Expedia’s Top Hotels of 2008

Expedia, the online travel company, recently published the results of its second annual Expedia Insiders’ Select list of the world’s best hotels. This list is made up of the top hotels around the world, at least the ones you can book through Expedia.

The list represents the variety of hotel types and destinations offered on Expedia. One characteristic all Insiders’ Select hotels have in common is that they have been recognized by Expedia travelers for consistently delivering excellent service, a great overall experience and a notable value. The list is comprised of hotels ranging from boutique to chain properties in a variety of small, mid-sized and large destinations.

In determining which hotels made the cut, the Expedia team looked at the following criteria:

– Traveler Opinions: hotel reviews created by Expedia travelers who recently stayed at the property
– Value Rating: a rating determined by comparing hotels within the same star-rating and geographical region
– Local Experts: info from Expedia employees in various destinations throughout the world.

Here is the abbreviated list of the top 50 hotels from the Expedia list. I’ve edited out things like the overall score, because they don’t seem to mean much.

01. Sofitel Chicago Water Tower Chicago, Illinois, USA
02. JW Marriott Cancun Resort & Spa Cancun, Mexico
03. Hotel 1000 Seattle, Washington, USA
04. Royal Palms Resort and Spa Phoenix, AZ, USA
05. Vino Bello Resort Napa Valley, California, USA
06. Cerulean Tower Tokyo Hotel Tokyo, Japan
07. The Regent Palms Providenciales, Turks & Caicos
08. Argosy Casino Hotel And Spa Kansas City, Missouri, USA
09. The Sanderling Resort And Spa Duck, North Carolina, USA
10. The Knight Residence Edinburgh, United Kingdom
11. Couples Swept Away Negril All Inclusive Negril, Jamaica
12. Marriott CasaMagna Resort Cancun Cancun, Mexico (I can personally vouch for this one – stunning)
13. Raffles Beijing Hotel Beijing, China
14. Chateau Beauvallon Mont-Tremblant, Quebec, Canada
15. Grand Hotel Amrath Amsterdam Amsterdam, Netherlands
16. L’Auberge de Sedona Sedona, Arizona, USA
17. Tides Zihuatanejo Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo, Mexico
18. Presidente InterContinental Cozumel Resort & Spa Cozumel, Mexico
19. Hotel Adlon Kempinski Berlin, Germany
20. JW Marriott Phuket Resort & Spa Phuket, Thailand
21. Outrigger Waipouli Beach Resort & Spa Kauai, Hawaii, USA
22. The Atlantic Resort & Spa Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA
23. Virginia Crossings Resort Richmond, Virginia, USA
24. The Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco San Francisco, California, USA
25. Hotel Place D’Armes Montreal, Quebec, Canada
26. Langham Place, Mongkok, Hong Kong Hong Kong, China
27. Ocean Key Resort-A Noble House Resort Key West, Florida, USA
28. Hotel Stein Salzberg, Austria
29. Grand Hyatt Seattle Seattle, Washington, USA
30. The Wort Hotel Jackson Hole, Wyoming, USA
31. Room Mate Migueletes Granada, Spain
32. The Angler’s Boutique Resort Miami, Florida, USA
33. Sofitel New York New York City, NY, USA
34. Marquis Los Cabos Los Cabos, Mexico
35. Villa Premiere Hotel & Spa Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
36. Pan Pacific Seattle Seattle, Washington, USA
37. Doubletree Guest Suites Naples Naples/Marco Island, Florida, USA
38. Royal Hideaway Playacar All Inclusive Riviera Maya, Mexico
39. Sofia Plaza Sofia, Bulgaria
40. Cozumel Palace All Inclusive Cozumel, Mexico
41. Grand Hyatt DFW Dallas, Texas
42. Hotel Grande Bretagne Athens, Greece
43. Hotel Phoenicia Malta, Malta
44. First Hotel G Gothenburg, Sweden
45. Marriott MeadowView Resort Tri-Cities, Tennessee
46. D2hotel Chiang Mai Chiang Mai, Thailand
47. Sofitel Strasbourg Strasbourg, France
48. ZaZa Houston Houston, Texas, USA
49. Chateau On The Lake Branson, Missouri, USA
50. Marriott Coralville Conf Ct Cedar Rapids, Iowa

It surprised me that Seattle had more hotels in the top 50 than any other place. The hotels of New York and San Francisco are going to need to step it up next year if they don’t want to be embarrassed again. For more information, see the Insiders’ Select List.