The Best Hotels and Resorts in Asia: The Gold List 2025
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Consider the Gold List the answer to the question our editors get asked more than any other: What are your favorite places to stay? Our 31st edition of the world’s greatest hotels and cruises captures nearly a year’s worth of work. This collection represents hundreds of hours of researching, scouting, and impassioned debating by our team of editors in seven cities across the globe. But more than that, it reflects our ongoing love affair with the places where we stay, which often become our gateways to entire destinations. Read on for the best hotels in Asia to inspire your next trip.
See the full Gold List here.
This gallery has been updated with new information since its original publish date.
Courtesy Gangtey LodgehotelGangtey Lodge — Bhutan
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Gold List 2025 
Readers' Choice Awards 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2024At Gangtey Lodge travel-weary guests are greeted with a welcome song so powerful it reduced our party to tears, a hot towel, sweet tea by the fire, and a five-minute massage. “We wanted to create something for the backpackers that now want a little more luxury,” says Khin Omar Win, who co-owns the lodge with husband Brett Melzer. Luxury here comes in the form of personalized meals but also silence, space, and a sense of being cocooned by the sweet-natured staff who anticipate your every need. From $700. —Anna Prendergast
Courtesy Taj Hotels & ResortshotelTaj Falaknuma Palace — India
$$$ | Gold List 2020, 2025 Readers' Choice Awards 2017, 2018With its dreamy frescoes, Corinthian columns, and Ostler chandeliers, Hyderabad’s storied Taj Falaknuma Palace had been a beloved residence of the ruling nizam—one of whom was famously depicted on a 1937 Time magazine cover as the “Richest Man in the World”—before falling into disrepair for decades. The hilltop aerie has been a fixture of my annual vacations in Hyderabad, from a childhood visit when it was still shuttered and shrouded in cobwebs to countless intimate dinner parties, afternoon teas, qawwali concerts on the gardens at sunset, and a memorable 75th-birthday celebration for my father last winter—complete with a flute serenade of “Happy Birthday” at breakfast under the stained-glass dome of the Gol Bungalow terrace. For the special way it brings Hyderabad’s rich history and traditions to life at every corner, Falaknuma will always have my heart. From $450. —Sarah Khan
Courtesy Dwarika's HotelhotelThe Dwarika's Hotel — Nepal
$$ | Gold List 2025Ian Schrager may have made lobby socializing a thing when he sparked the boutique-hotel revolution back in the mid-80s, but at Dwarika’s it’s all about the courtyard. Soundtracked by birdsong, it feels like being inside a secret walled garden—a bubble of tranquility from the cacophony of Kathmandu. The hotel is both a marvel of conservation and a monument to historic Newari architecture because it was gradually assembled from eaves, windows, and pillars rescued by Dwarika Das Shrestha. Now grandson René is continuing the project, as CEO of Dwarika's Group of Hotels and Resorts. But the property more than a museum piece with yoga lessons on the rooftop, a swimming pool surrounded by sculpted serpents, and some of the best momo dumplings in Nepal; this is an immersive, deeply atmospheric microcosm of the Kathmandu Valley. From $410. —Rick Jordan
Courtesy Aman KyotohotelAman Kyoto — Japan
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Hot List 2020 Readers' Choice Awards 2020, 2022Serene. Timeless. Escapist. And deliciously crowd-free. Nature and its subtlest micro-shifts are the main protagonists at Aman Kyoto. At its heart lies an otherworldly “secret garden” that wavers between wild and cultured, the hotel is set against tumbling mountainside forests in a quiet northeastern corner of the ancient capital. Mindfulness is nonnegotiable while navigating the moss-covered stone pathways or relaxing within the peaceful minimalism of the 24 suites. Housed in clean-lined black timber pavilions designed by Kerry Hill, the accommodations feature tatami floors, hinoki bathtubs, ceramic abstractions, and haiku-inspiring views through walls of windows. Luxury lies in the property’s simplicity: Instead of a swimming pool, picture a small boulder-strewn onsen alongside spa treatments imbued with a sense of the sacred and the intuitive omotenashi warmth of the staff. Food is treated with no less reverence, from meticulous kaiseki craftsmanship at Taka-an to contemporary land-to-table cuisine in the Living Pavilion. All in all? The perfect place to recover from Kyoto temple fatigue—and reconnect with the present moment. From $2,675. —Danielle Demetriou
George Apostolidis/Courtesy Mandarin Oriental, BangkokhotelMandarin Oriental, Bangkok — Thailand
$$$ | Gold List 2019, 2020, 2023, 2025 Readers' Choice Awards 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024Some hotels lose their luster after a while. Others, like the Mandarin Oriental, Bangkok, only get better with age. This Southeast Asian hidey-hole has been around since 1876 but doesn't feel mired in the past. Frequent spruce-ups have kept it looking tip-top, while an ever-evolving lineup of a dozen or so restaurants (including the new Kinu by chef Takagi Kazuo and classic Thai restaurant Baan Phraya) keep a finger on the pulse of Bangkok's dining scene. And then there's the spa, with CBD-oil-infused massages, ice baths, and rubdowns using herbs from northeast Thailand's Isan region, that still sits in a league of its own. They just don't make them like this anymore. From $650. —Chris Schalkx
