The 192-room hotel in Sydney’s city centre came in 12th globally and was one of just two Australian hotels in the world’s top 50.
Australia’s other listed hotel, The Calile in Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley, was ranked 34, sliding down slightly from previous years – it ranked 12th in 2023 and 24th last year, leading the Oceania region both times.
The list, which will no doubt be of interest to incentive planners, saw the ebb and flow of hotels in and out of the top 50.
What was noteworthy this year was that 40 per cent – 20 of the top 50 hotels – were new entrants in the list, which is determined by vote of an 800-member Academy, who can nominate any hotel they’ve stayed in around the world over a two-year eligibility period that they deem worthy of a top 50 place. Each Academy member gets seven votes, which they cast in preference order.
Among the new entries this year was the runner-up, Four Seasons Bangkok Chao Praya River, alongside Mandarin Oriental in Beijing, ranked 7th, Copacabana Palace in Rio de Janeiro, ranked 11th, and Jumeirah Marsa Al Arab in Dubai, which was ranked 20th.
The best hotel in the world was declared to be Rosewood Hong Kong while properties in Asia filled the most places, including taking six of the top 10 spots and all of the top three, with Capella Bangkok ranked third.
Of the hotel groups winning places on the list, the most prominent was Four Seasons and Mandarin Oriental, with three hotels each, with Rosewood, Raffles and Capella scoring two listings each.
Destination-wise, Japan had five hotels in the top 50, Hong Kong and London had four and Paris had three. Meanwhile Australia’s popular holiday destination, Bali, scored two hotels in the top 50 – Desa Potato Head and Mandana.
General manager of Capella Sydney, Marc von Amim, described his hotel’s 12th place as “a true honour”.
“This recognition belongs first and foremost to our incredible team whose passion and devotion bring our hotel to life every day…we are truly humbled and proud to be part of this extraordinary list of the world’s finest hotels,” he said.
Australia’s other entry in 2024, The Tasman, a Luxury Collection Hotel from Marriott in Hobart, dropped completely out of the top 100 in 2025 after being ranked 49th last year.
This year also saw the addition of a 51-100 hotel list, released earlier in October, in which two local Baillie Lodges properties featured – Southern Ocean Lodge on Kangaroo Island in South Australia came in at 69, while Huka Lodge on Waikato River in Taupo, New Zealand ranked 88th.
