Forbes Travel Guide’s 2026 Star Award Winners—Including The World’s First Five-Star Cruise
From Abu Dhabi to Zurich, the 68th annual luxury hospitality awards celebrate the finest hotels, spas, restaurants, ocean cruises and cruise restaurants.
By Jennifer Kester
Luxury travel is sailing into a new era. Forbes Travel Guide’s 2026 Star Awards mark this evolution with historic milestones, including the world’s first Five-Star cruise and the inaugural Five-Star restaurant at sea.
Now in its 68th year, the 2026 edition of the Star Awards is the most expansive yet, with FTG’s footprint growing to more than 100 countries and introducing new destinations such as Bhutan, Croatia, Poland, Tanzania and Uzbekistan.
As always, FTG’s ratings are objective, independent and data-driven. Incognito inspectors pose as everyday guests—checking into hotels, boarding cruises, trying spa treatments and dining at restaurants—to test hundreds of exacting standards, and always paying for a stay. While the quality and condition of the facilities remain vital, exceptional service accounts for 70% of a property’s rating, reflecting the human element at the heart of luxury.
Beyond these metrics, Forbes Travel Guide inspectors assess the intangibles behind a truly remarkable guest experience: whether a property allows you to continue a health-conscious lifestyle and enhance your well-being; whether the location or design conjures a strong sense of place; and whether the staff delivers all components seamlessly, culminating in an unforgettable stay.
See the full list of 2026 Star Awards winners and learn more about the newest additions to the collection below.
Charting a Five-Star Course
Setting a new high-water mark for the industry, The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection’s Ilma became the world’s first—and only—Five-Star cruise.
The 790-foot superyacht features 224 spacious suites, all with terraces and sophisticated décor, and an attentive “suite ambassador” who will do everything from unpack passengers’ luggage to helping arrange a special dinner. The vessel comes with restaurants from acclaimed chefs Michael Mina and Fabio Trabocchi, an 11-treatment-room Ritz-Carlton Spa and two infinity pools, including one on the top deck. The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection was the first hotel company at sea, and Ilma is part of a growing fleet that includes Four-Star Evrima.
The new Celebrity Xcel also had an inaugural win: Le Voyage is the world’s first Five-Star cruise restaurant. The cuisine is overseen by Daniel Boulud, known for his Five-Star New York institution Daniel, who partnered with Celebrity for his first foray into cruising (Le Voyage can also be found aboard Celebrity’s Ascent and Beyond).
The restaurant showcases fine dining inspired by the French master chef’s worldwide travels, such as five-spice duck pithivier with bok choy, shiitake, and sweet and sour sauce, and moqueca, a Brazilian seafood stew with grouper, shrimp and squid swimming in a coconut broth.
Smaller Delivers Big
As overtourism persists, travelers are trading crowded big cities for smaller, less-trodden destinations—and hotels are refining their luxury offerings to meet that demand.
Turks and Caicos welcomed its first Five-Star hotel with Wymara Villas, Sunset Cove, a collection of contemporary villas with their own infinity pools (several also have long water slides that drop guests directly into the sea). Sitting on Providenciales’ more secluded southern shore, the hotel has a 130-foot “ocean pool,” the first of its kind in the Caribbean.
About two hours from Tokyo, Nikko, Japan, is a hidden gem destination with a stunning countryside and UNESCO World Heritage-listed shrines and temples. It now has its first Five-Star winner, The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko, a nature retreat that sits inside Nikko National Park along Lake Chuzenji. The hotel offers 94 modern-minimalist rooms and the brand’s first onsen.
Another Five-Star newcomer, One&Only Portonovi, elevates underrated Montenegro. Amid rugged mountains and medieval towns, the European hotel provides a glamorous Adriatic Riviera escape with chic Jean-Michel Gathy design and a 43,000-square-foot Chenot Espace wellness facility that focuses on detoxing and recalibrating the body.
Those seeking a reprieve from buzzing Dubai can always visit neighboring Abu Dhabi. While the emirate may be more sedate, Five-Star Emirates Palace Mandarin Oriental proves it’s no less lavish. Next to the presidential palace on a private beach, the hotel flaunts Arabian opulence with a marble dome featuring a gold-plated ceiling. In addition, Abu Dhabi now has its first Five-Star spa, The Pearl Spa and Wellness at Four Seasons Hotel Abu Dhabi at Al Maryah Island.
