The Best Hotels & Resorts Awards returned to Washington, D.C. this year with a singular focus: celebrating the hospitality brands shaping what travel will look and feel like in the decade ahead. In a city known for diplomacy and gravitas, the 2025 ceremony unfolded as both a global showcase and a quiet assertion of where luxury, sustainability, and guest-centric design are now converging.

Hosted by Wanderlust Tips magazine, the annual event drew leading hotel groups, boutique innovators, sustainability trailblazers, and a constellation of industry voices—from hotel executives and travel journalists to content creators who chronicle the future of leisure one destination at a time.

The evening’s atmosphere carried a cosmopolitan polish: an elegant fusion of cultures, aesthetics, and influences that mirrored the global ambitions of the awards themselves. More than 40 categories were presented, spanning hotspring sanctuaries, private-island hideaways, lifestyle hotels, family resorts, eco-retreats, wellness destinations, and standout leadership across the sector.

What distinguished this year’s edition was less the glamour onstage and more the rigor behind it. Organizers emphasized a comprehensive evaluation model that brought together an international panel of experts and real traveler feedback—an approach that allowed the awards to maintain their reputation as one of the industry’s most credible and anticipated benchmarks. For many attendees, that credibility is the real currency: an affirmation that speaks not only to brand prestige but to guest trust at a moment when travelers are discerning, values-driven, and deeply attuned to authenticity.

The night also underscored the role Wanderlust Tips continues to play as a connective force in global travel culture. Known for profiling destinations with narrative elegance and a journalist’s curiosity, the publication once again positioned the awards as more than a trophy-collecting affair. It served as a live forum for conversations that are reshaping hospitality—from digital transformation to hyper-personalized service, from regenerative travel to the responsibility hotels carry in the broader ecosystem of sustainable development.

Anchored by the theme “Experience the Future of Hospitality,” the discussions felt less like trendspotting and more like an invitation to redefine what luxury and comfort mean in a world where impact matters as much as indulgence.

As the gala drew to a close, winning brands were celebrated with quiet pride and the kind of applause that signaled genuine admiration from peers who understand what it takes to stay exceptional in a rapidly evolving landscape. Organizers expressed gratitude to partners and guests who helped craft an evening that resonated far beyond the ballroom—an affirmation of a community determined to elevate travel not just as an industry, but as an experience that moves people.

With momentum carrying into the next season, registration for the Best Hotels & Resorts Awards 2026 is now officially open. From urban landmarks and beachfront icons to sustainable resorts, wellness retreats, business hotels, and emerging concepts yet to define themselves, the field is wide and the invitation broad. Participating brands gain not only the possibility of global recognition but also access to Wanderlust Tips’ extensive media platforms and an international network of travel, business, and cultural partners.

As Washington’s lights dimmed on the 2025 celebration, one sentiment lingered: the hospitality world is in a transformative moment, and these awards continue to be where that evolution is both recognized and propelled forward.

The organizing committee offers its warm congratulations to this year’s winners and looks ahead with anticipation—see you at the Best Hotels & Resorts Awards 2026, where excellence meets its next chapter.