Small Luxury Hotels of The WorldhotelNarendra Bhawan Bikaner
$ | Gold List 2025This hotel is much like a cabinet of curiosities and so the vibe is eclectic, hedonistic, and easy-going. Lazy breakfasts lead into lazier lunches and dinners that end when you retire. In between, you could go carpet shopping and visit local attractions, trusting that your G&Ts will be waiting upon your return. You could also view the city as you lounge by the hotel’s rooftop pool and get yourself a massage during which Bach Flower remedies are used. However you play it, you’ll probably leave humming that Edith Piaf number “Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien.” You’ll find the lyrics painted across the red piano in the foyer. From $150. —Prasad Ramamurthy
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Miyuki Kaneko, Nacasa & Partners Inc./Courtesy The Ritz-Carlton, NikkohotelThe Ritz-Carlton, Nikko — Japan
$$$ | Gold List 2025 Readers' Choice Awards 2023, 2024A hotel for all seasons, the Ritz-Carlton Nikko occupies a prime spot on the skirts of Mount Nantai inside a UNESCO World Heritage site resplendent with ancient temples. The first luxury hotel in this part of the country, just a two-hour train ride from Tokyo, stays true to its bucolic surroundings: In the oblong glass-fronted lobby, there’s a harmonious interplay of light and space and cozy fabrics. The Library and Lakehouse restaurant are warmed by flickering fireplaces; the spa features unique-to-Nikko artworks, including exquisite floral Nikko-bori wood carvings. Subtly textured cedarwood rooms induce a sense of calm with silently sliding doors, fretwork inspired by local Tochigi latticework, puffy white (Western-style) beds, granite onsen, and balconies where you can wrap yourself in a cashmere blanket, sip green sencha, and watch cormorants and Black Kites flit around the lake. From $880. —Lee Cobaj
Courtesy SofitelhotelSofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi — Vietnam
$$$ | Gold List 2018, 2025 Readers' Choice Awards 2017, 2018, 2020, 2021A dazzling destination that flashes back beautifully to a bygone age, Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi has been a fixture in the heart of the Vietnamese capital since 1901. Behind its classical white façade, two buildings—the original and recently renovated Heritage Wing and the neoclassical Opera Wing, named for its proximity to the Hanoi Opera House—envelop a serene courtyard garden and sparkling pool flanked by a bar. The historic suites, named after famous former guests, including Charlie Chaplin and novelist Graham Greene, exude a sense of old-world grandeur, while its peaceful French Quarter locale makes it a no-brainer when planning a trip to Hanoi. From $330. —Keri Bridgwater
Suján JawaihotelSUJÁN Jawai — India
Gold List 2025 Readers' Choice Awards 2020At Suján Jawai, even the sleepiest of heads will find it hard to resist rising early and hopping into an open-top jeep to bounce over ancient granite rocks in search of Rajasthan's wild leopards. Rewilding efforts have helped to protect a rare balance here, where humans and animals live in harmony and mutual respect without conflict. The camp has sleek, uncluttered tents and a pool for cooling post-safari dips. Hearty, healthy food is made with ingredients from local farms and the camp’s kitchen gardens, and tales of the day’s leopard sightings are recounted over G&Ts by the campfire. Hearing the low rumbling call of a leopard reverberating off the rocks in the darkness, you’ll realize there are fewer more magical settings than this. From $1,490. —Nicola Chilton
The Leela Palace JaipurhotelThe Leela Palace Jaipur — India
$$$ | Gold List 2025 Readers' Choice Awards 2023Silver domes, hand-painted art on the walls, suites with courtyards and plunge pools, marble fountains, and intricately carved statues of pachyderms play their part in the overall scheme of this palace hotel. Spread across eight acres, the 200-key property is nestled in the foothills of the lush Aravalli hills with rooms, restaurants, and villas laid out in a beautifully planned amalgam of indoor and outdoor spaces. The terrace, with its domes and chhatris (named after the famous Hawa Mahal in Jaipur’s old city), is perfect for private meals under the stars. What makes The Leela stand out in a city of palace hotels is its integration with Jaipur by way of its art and culture and a curation of experiences including private access for guests to Jaigarh Fort and the City Palace as well as its glamorous soirees like the Writer’s Ball during the Jaipur Literature Festival and the much-feted Leela Maharaja Sawai Man Singh Polo Cup during the season. From $240. —Diya Kohli
Courtesy The PeninsulahotelThe Peninsula Hong Kong — China
