The Top 100 Hotels in the World

by Justin Glow on

As odd as it was to have some of the most extreme poverty I’d ever witnessed co-existing with the most grandiose luxury, it was no coincidence that the nicest hotel I’d ever been to was in India. I didn’t have the privilege of staying at the JW Marriot on Mumbai’s Juhu Beach (I was there for a wedding reception), but I did spend plenty of time getting lost in the lavishly decorated hallways leading to the pool and deck area. While the hotel guests were served fantastic, Indian-flavored hors d’oeuvres on one side of the massive, guarded concrete pillar, thousands of Mumbai’s poorest combed the beach for broken bottles, and peddled their wares to the tourists on the other.

And this hotel wasn’t even one of the “nice” ones. Udaipur, India’s Oberoi Udavilas (pictured right) scored the number one spot in Travel and Leisures 2007 World’s Best Hotels award. This is the first time an Indian hotel as scored first. Here are the top ten hotels in the world:

  1. Oberoi Udaivilas, Udaipur, India
  2. Singita Sabi Sand/Kruger National Park, South Africa
  3. The Oriental, Bangkok
  4. Four Seasons Hotel Istanbul at Sultanahmet, Turkey
  5. The Milestone, London
  6. Relais Il Falconiere, Cortona, Italy
  7. Sabi Sabi Private Game Reserve, Sabi Sands, South Africa
  8. Mandarin Oriental, Munich
  9. Four Seasons Resort Hualalai, Hawaii
  10. Oberoi Amarvilas, Agra, India

For the rest of the list, visit Travel +Leisure. [via]

Photo of the Day (1/3/07)

by Adrienne Wilson on


Today’s photo selection out of the Gadling Flickr pool comes from kelake. Taken in Bangkok, this cool shot of a bicycle standing alone, waiting to be taken on a Southeast Asian excursion caught my attention. It almost looks as though the back wall is a dark forest green color, though the photo appears to be B&W. Good stuff though and I hope to see more Thailand pics from kelake in the near future.

Wallpaper* City Guides

by Adrienne Wilson on

Just when you start to sleep on Wallpaper* they go and make their debut in the publishing world with these nice little City Guides. Their reason being, after 10 years in the game uncovering the best new design and urban travel spots globally, packaging that decade of experience into well-thought out yet simple guide books was only obviously. They make it clear that the traveler’s time is as important as their own and they don’t waste it chucking in massive quantities. It’s about quality and they very best. The first 20 were published this past September and another 20 will be published every six months after that. Current titles include Mexico City, Los Angeles, NYC, Madrid, Bangkok and Stockholm to name only a few.

The books can be purchased at Phaidon. Don’t see what you’re looking for? Stay tuned for the rest in 2007!

Bangkok’s New Airport

by Erik Olsen on

Worldhum alerts us to some rather interesting news out of Thailand. Even though the coup there has disrupted the political climate a bit, the Thais were nonetheless able to open a new airport. And not just any airport, but the largest airport in Southeast Asia…no small feat, that.

I’ve traveled to Thailand a number of time over the years and I can tell you with assurance that the old Bangkok airport was heinous. I have a picture of it on my own Website here. The new airport (pictured here) appears to be a gleaming modernist structure resembling rolling waves…no wait, a centipede…or, um, a snake that just ate a bunch of ping pong balls…aw, heck, I don’t know. But I DO know that the country was in need of a new airport and it’s nice to see they got one.

The new Suvarnabhumi Airport was built on an area known as “Cobra Swamp,” a positive omen if ever there was one, and it officially opened its doors Thursday, more than four decades after the project originated (hey, better late than never). As Worldhum points out, the International Herald Tribune, has a piece saying that the airport can handle some 45 million passengers a year, and will “surpass Hong Kong as a regional air hub.” Maybe, but I doubt it.