Exclusive! The Very Best Hotels To Book This Year

Travelling is one the of the greatest pleasures in life. And whether that is glamping it out in the Himalayas, or savoring the renaissance masterpieces at the Louvre, an essential part of travel is your choice of stay.

If you're searching for your most wanderlust-inducing holiday stay, look no further. The travel savvy judging panel at online travel club Mr & Mrs Smith—which includes fashion designers Jenny Packham and Olivia von Halle, Singapore’s very own chef Willin Low, and bar guru Zdenek Castanek—have sussed out the best of the best from the world over.

Hotel lovers, raise your glasses to this year’s winners of the Mr & Mrs Smith Hotel Awards 2018, which are certainly worthy of trips in their own right.

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The 2018 winners are as follows:

Best Smith Hotel

Villa La Coste,  Provence, France

Overall winner, and the only category voted by the public, Villa La Coste has become a firm favorite despite its newbie status. Why? Its cutting-edge design, arresting architecture, and amazing art collection—featuring the likes of Louise Bourgeois to Ai Wei Wei—might give you a clue.

Best Dressed Hotel

La Roch Hotel & Spa, Paris, France

Let La Roch be your perfect pied-à-terre in the city of lights, with its perfect location, elegant decor, and outstanding service.

World’s Sexiest Bedroom

Soneva Jani, Maldives

This is perhaps the stuff that fantasies are made of—lying on a bed, in the middle of the ocean, with the only thing standing between you and romantic stargazing is a retractable roof at the push of a button. If that’s not sexy, we don’t know what is.

Best Date-Night Bar

Roxy Hotel, NYC, US

Picture this: Seductive lighting, plush velvet and leather furnishings, and you, martini in hand, with the smooth rhythm of jazz in the background, gazing deeply into your lover’s eyes. All at the Roxy Hotel, which houses an intimate basement jazz bar in the heart of lower Manhattan. 

Best Gourmet Getaway

Zaborin Niseko, Japan

Be prepared for a delectable journey in taste with Zaborin, with the food as pure and well thought out as the hotel. It draws from ‘kaiseki‘ and ‘washoku‘ techniques and makes good use of locally produced ingredients.

Related article: This Japanese Island Has Been Named The World’s Top Trending Travel Destination For 2018

Most Spoiling Spa

Les Sources de Caudalie, Bordeaux, France

Spoil yourself silly with an exceptional range of wine-based spa treatments that really deliver. It combines the anti-ageing properties of polyphenols contained in grapeseeds and the spa's own natural hot-water spring.

Best Smith Villa  

Annandale Scrubby Bay, Pigeon Bat, New Zealand

Is seclusion the new opulence? If so, Annandale Scrubby Bay does it to perfection. This remote villa, which is situated on a lake in an extinct volcano, has a working farm and superb eco credentials, making it the ultimate good-for-the-soul retreat.

Best Pool with a View

Tierra Atacama Hotel & Spa, Atacama Desert, Chile

Take a splash in the pool while you soak up on this view. At Tierra Atacama Hotel & Spa, the mountainous landscapes are so breathtaking that it make you feel like you are in another planet altogether. This, with the natural furniture design sitting harmoniously alongside it. 

Above & Beyond

Chamba Camp Thiksey, Himalayas, India

One word: Magical. Picture yourself,  “eco-friendly glamping in palatial tents with panoramic vistas of mountain-top monasteries by the foothills of the Himalayas in Ladakh.’ – Johannes Pong, Travel writer

Best Family Hotel

Taylor River Lodge, Crested Butte, US

This river lodge has something for the whole family, where you can experience the adventurous outdoors and feel pampered at the same time. “This is truly the perfect scenario for the whole family to connect to each other and the unparalleled landscape that is Colorado.” – Sheree Commerford, Founder, Captain & The Gypsy Kid

Coolest Creative Hub

Public NYC, US

The clue’s in the name at Public NYC. With a luxury for all concept, it dispenses with the usual hotel frills and focuses on the communal—think co-working lobby space, city-spying rooftop bar, multicultural kitchen, basement nightclub, and more—which has been a honeypot for creatives all over.

Related article: The Best Luxury Airbnb Rentals Around The World

Local Hotel Hero

Dedon Island Resort, Siargao Island, Phillipines

Not just a perfect resort paradise, this resort takes great care in making sure their carbon footprint is reduced through the use of solar power, growing their own produce, and reducing the use of plastic materials. Additionally, keeping with the hotel's foundation in supporting local community projects, everything on hotel property is locally crafted.