Macau Leads The World in Five-Star Hotels According To Forbes

Macau has emerged as the big winner in the Forbes Travel Guide 2018 Star Award Winners. The annual list of the world’s best hotels, restaurants and spas is now in its 60th year, and this year’s list is the largest yet.

For the first time, Macau surpassed Paris as the city with the most five-star hotels and restaurants. In total, 12 of Macau’s hotels were awarded five-star status. This places Macau in the top spot, followed by Paris with 10 five-star hotels, London with nine and Hong Kong with eight.

Among the Macau properties that were awarded five-star status by the prestigious travel guide were Altira, Banyan Tree, Conrad, Encore, Four Seasons, Mandarin Oriental, MGM, Nüwa (former Crown Towers), Star Tower (at Studio City), Wynn Macau, Wynn Palace and The Ritz-Carlton.

Macau was also the most awarded city in the restaurants category, with a total of 12 restaurants receiving the five-star accolade, one more than last year. The Macau five-star restaurants include Aurora (Altira), Belon (Banyan Tree), Golden Flower (Encore), Il Teatro, Mizumi and Wing Lei (Wynn), Jade Dragon (City of Dreams), Shinji by Kanesaka, Sushi Mizumi, The Tasting Room (City of Dreams), Tenmasa and Vida Rica (Mandarin Oriental).

According to its editors, Forbes Travel Guide uses incognito inspectors to evaluate properties based on up to 900 objective standards. Their scoring system, ‘the most exacting in the industry’, weighs service at 75% and facility quality at 25%. Their overall aim is to emphasise graciousness, thoughtfulness and personalised service.

In a further boost to the city’s five-star hotels and restaurants, last year Macau was designated ‘a creative city of gastronomy’ by UNESCO. This was largely in honour of the city’s 400-plus-year old culinary legacy and reputation as a city where chefs come from all over to introduce their new dishes to Asia.