Kyoto rises to the No. 1 spot among cities overall, moving up from its fifth place finish last year. Charleston is ranked the No. 1 City in the U.S. and Canada. Santorini, Maui, and Kauai top list of Best Island overall; Virgin America is Best Domestic Airline.
NEW YORK, NY – Kyoto, Japan; Charleston, South Carolina; and Florence, Italy are the top-rated cities worldwide in the Travel + Leisure World’s Best Awards 2014 readers’ survey announced. The 19th annual World’s Best Awards survey results reveal rankings of hotels, cities, islands, airlines, tour companies, spas, and more, based on readers’ ratings in a range of categories.
Triple Creek Ranch is the top-ranked hotel worldwide, with Nayara Springs in La Fortuna, Costa Rica coming in second and Four Seasons Hotel Gresham Palace, Budapest ranking third overall. Amanresorts is the Top Hotel Brand, followed by Oberoi Hotels & Resorts, and One&Only Resorts, respectively. National Car Rental is ranked the No. 1 Car-Rental Agency for the first time in the survey, and Disney Cruise Line achieves a No. 1 ranking among Mega-Ship Cruise Lines for the first time. Kyoto rises to the No. 1 spot among cities overall, moving up from its fifth place finish last year. Charleston is ranked the No. 1 City in the U.S. and Canada for the second consecutive year and earns its highest ranking ever among cities worldwide at No. 2. Savannah also receives its highest ranking ever among cities in the U.S. and Canada this year at No. 3. And, the top two cities in the U.S. – Charleston and New Orleans – are named to the list of Top Ten Cities Overall. Santorini is No. 1 Island Overall once again, having last held the honor in 2011.
Top Ten Cities Overall 2014
1. Kyoto, Japan
2. Charleston, South Carolina
3. Florence
4. Siem Reap, Cambodia
5. Rome
6. Istanbul
7. Seville, Spain
8. Barcelona
9. Mexico City
10. New Orleans
Two companies have held on to their No. 1 rankings every year since the poll began in 1996: Crystal Cruises (Top Large-Ship Cruise Line) and Singapore Airlines (Top International Airline). The 2014 results, including the Top 100 Hotels, Top 50 Resorts in the Continental U.S., Top 10 Cities Overall, and Top 10 Islands Overall, among other lists, are posted on TravelandLeisure.com/worldsbest now. The survey results are featured in the August issue of Travel + Leisure, on newsstands July 18, as well as in the digital editions of Travel + Leisure.
Travel + Leisure World’s Best Awards 2014 Winners Overall
- World’s Best City: Kyoto Japan
- World’s Best Hotel: Triple Creek Ranch Darby, Montana
- World’s Best Hotel Brand: Amanresorts
- World’s Best Island: Santorini Greece
- World’s Best Mega-Ship Cruise Line: Disney Cruise Line
- World’s Best Large-Ship Cruise Line: Crystal Cruises
- World’s Best Small-Ship Cruise Line: Paul Gauguin Cruises
- World’s Best River Cruise Line: Tauck
- World’s Best International Airline: Singapore Airlines
- World’s Best Domestic Airline: Virgin America
- World’s Best International Airport: Singapore Changi Airport
- World’s Best Domestic Airport: Portland International Airport Oregon
- World’s Best Safari Outfitter: Rothschild Safaris
- World’s Best Tour Operator: Classic Journeys
- World’s Best Car-Rental Agency: National Car Rental
- World’s Best Destination Spa: Rancho La Puerta Tecate, Mexico
- World’s Best Hotel Spa: St. Regis Aspen Resort Colorado
Travel + Leisure Editor-in-Chief Nancy Novogrod said, “Even after 19 years of these Awards, it is still enormously exciting to see what T+L readers select as the top travel experiences to be had around the globe. Although the infatuation with far-flung hotels remains in full force, with Africa, Asia, and Australia accounting for 28 percent of the properties in the Top 100 Hotels, the number of U.S. hotels on the list grew by more than 19 percent, and the number of Caribbean ones doubled. We have a brand-new winner for Top City, Kyoto, Japan, which broke Bangkok’s four-year winning streak. And it is noteworthy that the top three cities in the U.S. and Canada are all in the South.”
The top winners in each category will be honored at an awards ceremony in New York City on Thursday, July 24 hosted by Editor-in-Chief Nancy Novogrod and VP/Publisher Jay Meyer.
Photo caption: World’s Best Island: Santorini Greece.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