The continued rise of some less-explored cities can also be seen in Charleston, South Carolina, where longtime favorite The Charleston Place earns a Four-Star accolade this year; Cleveland, where The Ritz-Carlton, Cleveland, a local luxury pioneer, gets a Recommended award; and Edinburgh, where new boutique hotel 100 Princes Street receives a Four-Star honor.
A Banner Year for Elite Brands
Marriott International’s Luxury Group makes up some 30% of the new Five-Star hotels this year. Atlanta got its first double Five-Star: the elegant St. Regis Atlanta and Atlas Buckhead, a European-influenced American restaurant filled with 20th-century art. Popular among families, golfers and spa-goers, The Ritz-Carlton Orlando, Grande Lakes also attained the top rating, a first for the city. And Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea giga-project received its inaugural Five-Star rating with Nujuma, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve, an eco-friendly island getaway with overwater and beach villas that was also featured on FTG’s 2025 Edge List, which honors properties that redefine luxury travel by offering innovative experiences in awe-inspiring destinations.
Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group also saw significant new Five-Star achievements, including Mandarin Oriental Qianmen, Beijing with its 42 traditional hutong courtyard houses; the historic Mandarin Oriental Savoy, Zurich, whose guests have included Charles Dickens and composer Richard Wagner; Mandarin Oriental, Barcelona, a modern respite with a Five-Star spa and a guests-only rooftop restaurant; and Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi. The company also had its first double Five-Star rating this year, with Mandarin Oriental, Costa Navarino and its spa in the Peloponnese capturing the top accolade.
Luxury Gets More Personal
Hotels are also upgrading generic luxury for a customized approach that embraces the destination. Sedona’s first Five-Star, Mii amo, immerses guests in the red rock landscape—said to be in one of the city’s major energy centers—with activities such as mountain biking, stargazing and a vortex hike that includes guided meditation.
At Six Senses Douro Valley in Portugal, guests can create natural scrubs, soaps, sleep balms and more in the Alchemy Bar using ingredients from the Recommended hotel’s organic garden, or they can opt for a wine tasting aboard a vintage boat while plying a river lined with vineyards.
Luxury Hotels Within Luxury Hotels
Macau continues to dominate the annual Star Awards with 26 Five-Star hotels—more than any city. But its latest crop of Five-Stars demonstrates a new trend: a shift to more exclusive luxury stays. Capella at Galaxy Macau, Paiza Grand and Palazzo Versace Macau all provide a hotel-within-a-hotel experience within sprawling integrated resorts.
Capella, which opened last year, exudes gilded grandeur with 95 suites and penthouses; the latter have glass-fronted infinity pools overlooking the city. Sitting atop Londoner Grand, Paiza Grand grants guests access to the new three-story Hampton Court residence club, but they may never leave their plush confines with a butler wheeling a gin cart to the suites to make customized G&Ts. Inside Grand Lisboa Palace, Palazzo Versace marries the Italian fashion house’s bold design with Chinese motifs and brings that East-meets-West aesthetic to its Five-Star spa as well.
Stellar Restaurants
There’s also a feast of new Five-Star restaurants for 2026. In the United States, joining Atlanta’s Atlas Buckhead, Aurelia brings a New England-influenced prix fixe to Castle Hill Inn, a Gilded Age mansion in Newport, Rhode Island (editor’s note: the hotel and restaurant are temporarily closed due to a fire), and Flybridge crafts seasonal five-course tasting menus on top of Yacht Club at The Boca Raton, another first-time Five-Star winner.
Over in Dubai, FZN by Björn Frantzén at Atlantis The Palm fuses European and Japanese fine dining. Macau racks up two new Five-Star restaurants, including Lai Heen, a stylish venue focused on Cantonese cuisine in The Ritz-Carlton, Macau, and Sushi Kissho by Miyakawa at Raffles at Galaxy Macau, esteemed chef Masaaki Miyakawa’s first venture outside of Japan.
Star-Studded Spas
Three spas inspired by their destinations also join the Five-Star ranks this year. More than 3,000 feet below Hotel The Mitsui Kyoto, A Luxury Collection Hotel & Spa, Thermal Spring Spa sits among the caves and pools and uses natural hot springs for therapeutic onsen experiences.
The black timber and white Italian marble Awaken Wellness at Atlantis The Royal in Dubai offers a six-room hammam sensorium, a nod to the region’s bathhouse culture. And The Spa at Mandarin Oriental, Costa Navarino incorporates Greek traditions in treatments like the Reviving Asclepeia, an indulgent three-hour ritual that borrows from ancient Hellenic medicine.
