Forbes Five-Star Hotels (2026): How the Rating Works and Where They Are
Forbes Five-Star hotels explained: how anonymous inspectors rate, what Five-Star means, and a selection of the 2026 Forbes Travel Guide hotels by US state and country.
At a glance
Forbes Travel Guide Star Awards 2026
- Five-Star hotels worldwide
- 343
- Among 2,422 award-winning properties, per the Forbes Travel Guide release carried by Hospitality Net, February 2026
- Announced
- February 10, 2026
- Per the Forbes Travel Guide stories site
- Inspection
- Anonymous, 2 nights minimum
- Up to 900 objective criteria, per Forbes Travel Guide
- City with most Five-Star hotels
- Macau
- 28 Five-Star hotels, per the 2026 winners story and the official winners page
Forbes Five-Star hotels are the properties that Forbes Travel Guide’s anonymous inspectors rate at the top of its scale, and the 2026 winners were announced on February 10, 2026, per the Forbes Travel Guide stories site. The 2026 list has 343 Five-Star hotels among 2,422 award-winning properties, per the Forbes Travel Guide release carried by Hospitality Net.
This guide explains how the rating works and what separates Five-Star from Four-Star and Recommended, then lists a selection of the 2026 Five-Star hotels by US state and by country. The complete list, with the Five-Star filter, is on the official winners page. For a general ranking that mixes several awards, see the best hotels in the world. The wider luxury hotels section covers individual cities and islands.
How Forbes Travel Guide Rates Hotels
Forbes Travel Guide says it inspects every hotel, restaurant, spa and cruise ship in person, per its About page. That matters because many hotel lists are built from reader votes or editor opinion. This one is built from inspections.
Anonymous Inspections
Inspectors visit anonymously, as typical guests would, per Forbes Travel Guide. Hotel stays span a minimum of two nights, and the organization says it pays its own way, so no one can buy a rating. The 2026 winners story describes the ratings as independent and data-driven.
The practical point for you: a Forbes rating is a measure of how the hotel treated an unannounced guest, not how it presented itself to a visitor it expected.
The Standards
Forbes Travel Guide says each hotel is judged against up to 900 objective criteria. It also says service carries the most weight, because the guest’s feeling about the visit is what people remember most. The 2026 winners story states that exceptional service accounts for 70% of a property’s rating.
That weighting explains a pattern in the list. A hotel can have a famous building and still miss Five-Star if the service is uneven, and a smaller property can earn it with consistent, personal attention.
Five-Star vs Four-Star vs Recommended
Forbes Travel Guide defines the tiers this way, per its About page:
| Tier | What Forbes says | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Five-Star | An “outstanding experience” with a consistently highly customized level of service | Forbes Travel Guide, About |
| Four-Star | Exceptional properties with high service and matching quality of facility | Forbes Travel Guide, About |
| Recommended | Excellent properties with consistently good service and facilities | Forbes Travel Guide, About |
| Soon To Be Rated | Editors preview a property before the anonymous inspections are complete | Forbes Travel Guide, About |
Is a Forbes Five-Star the same as a 5-star hotel? No. “5-star” on a booking site is usually a label the hotel or the platform chose. A Forbes Five-Star is the result of a named inspection program with published tiers.
Forbes Five-Star Hotels in the USA
The table below is a selection of US Five-Star hotels from the official 2026 winners page (forbestravelguide.com/award-winners, November 2026), by state. It covers the states Arizona to Texas and leaves out spas and restaurants, which Forbes lists separately. The official page has the full US list, including states not shown here.
