The Forbes Travel Guide (FTG) is the global ratings system for luxury hotels, restaurants, and spas and every year this list is published.

It is rather extensive, however, if you’re on the market for luxury in all aspects (hotels, restaurants, and spas) in every part of the world, this is the only list you will need!

In 2021, the list contains the following:

• 283 Five-star Hotels
• 576 Four-star Hotels
• 438 Recommended Hotels
• 73 Five-star Restaurants
• 136 Four-star Restaurants
• 77 Recommended Restaurants
• 90 Five-star Spas
• 200 Four-star Spas

Highlights:

• Cities across the globe with the largest number of Five-star hotels include: London (19), Macau (13), Paris (13), New York (10) and Tokyo (9)
• Five US cities gained their first Five-star hotel: Hilton Head (Montage Palmetto Bluff), Houston (The Post Oak Hotel at Uptown Houston), Montreal (Four Seasons Hotel Montreal), Philadelphia (Four Seasons Hotel Philadelphia at Comcast Center) and Seattle (Four Seasons Seattle)
• Bali picked up two first-time Five-star hotels: The Mulia (Nusa Dua, Bali) and the St. Regis Bali
• Scotland claimed its first Five-star win with The Balmoral, a Rocco Forte Hotels

This is how the list is curated:

• Forbes Travel Guide inspectors stay at each hotel for three days while posing as regular guests and paying their own way
• There is a stringent test that measures modern-day luxuries to more traditional luxuries (up to 900 objects

To ease your mind, this was done prior to the pandemic, however, it has been stated that even in the midst of the pandemic the service remains paramount.

When it is time to start traveling again, make sure you check out the full list here.

Where are you going first?