The Oberoi Vanyavilas, Ranthambore, has been ranked the best hotel in the world in Travel+Leisure’s 2010 World’s Best Awards readers’ poll. Three other hotels of Oberoi Hotels and Resorts — Oberoi Amarvilas and Rajvilas, both in Jaipur, and Udaivilas, in Udaipur — have figured in the top 15 hotels of the world at 5th,13th and 15th rank, respectively.
These Oberoi properties have also been ranked the top four in Asia. The rankings are based on the characteristics of rooms, location of the hotel, service, restaurants, facilities and food and value, among other criteria. The readers rate their experiences and evaluate hotels across these characteristics.
Travel+Leisure and Conde Nast Awards are considered prestigious in the hospitality and tourism sector worldwide. T+L, a monthly owned by American Express Publishing, began asking its readers 15 years earlier, annually, to rank their preferences, based on their experience.
In 2009, Bushmans Kloof, Cedar Mountains, South Africa, was ranked the best hotel by T+L. Oberoi Vanyavilas had finished a close second position.
“Our guests have given us a high rank because we have built and maintained our hotels with care, and our employees have exceeded their expectations. The exceptional ranking is a recognition of our excellent hotels and the best employees in the hospitality sector,” said P R S Oberoi, chairman of the Oberoi Group. A questionnaire developed by the editors of T+L, in association with ROI Research, was made available to their readers from December 15, 2009 to March 31, 2010. Readers were invited to participate through the magazine or online.