| State | Hotel | City | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arizona | The Ritz-Carlton, Dove Mountain | Marana | Forbes Travel Guide, 2026 |
| Arizona | The Canyon Suites at The Phoenician | Scottsdale | Forbes Travel Guide, 2026 |
| Arizona | Mii amo | Sedona | Forbes Travel Guide, 2026 |
| California | The Beverly Hills Hotel; The Maybourne Beverly Hills; Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills | Beverly Hills | Forbes Travel Guide, 2026 |
| California | Four Seasons Resort and Residences Napa Valley | Calistoga | Forbes Travel Guide, 2026 |
| California | Montage Healdsburg | Healdsburg | Forbes Travel Guide, 2026 |
| California | Montage Laguna Beach | Laguna Beach | Forbes Travel Guide, 2026 |
| California | Rosewood Sand Hill | Menlo Park | Forbes Travel Guide, 2026 |
| California | Rosewood Miramar Beach | Montecito | Forbes Travel Guide, 2026 |
| California | The Resort at Pelican Hill | Newport Coast | Forbes Travel Guide, 2026 |
| California | Rancho Valencia Resort & Spa | Rancho Santa Fe | Forbes Travel Guide, 2026 |
| California | Auberge du Soleil | Rutherford | Forbes Travel Guide, 2026 |
| California | Meadowood Napa Valley | St. Helena | Forbes Travel Guide, 2026 |
| California | The Ritz-Carlton, Half Moon Bay; The St. Regis San Francisco | Half Moon Bay; San Francisco | Forbes Travel Guide, 2026 |
| Colorado | The Little Nell | Aspen | Forbes Travel Guide, 2026 |
| Colorado | The Broadmoor | Colorado Springs | Forbes Travel Guide, 2026 |
| District of Columbia | Four Seasons Hotel Washington, D.C. | Washington | Forbes Travel Guide, 2026 |
| Florida | Beach Club and Yacht Club at The Boca Raton | Boca Raton | Forbes Travel Guide, 2026 |
| Florida | The Setai; The St. Regis Bal Harbour Resort | Miami | Forbes Travel Guide, 2026 |
| Florida | Faena Hotel Miami Beach | Miami Beach | Forbes Travel Guide, 2026 |
| Florida | The Ritz-Carlton Orlando, Grande Lakes | Orlando | Forbes Travel Guide, 2026 |
| Florida | Four Seasons Resort Palm Beach | Palm Beach | Forbes Travel Guide, 2026 |
| Florida | Acqualina Resort and Residences on the Beach | Sunny Isles Beach | Forbes Travel Guide, 2026 |
| Florida | Four Seasons Hotel at The Surf Club | Surfside | Forbes Travel Guide, 2026 |
| Georgia | The St. Regis Atlanta | Atlanta | Forbes Travel Guide, 2026 |
| Georgia | The Cloister at Sea Island; The Lodge at Sea Island | Sea Island; St. Simons | Forbes Travel Guide, 2026 |
| Hawaii | Four Seasons Resort Hualalai | Kailua-Kona | Forbes Travel Guide, 2026 |
| Hawaii | Four Seasons Resort Lanai | Lana’i City | Forbes Travel Guide, 2026 |
| Hawaii | Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea | Wailea | Forbes Travel Guide, 2026 |
| Hawaii | ESPACIO The Jewel of Waikiki | Honolulu | Forbes Travel Guide, 2026 |
| Illinois | The Langham, Chicago; The Peninsula Chicago; Trump International Hotel & Tower Chicago | Chicago | Forbes Travel Guide, 2026 |
| Massachusetts | Boston Harbor Hotel; Four Seasons Hotel Boston; Four Seasons Hotel One Dalton Street; Mandarin Oriental, Boston | Boston | Forbes Travel Guide, 2026 |
| Massachusetts | Chatham Bars Inn; Chatham Inn; Wequassett Resort and Golf Club | Chatham | Forbes Travel Guide, 2026 |
| Massachusetts | Encore Boston Harbor | Everett | Forbes Travel Guide, 2026 |
| Montana | Montage Big Sky; The Ranch at Rock Creek; RiverView Ranch | Big Sky; Philipsburg; Alberton | Forbes Travel Guide, 2026 |
| Nevada | ARIA Sky Suites; Encore Tower Suites; Skylofts at MGM Grand; Wynn Tower Suites | Las Vegas | Forbes Travel Guide, 2026 |
