAST
TOP LODGE/RESORT
TOP CITY HOTEL

AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND, AND THE SOUTH PACIFIC
TOP RESORT
TOP CITY HOTEL

Osprey at Beaver Creek Colorado
Waldorf Astoria (formerly the Elysian Hotel) Chicago
Wentworth Mansion Charleston, South Carolina
Triple Creek Ranch Darby, Montana


Four Seasons Resort Hualalai Hawaii, the Big Island
 

Wickaninnish Inn, Tofino, British Columbia
Auberge Saint-Antoine Quebec City



The Reefs Bermuda
 

Live Aqua Cancún
Four Seasons Hotel México, D.F. Mexico City
 
Nayara Hotel, Spa & Gardens La Fortuna, Costa Rica
Palacio DuhauPark Hyatt Buenos Aires


Hotel Santa Caterina Amalfi, Italy
Four Seasons Hotel Istanbul at the Bosphorus
Four Seasons Hotel Istanbul at Sultanahmet
Katikies Hotel Santorini, Greece


Oberoi Udaivilas
Udaipur, India 
The Peninsula Bangkok

Singita Grumeti Reserves Serengeti National Park, Tanzania
One&Only Cape Town, South Africa
      
 
Southern Ocean Lodge Kangaroo Island, Australia
The Langham Melbourne

TRAVEL + LEISURE  2012 WORLD’S BEST CITY AND ISLAND WINNERS BY REGION

REGION

CONTINENTAL UNITED STATES AND CANADA
MEXICO AND CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA
EUROPE
ASIA
AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND AND THE SOUTH PACIFIC
HAWAII 
THE CARIBBEAN, BERMUDA, AND THE BAHAMAS
AFRICA AND THE MIDDLE EAST
CITY

New York City
Cuzco Peru 
Florence
Bangkok
Sydney


Cape Town
ISLAND

Vancouver Island B.C., Canada
Galápagos Ecuador
Santorini Greece
Boracay Philippines
Great Barrier Reef  Australia
Maui
Vieques Puerto Rico

TRAVEL + LEISURE 2012 WORLD’S BEST HOTEL SPAS WINNERS BY REGION*

CONTINENTAL U.S
CANADA
HAWAII 
MEXICO
THE CARIBBEAN, BERMUDA, AND THE BAHAMAS
CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA
EUROPE 
ASIA
AFRICA AND THE MIDDLE EAST
AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND, AND THE SOUTH PACIFIC
Allison Inn & Spa Newberg, Oregon
Fairmont Chateau Whistler
Grand Wailea Maui
Capella Pedregal Los Cabos
Sandy Lane Barbados
Nayara Hotel, Spa & Gardens La Fortuna, Costa Rica
The Ritz Paris
Discovery Shores Boracay, Philippines
Twelve Apostles Hotel & Spa Cape Town, South Africa
Four Seasons Resort Bora-Bora

The top winners in each category were honored at an awards ceremony on Thursday, July 19 hosted by Editor in Chief Nancy Novogrod and VP/Publisher Jean-Paul Kyrillos at the newly opened Conrad New York, recently named to this year’s Travel + Leisure It List of 50 best new hotels, as selected by T+L editors. 

Within the T+L 2012 World’s Best Awards report, there are four different icons to highlight winners with the following attributes: 1) making their debut on the World’s Best Awards, 2) are a great value (rate of $250 or less), 3) Hall of Fame (listed every year for the past decade), and 4) T+L Find (first featured in the T+L It List or previously featured as a World’s Best One to Watch).
 
Follow the Travel + Leisure 2012 World’s Best Awards conversation on Twitter with @travlandleisure #tlworldsbest

Travel + Leisure 2012 World’s Best Awards Survey Methodology
A questionnaire developed by the editors of Travel + Leisure®, in association with ROI Research Inc., was made available to Travel + Leisure readers at tlworldsbest.com from December 1, 2011, to March 31, 2012. Readers were invited to participate through Travel + Leisure magazine (January, February, March, and April issues), T+L iPad® editions and newsletters, and online at TravelandLeisure.com. To protect the integrity of the data, after March 31, 2012, respondents were screened by Travel + Leisure and responses from any identified travel-industry professionals who completed the survey were eliminated from the final tally. The survey website, tlworldsbest.com, was maintained, monitored, and kept secure by ROI Research Inc., which collected and tabulated the responses and kept them confidential. The scores are indexed averages of responses concerning applicable characteristics. Respondents were asked to rate hotels, islands, destination spas, and rental-car agencies on five characteristics; cities, cruise lines, and tour operators and safari outfitters on six characteristics; and airlines and hotel spas on four characteristics (see below). In most categories, respondents could also rate additional optional characteristics; these ratings were not included in the final score. For each characteristic, respondents were asked to rate a candidate on a scale of 1 to 5, where “1” means poor and “5” means excellent. Required component ratings were then averaged, creating an overall score. A minimum number of responses was necessary for a candidate to be eligible for inclusion in the World’s Best Awards listings. Some companies were rated in both the cruise lines and tour operators and safari outfitters categories, and some properties were rated in both the destination spas and hotel spas categories. In both cases, companies, and properties have different scores for each category. Throughout the Travel + Leisure World’s Best Awards, scores shown have been rounded to the nearest hundredth of a point; in the event of a true tie,  properties, companies, or destinations share the same ranking. The majority of ships in large-ship cruise lines carry 600 passengers or more; the majority of ships in small-ship cruise lines carry fewer than 600 passengers. Spa results will appear in T+L’s October 2012 issue. These were the categories and characteristics:

Hotels: Rooms/facilities, location, service, restaurants/food, value. 
Cities: Sights, culture/arts, restaurants/food, people, shopping, value.  
Islands: Natural attractions, activities/sights, restaurants/food, people, value.  
Cruise lines: Cabins, food, service, itineraries/destinations, activities, value. 
Tour operators and safari outfitters: Staff/guides, itineraries/destinations, activities, accommodations, food, value.
Airlines: Cabin comfort, in-flight service, customer service, value.
Rental-car agencies: Vehicle selection, vehicle availability, car-rental location, service, value.
Destination spas: Accommodations/ambience, treatments, service, food, value. 
Hotel spas: Ambience, treatments, service, value.  

*Spa results will be featured in the October issue of Travel + Leisure, on newsstands September 21, and on www.TravelandLeisure.com in mid-September.
 
With an eye for the authentic, the innovative, and the irresistible, Travel + Leisure® (www.travelandleisure.com, @travlandleisure) fuses expert reporting on culture, food, style, and design with stunning photography, transporting readers to the places—and the travel experiences—that matter now. T+L, the monthly title from American Express Publishing and the long-standing authority in its field, has the largest audience of any travel magazine and is an indispensable guide for global nomads. Travel + Leisure has a network of international editions, including Travel + Leisure Mexico, Travel + Leisure Turkey, Travel + Leisure China, Travel + Leisure South Asia, and Travel + Leisure Southeast Asia.
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Contact:

Liz Marsh
[email protected]
212 382 5684 


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