The Best Hotels in the World: Fodor's 2014 Award Winners

What are the best hotels in the world? Fodor’s Travel has announced the winners of its 2014 Fodor’s 100 Hotel Awards — the best of the 5,000 properties Fodor’s experts have spent the past year evaluating.

Fodor’s invited its 500 contributors around the world to nominate the best hotels in the regions they cover. Fodor’s editors narrowed down the list to the Top 100 winners. And, for the first time, Fodor’s Travel also names Reader’s Choice selections.

The U.S. is the country with the most properties on the list: 20, to be exact. The winners are broken up in eight categories Here are some of the big winners:

All-Inclusive Vacations

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Beaches Turks & Caicos Resort (Vox Efx/Flickr)

The 11 winners in this category include Beaches Turks & Caicos Resort Villages & Spa (Turks & Caicos); Triple Creek Ranch (Montana). The Jamaica Inn is the Reader’s Choice.

Beach Getaways

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Hotel St. Regis Punta Mita (Photo: St. Regis)

A dozen beautiful properties top the list here, three of which are in Mexico: Hotel St. Regis Punta Mita in Puerto Vallarta (the Reader’s Choice); Las Ventanas al Paraiso in Los Cabos; and Nizuc Resort & Spa in Cancun.

Related: Yahoo Travel Reviews Nizuc Resort & Spa

Boutique Chic

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Only You Hotel in Madrid (Photo: Only You)

New York’s Greenwich Hotel and the Refinery Hotel are two of the four U.S. properties that made the Top 15 in this category. Other winners include Widder in Switzerland and Madrid’s Only You Hotel, the Reader’s Choice winner.

Country Retreats:

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Hotel Marqués de Riscal (Lux & Jourik/Flickr)

There are 11 globe-spanning places to get away from it all in this category. New England makes a good showing with two properties: Vermont’s TopNotch Resort and Rhode Island’s Ocean House. Also included: England’s Cliveden House; the Hotel Marqués de Riscal in Spain; and the Reader’s Choice, Terranea in California.

Enduring Classics:

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Mandarin Oriental Bangkok (Kaba/Flickr)

These 11 hotels never go out of style. Brazil’s Copacabana Palace and the Mandarin Oriental Bangkok are among the winners here. England’s Savoy is the Reader’s Choice.

Modern City:

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Four Seasons Las Vegas (Gary Bembridge/Flickr)

These 16 hotels are the places to see and be seen. There are five U.S. hotels on this list, including the Four Seasons Hotel Las Vegas and the Langham in Chicago. The Park Hyatt Paris-Vendome is the Reader’s Choice.

Related: Is Glamping at a Lodge Not Fancy Enough for You? Try it at These Upscale Hotels

Small Hotels:

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The tiny Le Petit Hotel (Christine Rondeau/Flickr)

You must have 50 rooms are fewer to ride in this category and 12 hotels made the final cut. They include the appropriately named Le Petit Hotel in St. Martin, Italy’s Punta Tragara, and the Reader’s Choice: New Zealand’s Waipoua Lodge.

Trip of A Lifetime:

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Song Saa Private Island (Andrew Caw/Flickr)

A dozen bucket list-worthy hotels make up this final category, including Cottar’s 1920s Safari Camp in Kenya and Song Saa Private Island in Cambodia. The only American entry on this list is the Reader’s Choice: Amangiri in Utah.

WATCH: Travel Tips: How to Score the Best Hotel Deals

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