It’s no secret that the internet loves a best-of list – with everything from the annual World’s Best Steaks list to Conde Nast’s Best Places to Eat round-ups claiming to offer the definitive rankings. But since the advent of online reviews and AI, a new player has entered the game – and it’s fed by all the lists that came before.

What is La Liste?

Founded by the former CEO of Gault & Millau, Paris-based La Liste started with a 2016 aggregate ranking of the 1,000 Best Restaurants in The World – without sending out a single critic. Instead, its program trawls a reported 1,100 professional sources and millions of digital reviews, (including established powerhouses such as ⁠Michelin Guide and ⁠Zagat), to come up with a numerical score out of 100. It’s since expanded to best pastry shops in the world and best hotels in the world.

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La Liste’s 2026 World’s Best Hotels

To compile the World’s Best Hotels 2026 list, La Liste has crunched the numbers and returned a solid showing for Australia, with 33 hotels ranking 90 or above, out of thousands of properties worldwide.

Two urban Sydney properties blocks apart topped the list (Capella Sydney and Park Hyatt) but the full Aussie contingent ranges from wine-focused stays (The Louise, Barossa), to wild luxury (Saffire Freycinet, Tasmania, and Southern Ocean Lodge, Kangaroo Island), and from the big-name (The Langham Gold Coast) to the teeny tiny (Drift House, Port Fairy). So what makes a top scorer?

Related story: The Michelin Guide has landed in NZ – find out who is seeing stars. 

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The final list was compiled from an analysis of 7,300 luxury hotels, across more than 200 countries and territories, citing guidebooks, international publications and guest reviews published in dozens of languages. The 10 hotels that claimed 99.5 were named the Best Hotels of 2026, in an overall list of the 1,000 best hotels. To score highly in the “algorithmic ranking”, hotels had to maintain consistency across professional and public reviews.

Of the many things that made a hotel stand out, food was a common thread – and here, La Liste’s content team identified a major emerging trend: a move away from reliance on a celebrity chef and single flagship restaurant, and to more holistic approach to food that took every meal and experience as a chance to impress.

A strong showing by food-focused Australian properties such as COMO The Treasury – which offers wine and beer masterclasses alongside some of the best eateries in the Perth CBD – and Brisbane’s mini food empire The Calile Hotel indicates Australia’s love of mingling food and travel is coming to fruition.

A total of 33 Australian hotels made the final World’s Best Hotels 2026, see the complete list below.

• Capella Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 97.0
• Park Hyatt Sydney, The Rocks, NSW, 96.5
• Saffire Freycinet, Coles Bay, Tas, 96.5
• Longitude 131°, Yulara, NT, 96.0
• The Langham Gold Coast, Surfers Paradise, Qld, 95.5
• 28 Degrees Byron Bay, Byron Bay, NSW, 95.0
• Drift House, Small Luxury Hotel and Dining Room, Port Fairy, Vic, 95.0
• Jamala Wildlife Lodge, Canberra, ACT, 95.0
• Rocky Hills Retreat Tasmania, Rocky Hills, Tas, 95.0
• Darwin Waterfront Luxury Suites, Darwin City, NT, 94.5
• Pullman Quay Grand Sydney Harbour, Sydney, NSW, 94.0
• The Darling, Pyrmont, NSW, 94.0
• COMO The Treasury, Perth, WA, 93.5
• Crown Towers Sydney, Barangaroo, NSW, 93.5
• Elements of Byron, Byron Bay, NSW, 93.5
• Freycinet Lodge, Coles Bay, Tas, 93.5
• Peppers Noosa Resort & Villas, Noosa Heads, Qld, 93.5
• Southern Ocean Lodge, Kingscote, SA, 93.5
• Groote Eylandt Lodge, Alyangula, NT, 93.0
• Lizard Island, Lizard, Qld, 93.0
• Avalon Coastal Retreat, Rocky Hills, Tas, 92.0
• Crown Sydney, Barangaroo, NSW, 91.5
• Emirates Wolgan Valley, Wolgan Valley, NSW, 91.5
• qualia, Whitsundays, Qld, 91.5
• Sal Salis Ningaloo Reef Safari Camp, Cape Range National Park, WA, 91.5
• The Calile Hotel, Fortitude Valley, Qld, 91.5
• Crown Towers Melbourne, Southbank, Vic, 91.0
• Park Hyatt Melbourne, Melbourne, Vic, 91.0
• Pumphouse Point, Lake Saint Clair, Tas, 91.0
• Raes on Wategos, Byron Bay, NSW, 91.0
• The Louise, Marananga, SA, 91.0
• JW Marriott Gold Coast Resort & Spa, Surfers Paradise, Qld, 90.5
• Jackalope Hotel, Mornington Peninsula Merricks North, Vic, 90.0

See the complete international list – and put La Liste to the test – here.

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