| New York | Baccarat Hotel New York; Four Seasons Hotel New York Downtown; Mandarin Oriental, New York; The Peninsula New York; The Ritz-Carlton New York, Central Park; The St. Regis New York; Trump International Hotel & Tower New York | New York City | Forbes Travel Guide, 2026 |
| New York | The Point | Saranac Lake | Forbes Travel Guide, 2026 |
| North Carolina | The Umstead Hotel and Spa | Cary | Forbes Travel Guide, 2026 |
| Pennsylvania | The Chateau at Nemacolin; Falling Rock at Nemacolin | Farmington | Forbes Travel Guide, 2026 |
| Rhode Island | The Chanler at Cliff Walk; Ocean House; Weekapaug Inn | Newport; Watch Hill; Westerly | Forbes Travel Guide, 2026 |
| South Carolina | Montage Palmetto Bluff; The Sanctuary at Kiawah Island Golf Resort | Bluffton; Kiawah Island | Forbes Travel Guide, 2026 |
| Texas | The Ritz-Carlton, Dallas | Dallas | Forbes Travel Guide, 2026 |
| Texas | The Post Oak Hotel | Houston | Forbes Travel Guide, 2026; CultureMap, Feb 2026 |
Forbes Five-Star Hotels Near California
California has the longest state list in the table, and it splits into three areas. Wine country has Four Seasons Resort and Residences Napa Valley, Auberge du Soleil, Meadowood Napa Valley and Montage Healdsburg. The coast runs from The Ritz-Carlton, Half Moon Bay down through Rosewood Miramar Beach in Montecito, Montage Laguna Beach and The Resort at Pelican Hill in Newport Coast. Los Angeles has three Beverly Hills hotels: The Beverly Hills Hotel, The Maybourne Beverly Hills and Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills. San Diego County has Rancho Valencia Resort & Spa in Rancho Santa Fe.
Forbes Five-Star Hotels Near Texas
Texas has two Five-Star hotels in the table: The Ritz-Carlton, Dallas and The Post Oak Hotel in Houston. CultureMap reported on February 11, 2026 that the Post Oak earned its Forbes five-star rating for the sixth year in a row and that Forbes recognized 25 Texas properties in all, across hotels, restaurants and spas.
Which state has the most Forbes Five-Star hotels? In the table, California has the most, with 14 hotels, followed by Florida (9), then New York and Massachusetts (8 each). These counts cover the states shown here, so check the official page for the states beyond Texas.
Forbes Five-Star Hotels Around the World
Outside the US, the official page groups winners by country. This is a selection from it (forbestravelguide.com, November 2026), not the full list.
| Country | Five-Star hotels shown | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Barbados | Sandy Lane Hotel | Forbes Travel Guide, 2026 |
| Cayman Islands | Kimpton Seafire Resort + Spa; The Ritz-Carlton, Grand Cayman | Forbes Travel Guide, 2026 |
| Turks and Caicos | Wymara Villas, Sunset Cove | Forbes Travel Guide, 2026 |
| Canada | Fairmont Pacific Rim (Vancouver); Four Seasons Hotel Toronto, The Hazelton Hotel, Shangri-La Hotel Toronto, The St. Regis Toronto | Forbes Travel Guide, 2026 |
| France | Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc, Carlton Cannes, The Maybourne Riviera, Airelles Courchevel, Airelles Gordes, Royal Champagne Hotel & Spa, Grand-Hôtel du Cap-Ferrat, plus ten Paris hotels | Forbes Travel Guide, 2026 |
| Italy | Hotel Cipriani (Venice), Le Sirenuse (Positano), Hassler Roma, Hotel Il Pellicano, Mandarin Oriental Lago di Como, and others | Forbes Travel Guide, 2026 |
| Japan | Ten Tokyo hotels, three in Kyoto, plus Osaka, Nikko and Okinawa | Forbes Travel Guide, 2026 |
