Best Of The Best

International luxury travel network Virtuoso^® recently announced the winners of its prestigious 2015 Best of the Best hotel awards at its 27^th annual Virtuoso Travel Week conference, where The Ritz-Carlton,Kyoto was recognized for the Best Achievement in Design. Drawing from some of the most well-known names in the industry, theBest of the Best awards recognize the industry’s top properties and hoteliers. The awards were presented before an audience of more than 1,500 attendees during the Hotels & Resorts Dinner at Bellagio Resort & Casino in Las Vegas.

With an impressive portfolio of nearly 1,100 hotels, resorts, villas and private island retreats in more than 100 countries, Virtuoso Hotels & Resorts is the industry’s most influential program of its kind. Founded in 1992, the program broke new ground in luxury travel, and today offers more five-star properties than any other.

«Virtuoso has been hand-selecting the world’s finest properties for its famed Hotels & Resorts program for more than two decades, so deciding which ones represent the Best of the Best is challenging each year,» said Albert Herrera, senior vice president, Global Product Partnerships for Virtuoso. «The Best of the Best winners exemplify the highest standard of hospitality excellence in their given category and it’s a pleasure to celebrate The Ritz-Carlton, Kyoto for the Best Achievement in Design.»

Virtuoso’s travel advisors voted to determine the Best of the Best winners for each category from a slate of nominees in 10 categories. Those ranged from best achievement in design and best family program, to sustainable tourism leadership and hotel and hotelier of the year.

The nominees, announced in June of this year, were also initially suggested by Virtuoso’s expert advisors. The field was narrowed to the final nominees with research from the editors of VIRTUOSO LIFE, the network’s multi-award-winning magazine. As a Best of the Best award recipient, The Ritz-Carlton, Kyoto will be featured in VIRTUOSO LIFE’s September/October 2015 issue.