Boutique hotel experts Mr & Mrs Smith last night (Thursday 7 November) announced the winners of their first ever hotel awards – a celebration of the world's best boltholes and a marker of the evolution of the boutique hotel industry over the last decade.
Hundreds of people gathered in London for the landmark event where winners in 12 categories, including Sexiest Bedroom, Hottest Hotel Bar and – the big one – the Best Smith Hotel 2013 were unveiled.
After the public vote, shortlists of the top 10 hotels in each category were put to a panel of 36 specialist judges, including journalist and presenter Neale Whitaker, chef Marcus Wareing and design guru Ilse Crawford.
The judges cast their votes, and the 12 winning hotels were named as follows (drumroll please…)
1. Best-Dressed Hotel
WINNER Alila Villas Uluwatu Bali, Indonesia – Staking a stylish claim on Bali's rugged Bukit Peninsula, this is a cool, contemporary cliffhanger of a resort which delivers dramatic eco-friendly design in a jaw-dropping setting.
SECOND Uxua Casa Hotel & Spa, Bahia, Brazil
THIRD JK Place Capri Hotel, Capri, Italy
2. Sexiest Bedroom in the World
WINNER Blakes Hotel London, UK – Arguably the original boutique hotel, Anouska Hempel's wickedly opulent Kensington hideaway has been discreetly looking after lovebirds for over 25 years. It's hard to imagine a more alluring setting for seduction than the honeymoon-perfect, white-on-white Corfu Suite.
SECOND Ca Maria Adele, Venice, Italy
THIRD Secret Bay, Dominica, Dominica
3. Hottest Hotel Bar
WINNER Ace Hotel New York New York, USA – Hip, quirky and brimming with confidence, the Ace's bar channels the spirit of its home city perfectly, and bustles with moving, shaking New Yorkers both day and night. They come for the cocktails, ingeniously crafted by Milk & Honey's Sasha Petraske, they stay for the electric ambience.
SECOND The Zetter Townhouse, London, UK
THIRD Fasano Rio, Rio De Janeiro, Brazil
4. Best Hotel Restaurant
WINNER Bastide de Moustiers Provence, France – Alain Ducasse's Provençal hideaway is a love poem to the surrounding area, a gastronome's daydream that showcases the finest local produce in a daily changing menu of delectably inventive dishes. There's no frippery or unnecessary extras; just simple, seasonal ingredients, intelligently prepared and served in a truly beautiful place.
SECOND Lake House, Daylesford, Australia
THIRD Bells at Killcare, Central Coast, Australia
5. Best Spa Hotel
WINNER Como Shambhala Estate Bali, Indonesia – Como's flagship retreat in Ubud renowned for its holistic back-to-nature approach, and promises to soothe, relax, cosset and revivify – while surrounding you in totally tropical, thatched-pavilion, wall-to-wall waterfall luxury.
SECOND Lime Wood, Hampshire, UK
THIRD Bora Bora Pearl Beach Resort & Spa, Bora Bora, French Polynesia
6. The Eco Award
WINNER Sextantio Albergo Diffuso Abruzzo, Italy – Albergo Diffuso is more than a hotel, it's a whole new accommodation concept built around restoration and sustainability. Spread around the buildings of what was an abandoned village high in the Italian Apennines, the project hasn't just created an utterly unique place to stay, it has reinvigorated an entire mountain village that would otherwise have been lost to history.
SECOND Song Saa Private Island Hotel, Koh Rong Islands, Cambodia
THIRD Emirates Wolgan Valley Resort & Spa, Blue Mountains, Australia
7. Best for Families
WINNER Soneva Kiri Koh Kood, Thailand – With a breathtaking jungle-meets-ocean setting, switched-on service and fun-loving attitude, eco-friendly Soneva Kiri takes luxury family holidays to a new level. The free kids' club the Den is beyond impressive: Dutch eco-architect Olav Bruin asked groups of children to design their dream play area – and then built on that.
