What's the best hotel you've stayed in anywhere, not just Europe?

My favorite has always been the Mauna Lani on the Big Island of Hawaii.
Second would be the Inn at Spanish Bay in Carmel, CA

In Europe, I think the most charming hotel was Hotel du Lac in Varenna before it was sold. I see it is open again and says to have been remodeled.

Mine are all in Europe. We don’t stay in hotels much, preferring self-catering for longer stays.

• Great Southern Killarney in Killarney. Exceptional service yet not obsequious, terrific breakfast, elegant public spaces, lovely rooms
• Hotel Waldhaus, Kandersteg, Switzerland, especially in a Moonwood room. Terrific views, all the way to Mont Blanc, marvelous restaurant with prix fixe dinners. Great access to hiking.
• Hotel Erica, Malcesine, Italy. The owner delightful offering personal attention, breakfast a treat, location excellent. Just an overall good feeling staying here.
• AlpenHotel Panorama, Alpe di Siusi. Views, half-board dinners that are very creative and well-executed, and hiking right out the door.

I feel lucky as I've had all good hotel stays. I haven't had a bad stay, and my least favorite was one in Utrecht because one of their rules was no outside food.

Loved Cathedral Gate Hotel in Canterbury back in 2017. Built into the cathedral gate and facing onto the market square, I had a room on an upper floor and could open the windows and enjoy the sounds of hustle and bustle below.

In Chichester, 4 Canon Lane had a great location in the cathedral complex. For private layouts, the separate annex building at The Malthouse in Ironbridge, because the private gate, garden, and enclosed patio provide a completely self-contained space. For apartment autonomy, the Locke brand.

I've stayed with Locke in London, Edinburgh, and Manchester. Locke-at-Broken-Wharf near the Millennium Bridge is my go-to favorite in my favorite part of London. Love having the kitchenette.

The most comfortable, soul soothing, and aesthetically pleasing has to be 30 rooms on the Sana river in Bosnia called the Hotel Kraljevac.

The best singular experience was hosted by the Moxy in Bucharest.

The best service, the most romantic views from the room's balcony, the kindest staff and guests award goes to the Hotel California in Sveti Stefan, Montenegro. But checking out was difficult.

Runners up include the Ventana in Prague (location and service and style), Imperial in Vienna (a few nights of oppulance and one fo the best dining experiences of my life), and Kempenski Grand Hotel High Tatras on Lake Strbske Pleso in Slovakia (nature and beauty and service an style), The Ritz London (Dinner and dance night is an experience hard to forget. The rest of the hotel experience was less than I had hoped ... but I would love to repeat it).

One of our favorites was McMenamin’s Kennedy School in Portland, Oregon. It was such a unique property! It’s a restored school and they really leaned into the historic elements: our room’s closet had a chalkboard sliding door, the auditorium has been converted to a movie theatre, they had a “boiler room bar,” etc.

Hotels that I haven't had to pay for. The Four Seasons in Scotsdale, Arizona, was pretty OK.

a) Sheraton Grand Rio Hotel- Brazil
Had a room facing Corcovado. ( and it was 'on the company expense account)

b) Varenna- Cannot remember the name of the now closed hotel that was the 1st stop on the 17 day Best of Italy tour.( when the tour started in Varenna). Was able to look over the lump in the sheets my feet made and could see Lake Como and watch the hills light up as the sun rose.

c) Il Nido, Sorrento-- View of the bay and Vesuvius fantastic and at night truly magical with the city lights.

Mr. E: Ha! Loved the Hotel California comment!! Surely I wasn't the only one who caught it????!!!!

Sue: He kept drinking the pink Champagne on ice and staring at the mirrors on the ceiling.

Two of my top hotel experiences have been in Vienna: Hotel Imperial and Hotel Altstadt. Third was the Schloss Kronberg in Frankfurt. All were both comfortable and luxurious. I am kind of fond of luxury.

Full disclosure: we don't generally stay in very expensive hotels. Even when I was employed, I never worked in a position in which one could reasonably expense, say, a Four Seasons or a Mandarin Oriental.

The Fairmont Royal York in Toronto.

A benefit of being on a tour. If I'd been doing the same itinerary myself, I'd have chosen a (much) cheaper, less convenient hotel. But given that it was the precursor to a winter trip on The Canadian train (having arrived in from Halifax on the train via Montreal) it was the perfect and natural precursor to the journey ahead.

Sue, that hotel still ranks as one of the best holiday experiences ever. The hotel, the location, the cost the beach, the people, the food. Just hard to replace.

jphbucks, great things dont have to be fancy or expensive. The Hotel California I mentioned above cost about the same as a 3 star in Vienna. Hotel Kraljevac in Bosnia was 35 euro a night, the Moxy in Bucharest runs about 100 euro a night. My runner-ups were all a tad expensive but didn't make the final cut.

sue, in 1977 I was doing a short stint as a radio statio DJ. I loved the Eagles because a lot of their stuff ran a bit long and I could race to the restroom. To this day ... well until first the tapes and then the computers took over and killed the DJ's, I knew why Stairway to Heaven and American Pie were playing.

