Tourism | Macau, HK hotels retain lead in Forbes Travel Guide

The 58th annual Forbes Travel Guide was unveiled last week showing that Macau and Hong Kong have retained their lead in the hotel award categories of Triple, Quadruple and Quintuple Five-Star Winners.
The Forbes Travel Guide awarded 44 Five-Star ratings for “Hotel, Restaurant and Spa” properties located in the two Special Administrative Regions, out of a total of 154 ratings awarded worldwide.
Macau’s number of properties in the coveted list jumped to nine, with MGM Macau earning its first Five-Star rating this year. This equates Macau with Paris in terms of the number of top-rated hotels.
Both of the quintuple Five-Star winners (hotel, three restaurants, and a spa within one property) are located in the two SARs: Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong, and Wynn Macau.
The two quadruple winning properties (hotel, two restaurants and a spa) are located in Macau: the Altira Macau and the Crown Towers Macau.
Three of the nine Triple winners (hotel, restaurant and spa) are also situated in the two territories: the Landmark Mandarin Oriental, Banyan Tree Macau and Mandarin Oriental Macau.
Three new properties in mainland China achieved their first-ever Five-­Star listings, bringing the total of such listings in China up to 10. The new entrants include the Four Seasons Hotel Hangzhou at West Lake, the Mandarin Oriental in Guangzhou, and the Ritz-Carlton Pudong in Shanghai.
Taiwan debuted on the list with three Four-Star hotels, namely the Grand Hyatt Taipei; the Regent Taipei; and the Shangri-La Taipei.
The Forbes Travel Guide currently rates properties in 29 countries throughout the Americas, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region, but expects to double the number of countries surveyed next year as the guide’s scope is set to expand into the Middle East and Africa.
“[The guide’s top-listed properties] set an unimpeachable standard of excellence in hospitality at a moment when the proliferation of voices claiming to provide unbiased ratings online is exploding,” said Gerard J. Inzerillo, CEO of Forbes Travel Guide.