Claridge’s Named UK’s Very Best Hotel For A Second Year Running

Last year, four British hotels made it into The World’s 50 Best Hotels list in its second annual edition, punching way above our weight as a tiny island separating the Atlantic from the North Sea. Back then, Claridge’s was the highest ranking hotel in the UK, coming in at number 11 on a global scale, trailing behind the world’s number 1, Capella Bangkok; number 2, Italy’s Passalacqua; and number 3, Rosewood Hong Kong. Other British hotels sneaking into the top 50 included Raffles London at The OWO at number 13, Gleneagles at 41 and The Connaught at 42.

Flash forward to 2025, and it’s an even more impressive showing from our 70-million-strong nation, with the third annual edition of the World’s 50 Best Hotels list revealed on home turf at Old Billingsgate in London on Thursday 30 October. Claridge’s is once again the UK’s very best hotel, though its ranking on a global scale has slipped slightly to number 16. With its roots dating back to 1812 and part of the Maybourne since 2005, Claridge’s is one of London’s – and the UK’s – most famous five-star hotels, known for its timeless glamour, opulent interiors and impeccable service, which has always caught the attention of 50 Best’s judges (in 2023, Claridge’s was also ranked 16).

The exterior of Claridge’s

Next we have The Connaught rising to spot 29, trailed by Raffles London at The OWO at 31 and joined by newcomers The Emory at 32 and Estelle Manor at 47. Intriguingly, both The Connaught and The Emory have the same owner as Claridge’s: Maybourne, which also owned the iconic Savoy until 2005 and is behind sister London hotel The Berkeley. The Connaught is famed for its legacy of luxury service and old-world feel. But as Rebecca Cox wrote upon visiting this summer: ‘An old-world gentleman’s club on the surface only; The Connaught is one of London’s most welcoming five-star stays, and as far as in-suite experiences go you’d be hard-pushed to find better. I had to be hard-pushed out of my suite and down the mahogany staircase, or I’d be there still.’

The Emory meanwhile opened in summer 2024 as the capital’s first all-suite hotel. Perched in Belgravia on the edge of Hyde Park, The Emory occupies a striking new building designed by the late Richard Rogers and Ivan Harbour of RSHP, with interiors by renowned designer Rémi Tessier. Setting a new standard of luxury in the capital, all guests in this 61-key property receive a return private chauffeur-driven car from London’s private airfields or international airports and, upon arrival, your personal Emory Assistant is available to answer your every need 24 hours a day.

The Emory’s rooftop bar

But just ahead of The Emory in the World’s 50 Best Hotels list is Raffles London at The OWO – the £1.4 billion renovation of London’s Old War Office which opened its 120 rooms and suites in autumn 2023. As Lauren Ho writes for C&TH, ‘Raffles London at The OWO has certainly been worth the wait,’ noting ‘the sprawling spa’ is ‘the star of the show’.

And it’s out of London for Britain’s last entry: Estelle Manor, which sneaks into the top 50 at number 47. Opening in 2023, Estelle Manor has quickly established itself as a buzzy enclave on the fringes of the Cotswolds and, as C&TH’s resident hotel critic Fiona Duncan puts it, ‘Britain’s most lavish hotel to date is, quite simply, astonishing’.

‘As well as its fabulous looks and its impressive scale, depth, vision and attention to detail,’ Fiona continues, ‘it is also that rare thing amongst grand British country house hotels: it’s properly hip and cool and yet properly warm, enveloping and cultured and that’s saying something for a vast, brooding neo-Jacobean pile in not-quite-the-Cotswolds.’

Returning in early 2025 with her seven-strong family in tow, Fiona wrote: ‘The hotel nailed it. It’s no hyperbole to say that every one of us had a wonderful time,’ adding: ‘Nowhere is 100 per cent perfect, including this hotel, but for family fun mixed with real character rather than the soulless bling you find in so many super-luxury hotels, I cannot fault it.’

Estelle Manor is the only British hotel outside of London to make the list.

This year’s World’s 50 Best Hotels list was topped once again by an Asian hotel, this time the 65-storey Rosewood Hong Kong which opened in 2019. Boasting 413 rooms and 11 restaurants and bars, the Rosewood towers over Victoria Harbour, with its crowning jewel a multi-story wellness centre and an impressive infinity pool. The World’s 50 Best Hotels judges have always been impressed by Rosewood Hong Kong, which also ranked second in the inaugural list in 2023 and third in 2024.

