The Best Hotels in America: See How They Ranked

WASHINGTONU.S. News & World Report has unveiled its 2018 Best Hotels rankings, which evaluate more than 24,000 luxury hotels across the U.S., Europe, Canada, Mexico and Bermuda.

In the Best Hotels in the USA rankings, Hawaii’s Four Seasons Resort Lanai took the top spot, followed by The Peninsula Chicago in second place and The Langham, Chicago in third place. U.S. News & World Report awards the top 10% of ranked hotels with a gold badge. These four destinations are home to the highest number of gold badge-winning hotels for 2018:

  • New York City has 24 gold badge winners out of 231 ranked hotels.
  • Las Vegas has 11 gold badge winners out of 46 ranked hotels.
  • Los Angeles has 11 gold badge winners out of 87 ranked hotels.
  • Washington, DC has 10 gold badge winners out of 58 ranked hotels.

For the best hotel in Mexico, Rosewood Mayakoba takes the top spot. Moving up from second place last year, the Rosewood Hotel Georgia earns recognition as the best hotel in Canada for 2018, ousting the Ritz-Carlton Montréal, which had previously held the number one spot since 2013. Rosewood Bermuda ranked first on this year’s Best Hotels in Bermuda ranking list.

New this year, the magazine expanded its best hotels in Europe ranking to include four- and four-and-a half-star hotels. The Ritz Paris jumps to the top spot on the list, followed by La Réserve Paris – Hotel and Spa in second and Rome’s Hotel Eden at third.

As in past years, U.S. News & World Report has published the 2018 Best Hotels rankings in more than 200 destinations. This time of year, the most popular hotel searches are in warm-weather spots, including Maui, Miami Beach and Cancun. Meanwhile, cold-weather fans flock to winter ski destinations like Aspen, CO and Whistler, BC.

The U.S. News Best Hotels rankings also highlight properties in Europe like Paris, London and Rome, in addition to scenic but less-visited destinations such as Istanbul, Dubrovnik, Croatia and San Sebastian, Spain.

U.S. News & World Report scored luxury hotels (four-star and higher) using a methodology that combines each hotel’s industry awards with expert and guest reviews. These rankings are part of the expanding U.S. News Travel channel, which evaluates the Best Vacations, Best Cruise Lines and Best Travel Rewards Programs.

Due to the extensive damage across many Caribbean islands and their luxury hotels during the 2017 hurricane season, U.S. News & World Report will not be updating rankings for the Best Hotels in the Caribbean or Best All-Inclusive Resorts in the Caribbean for 2018. The Caribbean hotels will retain their 2017 score and ranking.

2018 U.S. News Best Hotels Rankings

U.S.:

  1. Four Seasons Resort Lanai
  2. The Peninsula Chicago
  3. The Langham, Chicago
  4. Twin Farms
  5. Four Seasons Resort Hualalai

Canada:

  1. Rosewood Hotel Georgia
  2. Ritz-Carlton Montréal
  3. Wickaninnish Inn
  4. Wedgewood Hotel & Spa
  5. Auberge Saint-Antoine

Mexico: 

  1. Rosewood Mayakoba
  2. The Resort at Pedregal
  3. Esperanza, an Auberge Resort
  4. One&Only Palmilla
  5. Las Ventanas al Paraíso, a Rosewood Resort

Europe:

  1. Ritz Paris
  2. La Réserve Paris – Hotel and Spa
  3. Hotel Eden
  4. Hôtel Plaza Athénée
  5. K. Place Roma