A list of achievements that makes travelers dream.
Each year, the World's 50 Best Hotels 2025 ranking serves as a reminder of how much the hotel industry has become an art form in its own right. For the 2025 edition, the jury of more than 800 international experts selected a select group of luxury hotels as the best in the world , from Hong Kong to Mexico, via Lake Como and Dubai .
Here is an overview of the 10 best foreign hotels in the ranking, those that make an overnight stay synonymous with a total sensory experience.
How is the ranking of the best hotels established?
The 2025 list of the world's best hotels is based on votes from travel professionals, journalists, consultants, and hoteliers who have all stayed at the properties they mention within the past two years. No single group can overrepresent the list, and each property is judged on the quality of its service, design, cuisine, local connection, and the emotional experience it evokes in travelers.
The result: a 2025 hotel ranking dominated byAsia, but open to destinations as diverse as the Riviera Maya or Tuscany, with one constant: the obsessive attention to detail.
Rosewood Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Named the best hotel in the world 2025, the Rosewood Hong Kong stands as a manifesto of contemporary luxury. Perched on the Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront, the 270-meter building embraces the entire Victoria Bay through immense bay windows.
Inside, an art gallery atmosphere unfolds: by Damien Hirst, Wang Keping , and other renowned artists converse with understated design, meticulously planned lighting, and discreet yet ever-present service. The 413 generously sized rooms and suites further enhance this feeling of an urban haven.
Add eleven restaurants, including two with Michelin stars, and a cutting-edge wellness offering, and you have a condensed version of what luxury hotel : a total, cosmopolitan, yet incredibly intimate experience.
Four Seasons Bangkok at Chao Phraya River, Thailand
In second place, the Four Seasons Bangkok at Chao Phraya River illustrates Bangkok's rise as a global lifestyle capital. This riverside hotel embraces the urban resort concept: infinity pools, lush gardens, patios opening onto the water, and architecture by Jean Michel Gathy, all graphic lines and soothing perspectives.
People come here as much for the tranquility of the rooms as for the culinary scene: Cantonese cuisine, an Italian brasserie, and a destination cocktail bar. For travelers seeking the best international hotels that combine urban vibrancy with chic retreat, it's hard to find better.
Capella Bangkok, Thailand
Formerly number one in the rankings, Capella Bangkok remains on the podium in 2025. Also located on the banks of the Chao Phraya, it plays a more intimate tune than its neighbor Four Seasons, with a reduced number of keys, ultra-personalized service and a design that blends Thai influences, colonial spirit and contemporary touches.
Suites with private pools, panoramic river views, a holistic spa, and haute cuisine: Capella embodies the very idea of a haven for aesthetes in a city that never sleeps. A must for anyone ticking " best hotels in the world" off their bucket list.
Passalacqua, Lake Como, Italy
The top-ranked European address, Passalacqua overlooks Lake Como and feels more like a family home than a hotel. This 18th-century villa, restored with meticulous attention to detail, offers only a handful of unique, light-filled rooms that open onto terraced gardens.
Here, luxury isn't measured in marble but in time: breakfast under lemon trees, a dip in the pool overlooking the lake, an impromptu dinner in the kitchen with the chef. Passalacqua embodies what many now seek in the best international hotels : a place where you feel at home, but in a sublime version of yourself.
Raffles Singapore, Singapore
A classic among classics, Raffles Singapore continues to fascinate. A colonial icon opened in 1887, the hotel has reinvented itself without denying its heritage. Behind the immaculate facade, one finds the famous interior courtyards, the bladed fans, the shaded galleries, and the old-fashioned service that is the hallmark of the hotel.
The suites, all with parquet floors, wood paneling, and immaculate linens, offer a soothing contrast to the city's ultra-modern skyline. Between the Singapore Sling at the Long Bar and a contemporary dining experience, Raffles exemplifies how luxury hotels maintain their position at the top of the 2025 hotel rankings.
Atlantis The Royal, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Spectacular is probably the word that best describes Atlantis The Royal. Standing on Palm Jumeirah, this architectural ocean liner plays the card of deliberate excess: facades in stacked blocks, suspended pools, monumental fountains and a string of suites and residences with breathtaking views of the Gulf.
In terms of experience, the DNA is decidedly resort: private beach, breathtaking rooftop terrace, clubs, restaurants helmed by renowned chefs, wellness circuits, and extravagant entertainment. For travelers who associate the world's best hotel with excess and a constant show, Dubai remains an obvious destination.
Mandarin Oriental Bangkok, Thailand
A true institution on the banks of the Chao Phraya River, the Mandarin Oriental Bangkok combines old-world charm with modern sophistication. This legendary hotel, frequented by writers and artists for over a century, cherishes its history as much as its modern comforts: suites with balconies, attentive butlers, an award-winning spa, and restaurants that are among the city's finest.
In this 2025 ranking, he reminds us that a luxury hotel does not need to be brand new to remain among the best hotels in the world : it simply needs to continue to evoke emotion.
Chablé Yucatán, Chocholá, Mexico
Head to Mexico with Chablé Yucatán, nestled in a former Yucatán hacienda reinvented as a sophisticated wellness retreat. Villas with private pools, lush jungle, a sacred cenote at the heart of the estate: here, every detail is designed to reconnect travelers with nature, without sacrificing absolute comfort.
Locally sourced cuisine, rituals inspired by Mayan traditions, contemporary design warmed by local craftsmanship: a perfect address for those seeking the best foreign hotels where the word luxury rhymes with meaning and cultural grounding.
Four Seasons Firenze, Florence, Italy
In Florence, Four Seasons Firenze occupies a former palace surrounded by the city's largest private garden. Period frescoes, painted ceilings, sculptures and fireplaces blend with modern comforts: spa, pool in the park, suites with spectacular proportions and impeccable Four Seasons service.
The feeling of staying in a living work of art, just minutes from Florentine museums, largely explains its place in the top 10 best hotels in the world 2025.
The Upper House, Hong Kong
Last on this top 10 list, but certainly not the least remarkable, The Upper House embodies the most zen version of Hong Kong hotels. Perched above Pacific Place, the hotel offers large, minimalist, light-filled rooms where stone, wood, and natural fabrics create an atmosphere of total serenity, far from the hustle and bustle of the city.
The bay views, spectacular bathrooms, rooftop restaurant and constant attention to guests' needs make it an obvious choice for travelers who think of luxury hotels as bubbles of calm suspended above the city.
Traveling in 2025: Experience above all
This top 10 list of the best international hotels outlines the major trends in luxury hospitality: the dominance of Asia, the resurgence of intimate establishments like Passalacqua and Chablé, the influence of historic icons such as Raffles and Mandarin Oriental, and the unabashed extravagance of Dubai. Whether urban, seaside, or nestled on the shores of a lake, these hotels share one thing in common: they tell a story—their own, but also yours, for the duration of your stay.
For travelers, these addresses are not just places to sleep: they are destinations in themselves. Plenty of material for future research and reports for any enthusiast of the world's best hotels andluxury hospitality.