SECOND Borgo Egnazia, Puglia, Italy
THIRD Martinhal Beach Resort, Algarve, Portugal
8. Best Budget Hotel
WINNER Brody House Budapest, Hungary – More than just a boutique bolthole, Brody House is also a members' club with a stylish bar, a sometime film and fashion-shoot set, and a hub of local creativity with a calendar crammed full of art events and book readings. The very reasonable room rate gives you honorary membership to Brody's members' club rooms and events.
SECOND Ace Hotel & Swim Club, Palm Springs, USA
THIRD Home Hotel, Buenos Aires, Argentina
9. The Greatest Outdoors
WINNER Dunton Hot Springs Colorado, United States – This unique mountain hideaway takes you straight back into the big-sky wilderness of the Old West, complete with log cabins, snow-capped peaks, not-so-lonesome pines and a perch on the porch to admire it all from. And, of course, there are the hot springs, which ensure that Dunton is a year-round alfresco spa haven.
SECOND Huka Lodge, Lake Taupo, New Zealand
THIRD Sal Salis, Ningaloo Reef, Australia
10. Above & Beyond
WINNER The Upper House Hong Kong – The Upper House may be in the heart of the city, but you'll feel a tranquil world away from the moment you're met in the lobby by your personal 'guest experience manager'. This hotel prides itself on making stays simple, sedate and hassle free.
SECOND Riad Farnatchi, Marrakech, Morocco
THIRD Southern Ocean Lodge, Kangaroo Island, Australia
11. Best Newcomer
WINNER Fogo Island Inn Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada – This Todd Saunders-designed beauty is a heartfelt home-from-home set against a sublime crashing-ocean backdrop. Although the bold, Scandinavian-style architecture is as modern as it gets, the inn is inspired by long-standing community tradition. Every detail – from the eco-conscious practices right down to the hand-loomed rugs – connects back to the island and its end-of-the-Earth remoteness only adds to the allure.
SECOND Kurà, Costa Rica
THIRD Das Stue, Berlin, Germany
12. Best Smith Hotel 2013
WINNER Post Ranch Inn California, USA – Clinging to a clifftop along California's wild west coast, this big-name Big Sur sanctuary manages to melt into the dramatic surrounds while showcasing dreamy design within. Cabins and cottages hover at the rocky edge (or teeter among the trees), each offering an eyeful of Pacific Ocean 1,200 feet below. The setting alone would put this hotel on most travellers' wish lists, but combined with the luxury of a fireside massage, three infinity pools, clifftop hot tubs and a one-of-a-kind restaurant, it offers, quite simply, one of the world's very best places to stay.
SECOND Alila Villas Uluwatu, Bali, Indonesia
THIRD Babington House, Cotswolds, UK
"When we started Smith in 2003, I never imagined we'd one day be announcing the world's best boutique hotels" said Mr & Mrs Smith co-founder James Lohan. "But for our 10th birthday, we felt that launching our first awards would be the perfect way to celebrate how far boutique hotels have come over the years. We were overwhelmed by the response – nearly 50,000 people from all over the world voted for their favourite Smith hotels – and I'm thrilled with the eventual roster of winners: it's a rock-solid hot-list of the world's most desirable hotels."
NOTES FOR EDITORS
Mr & Mrs Smith is an award-winning hotel website, booking service and free-to-join travel club, specialising in finding the world's most inspiring boutique hotels. Founded in 2003, Smith has published nine coffee-table guidebooks and maintains a hand-picked and anonymously reviewed collection of around 900 of the world's most stylish stays at mrandmrssmith.com.
The judging process
Voting was open to the public from 9 September to 9 October 2013. Each category was then whittled down to a shortlist of the top 10 properties, that were then put forward to an expert judging panel.
More information
More details on the winners, judges and shortlisted hotels in each category can be found at Smithhotelawards.com. To book any of the hotels in the collection visit mrandmrssmith.com or call the expert Travel Team on 1300 89 66 27.
For further press information including images please contact:
Alexandra Rutman
Marketing Executive
Mr & Mrs Smith
mrandmrssmith.com
Direct +61 3 8678 2008
Tel +61 3 9419 6671
Fax +61 3 9650 7290