| Kuwait | Four Seasons Hotel Kuwait at Burj Alshaya; Waldorf Astoria Kuwait | Forbes Travel Guide, 2026 |
| Maldives | Soneva Jani; Velaa Private Island; One&Only Reethi Rah; Cheval Blanc Randheli; JOALI Maldives; JOALI BEING; Four Seasons Resort Maldives at Kuda Huraa; The St. Regis Maldives Vommuli Resort; and others | Forbes Travel Guide, 2026 |
| Mexico | Las Ventanas al Paraiso; One&Only Palmilla; Rosewood Mayakoba; Esperanza; Nizuc Resort & Spa; and others | Forbes Travel Guide, 2026 |
| Morocco | Royal Mansour Marrakech; Mandarin Oriental, Marrakech | Forbes Travel Guide, 2026 |
| Qatar | Four Seasons Hotel Doha; Mandarin Oriental, Doha; Raffles Doha; Rosewood Doha | Forbes Travel Guide, 2026 |
| Singapore | Capella Singapore; Raffles Hotel Singapore; The Paiza Collection at Marina Bay Sands | Forbes Travel Guide, 2026 |
| Spain | Mandarin Oriental, Barcelona; Four Seasons Hotel Madrid; Mandarin Oriental Ritz, Madrid; Rosewood Villa Magna; and others | Forbes Travel Guide, 2026 |
| Switzerland | The Dolder Grand; Badrutt’s Palace Hotel; The Chedi Andermatt; Mandarin Oriental Palace, Luzern; and others | Forbes Travel Guide, 2026 |
| Thailand | Capella Bangkok; Mandarin Oriental, Bangkok; The Peninsula Bangkok | Forbes Travel Guide, 2026 |
| Turkey | Çırağan Palace Kempinski Istanbul; Four Seasons Hotel Istanbul at the Bosphorus; Raffles Istanbul; Mandarin Oriental, Bodrum; and others | Forbes Travel Guide, 2026 |
| United Arab Emirates | Jumeirah Burj Al Arab; Atlantis The Royal; Emirates Palace Mandarin Oriental; The St. Regis Saadiyat Island Resort; and others | Forbes Travel Guide, 2026 |
| United Kingdom | Claridge’s; The Connaught; The Dorchester; The Savoy; The Goring; Rosewood London; Raffles London at The OWO; The Balmoral (Edinburgh); and others | Forbes Travel Guide, 2026 |
Macau: The City With the Most
The 2026 winners story says Macau has 28 Five-Star hotels, more than any other city (Forbes Travel Guide, February 2026). The winners page lists 28 Macau hotels by name, from Altira Macau and Banyan Tree Macau to Wynn Macau and Wynn Palace, which matches the story’s count. Capella at Galaxy Macau is among the 2026 additions, per the Forbes Travel Guide release carried by Hospitality Net.
London, Paris and Dubai
London has the longest European list: the page shows 19 Five-Star hotels, among them The Berkeley, Brown’s Hotel, Bvlgari Hotel London, The Cadogan, Claridge’s, The Connaught, The Dorchester, The Goring and The Savoy, plus two Four Seasons properties. Paris shows ten Five-Star hotels, including Le Bristol Paris, Ritz Paris, Hotel Plaza Athenee, Le Meurice and Four Seasons Hotel George V. Dubai shows fourteen, from Jumeirah Burj Al Arab and Atlantis The Royal to Bvlgari Resort and Residences Dubai and Armani Hotel Dubai.
If you are arriving in a city on this list by private jet, our private jet charter guide explains what the trip costs.
The Brands With the Most Five-Star Hotels
Forbes does not publish a ranking by brand, so this reads it from the names. Four Seasons, Mandarin Oriental, The Ritz-Carlton, Rosewood, Montage and The Peninsula appear again and again, in cities from Hong Kong to Boston.
The 2026 winners story gives two brand figures: Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group earned several new Five-Star ratings, including Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi, and Marriott International’s Luxury Group accounts for roughly 30% of this year’s new Five-Star hotels (Forbes Travel Guide, February 2026). For how these brands differ, see our guide to luxury hotel brands.
