It’s official: 7 of the world’s best hotels are in the UK

They say there are about 700,000 hotels in the world, and nearly 10,000 of them are in the UK. Ranking the best ones is no easy feat, but it’s exactly what Fodor’s Travel has done with its list of the best hotels in the world. 

Fodor’s asked 750 travel writers and hotel professionals from around the world to nominate their favourites in order to come up with a list of 100 of the very best. Out of that 100, seven of them are in the UK, and here’s which British hotels made the list. 

Not surprisingly, the lion’s share of the UK’s best hotels were in London, with the Dorchester, Chelsea Townhouse, Lanesborough and St. James Hotel & Club all making the top 100. 

The art deco Dorchester was noted for ‘hosting history’s biggest names and immortalizing their defining moments’, referencing that the hotel was where Elizabeth Taylor regularly stayed. Posy Mayfair hotel St. James Hotel & Club, meanwhile, was praised for its ‘elegantly styled guest rooms and superb suites’. 

Gleneagles Townhouse in Edinburgh made the ranking for its ‘classically handsome architecture and dignified opulence with more modern sensibilities’, while the 125-year-old Slieve Donard in Newcastle Northern Ireland also took one of the spots. The Victorian hotel near the Mourne mountains is known for its top health club and luxurious old style rooms. 

The 7 best hotels in the UK, according to Fodor’s Travel

• Gleneagles Townhouse, Edinburgh
• Slieve Donard, Northern Ireland 
• The Dorchester, London
• The Chelsea Townhouse, London
• The Lanesborough, London
• St. James Hotel & Club, London
• Monkey Island Estate, Maidenhead

RIP: This iconic northern venue is set to close next month after 120 years.

Did you see that the UK’s first ever Greggs champagne bar is opening in a historic northern department store?