The Old Cataract Hotel in Aswan, Egypt. My single room on a tour turned out to be a huge multi room suite with balcony overlooking the Nile. Impeccable service, nice pool, great breakfast on the terrace, an enthusiastic complementary tour of the hotel to show off the Agatha Christie memorabilia, the room where Churchill stayed, etc.
On the other end of the spectrum, there was that $2 room on Khao San Road in Bangkok with the dangling naked light bulb and the literally cardboard walls.

I concur with Slate. The Old Cataract Hotel was fabulous! The other would be The Table Bay Hotel in Cape Town, South Africa. The breakfast was really breakfast, lunch and dinner with everything you could imagine to eat. They even had a separate room dedicated to just juice. Is the breakfast still that fabulous? Who knows. I told my husband that when it’s time to be in assisted living that the Table Bay Hotel is where I want to be.

Two hotels come to mind, both were 'bolted on' to trips revolved around Rick Steves' tours. The first and absolute best was a five-night stay at Hotel Imperial in Vienna. A block from the Opera House and centrally located to all the Habsburg-related sights, our 'week' here following Rick's GAS Tour was the perfect venue to exhale and see Vienna in its most charming light. The second was in Paris, leading into a (France)MyWay Tour, where we stayed five nights at Prince de Galles on Avenue George V [8th arrondissement]. We're not accustomed to staying at five-star hotels (full disclosure, each of these stays were procured with Bonvoy/Marriott points) but I can understand the appeal to those who can afford.

I have been to the Schloss Hotel in Kronberg and would love to stay there. Afraid I can't afford it. Eisenhower stayed here and the filmed the movie "Diane" here.

Best place I have ever stayed was in Strausbourg, in Petit France. The hotel was Regent Petit France. I was assisting a tour group, so didn't have to pay for it. Room was huge, bathroom too, but the best part was the breakfast buffet where I could sit outside on the canal, admiring the 100s of flower boxes, boats, and the half-timbered buildings. Every morning, I pinched myself, thrilled that this was part of my job. https://regent-petite-france.com/?lang=en

2nd place was in Celle, again, part of a tour group job. Althoff Hotel Fürstenhof. Just lovely and with a pool. Fabulous food too.

Not technically a hotel but Gimmelwald Youth Hostel back in the days when Lena was running it. 2 week long stays back in the 80s. The best location, great old buildings, woderful people, the funnest of times. Looking back now those remain quite easily my best travel memories and experiences.
I seldom stay " indoors" when I travel so not a big number of hotel stays. In more modern times I would pick Walter's Mittaghorn in Gimmelwald (Walter's no longer with us). Basically the same reasons as per the Hostel.
Location wise it is hard to beat the old Obersteinberg Mountain Hotel. Another great building too. The bonus with it is it is a working farm and it's lack of modcons, no electricity and no hot water, also you have to hike a fair distance to reach it.

On our honeymoon, in the early 90s, we splurged on a lake view room at Chateau Lake Louise. We had no money, but falling asleep under the duvet with the sound of the alpenhorn playing over the lake was so nice that I went down the next morning to extend our stay. As I walked up to the front desk, he greeted me by name. I was always amazed that he remembered me out of 500 guests. That customer service anecdote always stuck with me.

Hotel Olivedo is a Rick Steves hotel located right smack in front of the Varenna ferry dock. Dinner outside in the Lake Como fog was so memorable that I taught myself how to make the dish. Every Christmas Eve since 1999 we make those same ravioli with brown butter and sage. I was surprised to learn that Laura is still the innkeeper. She was a hoot. She made me speak my beginner Italian or slightly less poor German the whole stay.

The Blue Dolphin Motel in Sanibel doesn't exist anymore. A lonely survivor from the golden age of 60s road trips finally got demolished and converted to a "nicer" hotel.

We rarely book 5 star hotels, unless our tour company included them in our tour. A few years ago we did a Gate 1 Tour of Egypt that included five star hotels from Marriott in Cairo that were great.

The very best Bed and Breakfast we have ever stayed in was in Porto, Portugal. It only had five rooms, but the rooms were very spacious and the B & B service was outstanding, including a fantastic breakfast unequaled.

We live close to the Cloister on Sea Island, Georgia and have dined at that hotel's restaurant. The quality of the meal was great and service was unbelievable. We didn't stay there, but my Son did, so we never saw the rooms.

Note that I do not have much experience with top-rated hotels. They are simply places I do not stay at.