A brand name does not guarantee the rating. Forbes rates properties one at a time, so a brand can have Five-Star hotels in one city and Four-Star in the next.
Forbes vs MICHELIN Keys vs Government Stars
Three systems get confused. They measure different things.
| System | Who rates | What it rates | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forbes Travel Guide | Anonymous inspectors | Service weighted most; up to 900 criteria | Forbes Travel Guide |
| MICHELIN Keys | Anonymous MICHELIN Guide inspectors | Architecture and design, service, personality, value for price, contribution to the local setting | MICHELIN Guide |
| Government star schemes | Varies by country | Often facilities and size, set by a national or regional scheme | Varies |
MICHELIN says its inspectors visit hotels anonymously, and Keys come in three levels: one Key, a very special stay; two Keys, an exceptional stay; three Keys, an extraordinary stay (guide.michelin.com). MICHELIN Keys launched in 2024, starting with France, and worldwide reveals began on October 8, 2025, per MICHELIN. The 2026 selection, announced September 18, 2026, lists 2,832 Key hotels, 155 of them with Three Keys (MICHELIN).
Government stars are the odd one out. Because each country runs its own scheme, a “5-star” from one national scheme is not comparable to Forbes Five-Star, so check which body issued it before you treat the two as equal.
Planning a trip to Nevada? Our guide to the best luxury hotels in Las Vegas adds rates and resort fees to the four Forbes-listed suites. For the other big city on the list, see the best luxury hotels in New York.
Frequently Asked Questions
- How many Forbes Five-Star hotels are there?
- The 2026 Star Awards list 343 Five-Star hotels among 2,422 award-winning properties, per the Forbes Travel Guide release of February 2026. The total covers hotels, restaurants, spas and cruises together.
- What does Forbes Five-Star mean?
- It is the top tier of the Forbes Travel Guide scale. Forbes defines it as an outstanding experience with a consistently highly customized level of service, judged by anonymous inspectors against up to 900 objective criteria, with service weighted most.
- Which state has the most Forbes Five-Star hotels?
- In the US states shown in our table, California has the most with 14 Five-Star hotels, followed by Florida with 9 and New York and Massachusetts with 8 each. The Five-Star filter on the official winners page has every state.
- Is a Forbes Five-Star the same as a 5-star hotel?
- No. A "5-star" label on a booking site is often self-assigned. Forbes Five-Star is the top result of an inspection program with published tiers: Five-Star, Four-Star and Recommended, based on anonymous stays of at least two nights.
- When are the Forbes Travel Guide Star Awards announced?
- The 2026 winners were announced on February 10, 2026, per the Forbes Travel Guide stories site. The awards are annual, so expect the next list in early 2027, though Forbes has not confirmed a date.
Sources
- Forbes Travel Guide, 2026 Star Award Winners: https://www.forbestravelguide.com/award-winners
- Forbes Travel Guide Reveals 2026 Star Awards (PR Newswire release), Hospitality Net: https://www.hospitalitynet.org/news/4130845.html
- CultureMap Houston, Post Oak Hotel, February 11, 2026: https://houston.culturemap.com/news/travel/post-oak-best-hotel-texas/
- MICHELIN, 2026 MICHELIN Key selection: https://www.michelin.com/en/publications/products-and-services/michelin-guide-2026-michelin-key-selection
- Forbes Travel Guide, About and rating definitions: https://www.forbestravelguide.com/about
- Forbes Travel Guide stories, 2026 Star Award winners announcement, February 10, 2026: https://stories.forbestravelguide.com/forbes-travel-guides-2026-star-award-winners-including-the-worlds-first-five-star-cruise
- MICHELIN Guide, All You Need to Know About the MICHELIN Key: https://guide.michelin.com/us/en/article/travel/everything-to-know-about-the-michelin-keys-hotels-announcement
- MICHELIN Guide, One, Two and Three MICHELIN Keys: https://guide.michelin.com/us/en/article/travel/one-two-three-michelin-keys-hotels-have-own-distinction-michelin-guide