Bangkok’s glitzy hotel scene stole the show at the award’s ceremony last night, taking both second and third place in the 2025 list, with the 299-room Four Seasons Bangkok at Chao Phraya River taking silver and last year’s winner Capella Bangkok now taking bronze. It’s emblematic of Asia’s continued strength in luxurious hospitality, with two fifths of the top 50 snapped up by hotels on this continent. This includes four hotels in Tokyo alone: Bulgari Tokyo (15), Aman Tokyo (25), Janu Tokyo (37) and The Tokyo Edition Toranomon (45).

There’s a clear strength in Asia’s capital cities: Bangkok and Hong Kong both boast three hotels on the list, with all of Bangkok’s making it into the top 10 (second and third spots, plus Mandarin Oriental Bangkok at 7). And we’ve of course noticed Asia’s influence on the fast-moving hospitality sector here in the UK; recent Asian hotel openings include The Peninsula, the Mandarin Oriental Mayfair and Raffles London at The OWO, though the latter in a very British font. It seems to be this place-authenticity that sets hotels apart: Britain’s contenders on the global stage are all indeed very British, from the old-world opulence of Claridge’s and The Connaught to the irresistible countryside indulgence of Estelle Manor.

Four Seasons Hotel Bangkok At Chao Phraya River ranks second on the list.

On the World’s 50 Best Hotels List, Asia is trailed by Europe with 17 entries, North America with six, Africa with three, and Oceania and South America with two apiece. The list features 20 new entries, including British hotels The Emory and Estelle Manor. The latter is the only British hotel outside of London to make it onto the list, coming in at 47. Scotland’s Gleneagles took this honour last year, coming in at number 41 in 2024, but has not made the cut this time around. Likewise The Newt in Somerset, NoMad London and The Savoy (the latter known to be Britain’s most famous hotel) made the cut in 2023 but have not been ranked since.

The World’s 50 Best Hotels: The Full List

1. Rosewood Hong Kong, Hong Kong
2. Four Seasons Bangkok at Chao Phraya River, Bangkok
3. Capella Bangkok, Bangkok
4. Passalacqua, Lake Como
5. Raffles Singapore, Singapore
6. Atlantis The Royal, Dubai
7. Mandarin Oriental Bangkok, Bangkok
8. Chablé Yucatán, Chocholá
9. Four Seasons Firenze, Florence
10. Upper House Hong Kong, Hong Kong
11. Copacabana Palace, Rio de Janeiro
12. Capella Sydney, Sydney
13. Royal Mansour, Marrakech
14. Mandarin Oriental Qianmen, Beijing
15. Bulgari Tokyo, Tokyo
16. Claridge’s, London
17. Four Seasons Astir Palace, Athens
18. Desa Potato Head, Bali
19. Le Bristol, Paris
20. Jumeirah Marsa Al Arab, Dubai
21. Cheval Blanc Paris, Paris
22. Bulgari Roma, Rome
23. Hôtel de Crillon, Paris
24. Rosewood São Paulo, São Paulo
25. Aman Tokyo, Tokyo
26. Hotel Il Pellicano, Porto Ercole
27. Hôtel du Couvent, Nice
28. Soneva Fushi, Maldives
29. The Connaught, London
30. La Mamounia, Marrakech
31. Raffles London at The OWO, London
32. The Emory, London
33. Maroma, Riviera Maya
34. The Calile, Brisbane
35. The Lana, Dubai
36. Hôtel de Paris Monte-Carlo, Monaco
37. Janu Tokyo, Tokyo
38. The Taj Mahal Palace, Mumbai
39. One&Only Mandarina, Riviera Nayarit
40. Singita – Kruger National Park, South Africa
41. Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong, Hong Kong
42. Hotel Bel-Air, Los Angeles
43. The Mark, New York
44. Las Ventanas al Paraíso, Los Cabos
45. The Tokyo Edition Toranomon, Tokyo
46. Hotel The Mitsui, Kyoto
47. Estelle Manor, Witney
48. Grand Park Hotel Rovinj, Rovinj
49. Hotel Sacher Vienna, Vienna
50. Mandapa, Bali

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