“16 hotels – ranging from three-century-old palaces to seaside marvels – made it to the Prix Versailles’ ‘World’s Most Beautiful Hotels List 2026’.” by Luo Jingmei
The ArcadiaPlace, Lugu Lake perches 2,690 metres high above the Sichuan lakeshore; designed by architect Lu Yang, it composes custom ceramic tiles, jade-coloured bathtubs, and natural materials into worlds abstracting nature’s wonders outside the window.
In Tbilisi, Georgia, The Telegraph Hotel is an adaptive reuse of a monumental structure designed in 1964 by Georgian architects Lado Alexi Meskhishvili and Teimuraz Mikashavidze; Shanghai-based architectural design firm Neri&Hu transformed it into a miniature city with internal laneways and communal balconies reminiscent of historic Georgian residential complexes.
These are two of the 16 properties across the world that were listed in the Prix Versailles’ World’s Most Beautiful Hotels List 2026. The result was announced on 12 May 2026, a few weeks after the first list of museum recipients were released. In the following months, the selections for the restaurants, airports, emporiums, campuses, passenger stations, and sports venues will be announced sequentially, culminating at the end of the year with a few of these recipients receiving a further distinction of a World Title – Prix Versailles, Interior or Exterior.
The Telegraph Hotel
“The World’s Most Beautiful Hotels List for 2026 includes not only reinterpretations of historical buildings – like palaces and other protected structures – but also more immersive projects with close ties to their natural or urban environments,” said Jérôme Gouadain, Prix Versailles Secretary General.
He adds, “These two trends, both of which revolve around culture, are inescapable today. Like last year, the crux of the architects’ and designers’ work focused on each venue’s personality, emotional appeal, and internal coherence.” Since 2015, the Prix Versailles is announced each year at the Paris headquarters of UNESCO. The architectural awards highlight the best contemporary projects worldwide. It is not seen not as a stylistic exercise, but a foundational discipline to humanity.
“With selection criteria that simultaneously consider each project’s innovation, creativity, reflection of local heritage and ecological efficiency, the Prix Versailles helps to direct the collective gaze towards diverse and meaningful projects of the highest quality – precisely the features that pave the way for a fully sustainable form of tourism,” says Gouadain.
In this year’s hotel list is: The ArcadiaPlace in Lugu Lake, Yanyuan, China; The Oberoi Rajgarh Palace in Khajuraho, India; The Silk Lakehouse, Shangri-La Hangzhou in Hangzhou, China; Orient Express La Minerva in Rome, Italy; Sir Prague in Prague, Czech Republic; Splendido, A Belmond Hotel in Portofino, Italy; Chiemgauhof Lakeside Retreat in Übersee, Germany; Kasbah d’If in Marrakesh, Morocco; La Fondation in Paris, France; Naboa in Tulum, Mexico; Les Roches in Le Lavandou, France; Soori Penang in George Town, Malaysia; The Telegraph Hotel in Tbilisi, Georgia; Desert rock in Hanak, Saudi Arabia; Villa Dubrovnik in Dubrovnik, Croatia; and Maison Mystique in Khao Yai, Thailand.
We highlight a few of these marvels and their architecture:
Maison Mystique
Located in Ban Khao Wong in Khao Yai, Thailand, Maison Mystique is, as its name suggests, a house of mystery and wonder. Katechanok ‘Fearn’ Dhadasih creates an imaginary, old school world that ignites the senses and recalls storybook settings. It is set within a 70,000 sqm paradise of mountains and lush landscaped parks. The dramatic design was inspired by grand countryside estates with manors filled with secret gardens, storied rooms, grand staircases and vine-covered stonewalls.
The Oberoi Rajgarh Palace
This hotel in Khajuraho, India is a receptacle of 350 years of history and mystic. It sits at the gateway to Panna National park where tigers roam. Its first life was a fortress before becoming a palace. Under the supervision of architect Ravi Kumar Gupta, the building was restored to its former glory. The hotel offers spectacular vistas of hillsides, forests and a lake. The theme of water sees reflecting pools and narrow channels threading through the hotel.
Splendido, A Belmond Hotel
Here is another property offering spectacular views – this time, of the Ligurian Sea. Located in Portofino, Italy, Splendido, A Belmond Hotel takes over a former 16th century Benedictine monastery. Martin Brudnizki Design Studio restored the structure and updated it to the Belmond brand’s level of excellence and grace. At the end of the property’s park is Villa Beatrice that features eclectic Art Nouveau- and Gothic Revivalstyle architecture. The former summer residence is now open to visitors for the first time ever.
Soori Penang
Penang has seen many new hotel openings of late, but none as bespoke and exquisite as Soori Penang. Its architect and owner, Singapore-based Soo K. Chan, spearheads the project with love, being an original inhabitant of one of the shophouses near the famous Khoo Kongsi clan house temple. Hotel guests have special access to these grounds when gates are closed to the public daily. They retreat into spacious, restored shophouses finished with Chan’s signature style of refined temperance. Temple stone lions stand sentry at points amid textures of lime plaster, timber, stone, bronze, and crackled porcelain wall panels.