However--especially for service--my nomination is the Hotel Agnes in Prague. It is a relatively small property that lacks the amenities associated with five-star and even many four-star hotels. But check its ratings on Trip Advisor and find me a hotel that gets higher rankings and more favorable comments.

Regarding service, I offer the following:

--When I arrived in Prague by train, the hotel picked me up at the station. The owner was waiting for me holding a placard with my name. Because I was staying three nights, the hotel would have picked me up free of charge from the airport.

--In the ride to the hotel, you receive an orientation of the city.

--You check in not at the front desk but at a table in the lobby. Because I arrived early in the morning, I had breakfast on the house. When people check in later in the day, there are served drinks and refreshments. During check-in, the hotel makes clear that it wants to do whatever it can to help you enjoy Prague.

--Throughout my stay, the hotel's personnel knew me by name. Again, throughout my stay, the hotel's mission seemed to be how could it enhance my stay--could it set up tours, dinner reservations, concerts.

--I had minor laundry work done without charge.

--I asked for a recommendation of a barber. A hotel employee walked with me down the street to a hair salon where I was introduced to someone who could give me a haircut.

--In Prague, I was transferring from the Agnes to another hotel for a RS tour. Learning of my plans, the hotel--on its own--offered without charge to transfer my luggage to the second hotel.

About 40 years ago, I stayed at Hotel Pierre in New York and got upgraded to a suite with two bedrooms and two bathrooms. (Needless to say, it was a business trip, so I wasn’t paying.) When I got in a taxi one day, the cab driver asked me where I was going. I said, “Hotel Pierre,” and he responded, “Hotel Utopia?” I wanted to say, “Yes, that’s right.”

For a number of esoteric reasons my favorite hotel is Nassauer Hof In Wiesbaden. Posh service, wonderful rooms (especially in the original portion of the hotel) a location close to the Fussganger. Our last night in Germany after living there for 13 years was with this delightful experience. Several years before leaving we introduced our teenage children to fine dining at Nassauer Hof’s restaurant “Die Ente” All in all this place was FANTASTIC.

Im not sure what criteria make a hotel best. I've stayed at a couple of Ritz-Carltons if posh is the measure. My favorite place was the Banff Springs Hotel in Alberta, but I like old luxury. We stayed multiple times at the Ka'anapali Beach Hotel in Maui because we like the location and friendliness, but its been bought out by a corporation so dont know what its like now.

isn31c My husband also loves Fairmonts. His favorite hotel is in Banff and I think it was a Fairmont
geovagriffith you may have just outed yourself as living on St Simons, another place we love. The Cloister is the only expensive hotel I've ever wanted to stay in because I grew up in GA and it was the one we always heard about.
Stan, "Best" is whatever that term means to you.

Hotel Olivedo is a Rick Steves hotel located right smack in front of the Varenna ferry dock

Chris, I forgot about this place! We had a terrific, very large lakefront room to die for! Owner a bit quirky indeed, but didn’t overshadow our enjoyment,

Not so much the rooms or the shared bath down the hall, but for best lobby atmosphere, I nominate Paradise Inn at Mt. Rainier. My memories are from July 2002, so before everyone had a mobile phone.

A crackling and snapping fire in the large fireplace, guests scattered about on chairs and sofas talking quietly or silently watching the flames. Families at the tables playing checkers or board games. The sound of voices wafting in from the little snug bar (not sure if that's still there). And that year, snow all the way to the edge of the parking lot. With each new arrival, we would look up to see who was walking in, then turn our attention back to another log being placed on the fire.

I typically stay in about ten hotels or B&B’s during a trip, so this will just be the first ones that come to mind:

• Prettiest hotel setting. The Imperial Palace on Lake Annecy. I reserved their least expensive option, but they upgraded us for some reason to a room with a large side terrace & view of the lake.
• Most unusual/quirky. This one is no longer an option, but it was a little apartment in the Lyon Vieux traboules, up a stone circular staircase after going through a thick wood door at the street. Other fun types were staying in a trullo in Alberobello & a modernized cave in Matera.
• Most special feature. The Hotel Stephensplatz in Vienna upgraded our room for our 4-night stay. I had reserved their least expensive room, and they gave us one of the top floor humongous rooms where the bathroom was the size of our normal European rooms. The very special feature was that we looked directly across at the level of the beautiful designed tile roof of St. Stephens. Before I fell asleep each night, I would open my eyes a few more times to look across at the illuminated roof design.
• Best B&B host hospitality. This is a 2-way tie between Glyntwrog House at Betws-y-Coed, Wales & the B&B Regina in Tivoli, Italy. Both of them were outstanding in every way.

Others from several people are listed in this post:

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/general-europe/favorite-hotel-or-b-b-experience-in-europe