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The World’s 50 Best Hotels will take place in Paris, France, for its fourth year, with a multi-day event programme culminating in the industry’s most highly anticipated annual awards ceremony during the week commencing 14 September. Marking the first time the illustrious event has been hosted outside of London since its inception in 2023, the move highlights a crucial step in the growth of The World’s 50 Best Hotels.

The programme of events and awards ceremony will once again unite the global travel and hospitality community to celebrate the best hotels in the world. Showcasing exceptional hotel experiences worldwide, it offers a snapshot of where people are travelling today while shaping the aspirations of consumers, travellers and hoteliers alike. Voted on by an esteemed Academy of more than 800 anonymous industry experts, the 2026 ranking will be unveiled as part of a series of invite-only events, held over one week in the French capital.

This year, The World’s 50 Best Hotels has appointed Jesse Ashlock as the new Academy Chair for USA & Canada East, joining his counterpart Samantha Brooks, who is responsible for USA & Canada West. Most recently serving as the Deputy Global Editorial Director and U.S. Head of Editorial Content of Condé Nast Traveler, Jesse oversaw the brand’s flagship American edition while coordinating content and strategy across its global markets. Each Chair in the Academy has been selected as an expert on the travel scene in their region, with outstanding hotel sector contacts. The full list of the 13 Academy Chairs can be seen here.

New for 2026, this year’s voting window has been extended to three years, enabling consideration of more hotels; those that voters may not visit so frequently but remain memorable. In previous years, voters were required to list the seven best hotels they have stayed in over the past 24 months in order of preference. Following its introduction in 2025, the extended 51-100 list will continue to recognise more hotels and destinations globally, with the announcement of the extended list taking place ahead of the awards ceremony.

Emma Sleight, Head of Content for The World’s 50 Best Hotels, says: “Bringing The World’s 50 Best Hotels to Paris – the first time the awards have been held outside London since its launch in 2023 – is incredibly exciting for us as an organisation and for the global travel community. We wanted a host city that embodied timeless hospitality, and one that is home to some of the world’s most exceptional hotels, so Paris was a natural choice. This September, we look forward to gathering our growing, international hotels community to celebrate the world’s best hotel experiences and the people who craft them.”

Highlights for the event programme will include a ‘Welcome to Paris’ event and the Opening Banquet, which takes place the night before the reveal of The World’s 50 Best Hotels 2026, giving the hoteliers behind the 100 listed properties the opportunity to meet with their peers from around the world. In addition, The World’s 50 Best Hotels leadership forum, #50BestTalks: Unpacked, will once again make up part of the line-up. #50BestTalks: Unpacked is designed to give hoteliers and travel experts a platform to discuss groundbreaking, industry-leading trends and topics of interest. Events will culminate with the glittering awards ceremony which will feature red-carpet arrivals and interviews, a drinks reception and the ceremony and countdown itself. The awards will be followed by a press conference with representatives from The World’s Best Hotel 2026.

The ranking will be complemented by a host of special awards and will reflect the very best travel experiences around the globe, collated from the votes of more than 800 anonymous experts. This voting panel – the 50 Best Hotels Academy – comprises a balanced mix of hoteliers, travel journalists, educators and seasoned luxury travellers, led by a group of industry-leading Academy Chairs. In the months leading up to the awards, special award winners will be announced as well as the 51-100 list of The World’s 50 Best Hotels.

Any style of hotel worldwide is eligible to be voted for; it does not have to fit any criteria or tick any pre-ordained boxes to be considered. The awards are not ‘pay to play’ – meaning the venues themselves cannot and do not have to pay to enter the awards, nor will they have to buy tickets to the events or invest any fiscal sum in the nomination process.

How the 50 Best voting works

The 13 Academy Chairs each select a voting panel from their region, ensuring a balance of hoteliers, travel journalists, hotel educators and seasoned luxury travellers. Each Academy member can vote for any hotel they have stayed in around the world, irrespective of their home region. Each voter casts seven votes for hotels in order of preference based on stays experienced in the three-year voting period. Voting is carried out individually and strictly confidentially on a secure site and remains confidential before the list announcement. Academy Chairs are not privy to, nor have any knowledge of, the votes cast by the voters in their respective regions; furthermore, they are not official spokespeople for the 50 Best brand.  Additional information on the Academy Chairs and how the voting works is available on the 50 Best FAQs page here.

The Academy is the mechanism used to create The World’s 50 Best Hotels list. None of the employees of 50 Best nor any sponsors associated with the awards has any influence over the results. To ensure the more than 800-voter-strong Academy provides a fair representation of the global hotel scene, the Academy Chairs are split across 13 geographical regions. Each Chair is selected as an expert on the travel scene in their region, with outstanding hotel sector contacts. These Chairs each select a voting panel, ensuring a balanced selection of hoteliers, travel journalists, hotel educators, business travellers and consumer travel aficionados. A minimum of 25% of the panel will be renewed each year. All voters, aside from the Academy Chairs, will remain anonymous to eliminate the possibility of lobbying.