$$$ | Gold List 2018, 2021, 2025 Readers' Choice Awards 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024The Peninsula Hong Kong is one of those very special hotels whose name causes former guests to go a bit misty-eyed at its mere mention. Since opening on the Kowloon waterfront in 1928, The Pen (as it is affectionately known) has been beloved by both visitors and the people of Hong Kong. And it’s still the place to be—ot just for the sense of history, but because it is simply fabulous. Pull into the driveway in one of the hotel’s 14 Rolls-Royce Phantoms. Take your pick from nine superb bars and restaurants. Have a Margy’s Monte-Carlo facial at the spa, then retire to calming dark veneer and champagne-toned rooms with dazzling harbor views and be attended to by some of the most thoughtful staff in the business. Hong Kong and The Peninsula: It’s impossible to imagine one without the other. From $540. —Lee Cobaj
Ralf TootenhotelWaldorf Astoria Maldives Ithaafushi — Maldives
$$$ | Gold List 2025 Readers' Choice Awards 2021, 2022, 2024A ring of a gong and an army of smiles signals your arrival at the Waldorf Astoria Maldives Ithaafushi. Reef villas are cathedral-vast and designed with smooth marble floors, taupe sofas, a minibar stocked with ready-made cocktails, and an outdoor space with a pool large enough for laps at dusk when fruit bats swoop overhead. The culinary choices are staggering and may well offer the most diverse choice in the Maldives. For wellness seekers, the spa excels in its roster of visiting practitioners likeChinese acupuncturists and tarot card readers. Children are in Technicolor heaven here, for here is a sand-dusted, turquoise playground paradise for all generations. From $1,920. —Jemima Sissons
Bvlgari Resort BalihotelBvlgari Resort Bali — Indonesia
$$$ | Gold List 2025Bali isn’t short on sprawling, sumptuous resorts, but not everywhere has its own open landing space or butlers who can arrange a spiritual cleansing with a local priest under a magnificent statue of Ganesh. The Bvlgari Resort Bali isn’t just any hotel, however. The resort faces a vast expanse of Indian Ocean, with all 59 pool villas sharing the same glorious sea views. Ranging from spacious one-bedrooms with outdoor living rooms to gargantuan five-bedroom mansions with multiple swimming pools, all are sultry cocoons with oversized beds and either showpiece black basalt bathrooms or mosaic marble bathtubs. At night, guests dress up for tasting menus at Il Ristorante by Luca Fantin: tagliolini with Kintamani vanilla butter and caviar, wild snapper with potato spaghetti, Bedugul raspberry crème brûlée. Other sweet spots include the crag-top infinity pool and the beautiful spa, the perfect spot to lie back and count your many blessings. From $2,000. —Lee Cobaj
Chris SchalkxhotelCapella Bangkok — Thailand
$$$ | Gold List 2025 Hot List 2021 Readers' Choice Awards 2021, 2022The Thai capital has no shortage of swanky beds to book, but it's only once in a blue moon that a hotel with such star power as the Capella Bangkok comes around. Opened in 2020 on a garden-clad estate along the Chao Phraya River, this low-rise pile of blonde woods and creamy marble entered the scene with such Bangkok firsts as travertine Jacuzzi tubs on suites' balconies and villas pitched up right on the waterfront. Côte, the hotel's Mediterranean-tinged fine dining spot by Argentine chef Mauro Colagreco, earned a Michelin star within a year after opening, while those in the know flock to the boudoir-like Stella Bar after dark to sip on drinks inspired by some of Bangkok's most storied districts. From $800. —Chris Schalkx
hotelThe Oberoi Amarvilas, Agra — India
$$$ | Gold List 2018, 2025 Readers' Choice Awards 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024Two years ago my wife and I arrived in Agra on a rainy weekend, and the Amarvilas was closed for a refurb. The hotel we stayed at promised a view of the Taj Mahal; from one particular corner of the roof, up a staircase, you could get a slight glimpse of the dome—if the skies were clear. This time, though, the property was open, and when I walked into the lobby of the renovated Amarvilas, I was unprepared and stunned. Beyond the atrium, rising above a lush green treeline, was the beauty. I spent the next two days doing just what the designers of this grand property intended: gaze at the Taj. Standing less than 2,000 feet from the Taj Mahal, the Amarvilas has the best and most exclusive view of the mausoleum. The architects maximized this by giving each of the 95 rooms and seven suites an unhindered view. The suites take it up a few notches—the daybeds, the shower, and the tub all look over the marbled wonder. What’s more sensuous than a soak on a moonlit night with a view of the Taj? From $750. —Salil Deshpande
Courtesy TrisarahotelTrisara — Thailand
$$ | Gold List 2018, 2025 Readers' Choice Awards 2022, 2023Slapdash developments have made it increasingly difficult to find Phuket's postcard fantasy, but even two decades after opening, Trisara still feels blissfully cut off from the fray. Strewn throughout a jungle-cloaked cape in the island's quiet northwest, its villas offer wide-screen sea views and heaps of privacy, while down at the private beach, regulars (many of them of A-list caliber) laze along the 147-foot-long saltwater pool. The resort is also home to Phuket's most ambitious restaurant, Pru, where Dutch chef Jimmy Ophorst earned Thailand's first Michelin Green Star for its zero-waste tasting menus made with homegrown and locally sourced ingredients such as black crab from Phang Nga and caviar from Hua Hin. From $1,000. —Chris Schalkx
