World’s 50 Best Hotels panel says Macau failed to attract judges in 2025 rankings

Macau did not place any hotels in the 2025 World’s 50 Best Hotels rankings, with organizers saying the city lacked sufficient exposure among the judging panel over the past two years.

In November last year, organizers released the 2025 results of the World’s 50 Best Hotel Awards, which crowned Hong Kong’s Rosewood Hotel the best hotel of the year.

In a list of several hotel units across Asia and neighboring regions, including Hong Kong, Bangkok, Singapore, Beijing, Tokyo, and Kyoto, to mention just a few, no hotel in Macau made the list, including the extended version (Top 100).
When inquired by the Times about the details and criteria that led to the decision, organizers explained that the “World’s 50 Best Hotels list is compiled from the votes of The World’s 50 Best Hotels Academy, which comprises more than 800 industry experts from across the globe, including hoteliers, journalists, business travellers, and other well-travelled experts.”

While noting that all hotel unit styles are eligible for inclusion, regardless of setting, facilities, or number of rooms, the final results ultimately depend on the panel of over 800 industry experts’ visits to the units, which result in logged evaluations.

“While many hotels on the list are in popular destinations like Paris and Bangkok, this reflects where our voters have actually travelled in the past two years and identified their best hotel experiences,” the awards organizers told the Times, noting that no unit from Macau has made it to the list since these industry professionals have either not traveled to Macau in the past two years or have not done so often enough to meet the criteria for a valid evaluation.

Ultimately, Macau was not included on the 2025 list because, in the previous two years, it lacked appeal to members of the judging panel.

Still, organizers noted that the award list changes each year, with “previously represented destinations that drop off the list to make way for new entries.”

Such a fact involves a “myriad explanations as to why some cities or indeed regions have a strong showing – it could be an indication of shifting travel preferences, or it could also represent that a geographical area is becoming more important,” they explained.

“Ultimately, the list is ever-evolving and changing in line with traveler patterns and industry movements,” the same organizers remarked.

On the Top 50 list, besides the top spot held by Rosewood Hong Kong, highlighted hotels include the Four Seasons Bangkok at Chao Phraya River, the Capella Bangkok, Passalacqua – Lake Como (Italy), Raffles Singapore, Atlantis The Royal (Dubai), Mandarin Oriental Bangkok, Chablé Yucatán (Mexico), Four Seasons Firenze (Italy), The Upper House (Hong Kong), the Copacabana Palace – Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), the Capella Sydney (Australia), Royal Mansour – Marrakech (Morocco), and the Mandarin Oriental Qianmen – Beijing (China), among others.

The neighboring region of Hong Kong placed three hotels in the Top 50, adding another two to the Top 100.

Bangkok also placed three hotels in the Top 50, including two in the Top 3, and added four more to the Top 100, bringing the total to seven.