The Best Hotels in the World: Gold List 2012

 The Best Hotels in the World:

Gold List 2012

OPPOSITE HOUSE

The lobby at Beijing’s emerald-glass Opposite House—which gets a 90.3 design score—serves as a gallery for Chinese art.

THE REEFS

Soaking in the scenery at The Reefs, Bermuda.

ASIA, AUSTRALIA, & THE PACIFIC

LE MÉRIDIEN

Le Méridien—on a motu just off Bora Bora, with views of volcanic Mount Otemanu—has a location score of 91.4

THE MANDARIN ORIENTAL DHARA DHEVI

The Mandarin Oriental Dhara Dhevi, in Chiang Mai, Thailand, has working rice paddies on its 60-acre grounds. The resort reproduces the Lanna architecture prevalent in Northern Thailand, earning it a 97.1 design score from our readers.

ASHFORD CASTLE

With a design score of 96.8, Ashford Castle, in County Mayo, Ireland, was built in the Norman style as a monastery in 1228.

AFRICA & THE MIDDLE EAST

BURJ AL ARAB

A flare for drama in the lobby of Dubai’s 28-story Burj Al Arab: More than 17,000 square feet of 24-karat gold leaf helped earn the resort a 96.6 for design.

MONTAGE

Pick your plunge at Montage, in Laguna Beach, California: the 90-foot mosaic pool (heated to 82 degrees) or the Pacific. This view might explain the 96.3 location score.

MOMBO AND LITTLE MOMBO CAMPS

Spot lions, leopards, and cheetahs—activities that bag a perfect 100—or simply gaze at the horizon at Mombo and Little Mombo Camps, in Botswana’s Moremi Game Reserve.

EUROPE

THE RITZ, PARIS

This bed in the Imperial Suite at The Ritz, Paris, replicates the one in Marie-Antoinette’s bedroom at Versailles. Such lavish accommodations give the hotel a 94.0 score for rooms.

IL SAN PIETRO DI POSITANO

Il San Pietro di Positano, in Italy, is built above the Tyrrhenian Sea, scoring 97.4 for its location.

THE AMERICAS

MAROMA

The stucco buildings of Maroma, on the Riviera Maya, were crafted on a former coconut plantation. Its oceanfront location scores 98.6.

AUBERGE DU SOLEIL

Dine en plein air at Rutherford, California’s Auberge du Soleil. Luckily, the food, which scores 95.6, lives up to the Napa Valley vistas.

HOTEL FASANO

Regional Italian dishes dominate at the eponymous restaurant of São Paulo’s Hotel Fasano, garnering it a 93.5 score for food. Satisfy your shopping appetite at the nearby Versace and Louis Vuitton stores.