Worlds Best Hotels

For me the quality of an hotel depends on the personnel. Ive travelled a lot for my work and nothing give more comfort than personnel who knows you and don’t have to tell your name.

My best experience was Hotel Kungstradgarden in Stockholm. I stayed there a few times and I was chatting with the hotelier telling about my next trip to India. A few months later I arrived back in Stockholm and when I checked in at the reception the first thing the guy said was ‘mr X, how was your trip to India?’

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Looks super. Very atmospheric.

It’s sister Hotel Quasimodo maybe less enticing?!?

That’s exactly it. I’ve posted a few pics of Aman hotels - the staff all know your name - and (this might sound like a small thing) you NEVER have to sign anything or tell anybody your room number. Once you experience that, it makes all other hotels bringing a tin tray with a receipt for your cocktails for you to scribble your name and room number on seem a bit amateurish! …it’s an international policy of theirs - it’s great!

One of the main reasons I love hotels in the Far East is the staff - in my experience nobody does service like they do there. I think this is because it’s viewed as a profession, and service is not seen as servitude - people WANT to offer great service and are proud to do so. It’s never grudging like it can be in Europe (I’ve not been to many hotels in the US) or chaotic like it can be in Africa, or you get the feeling you’re exploiting somebody like it can be in the Middle East.

The example you give is interesting - much to do with the Scandinavian way I suspect - again - it’s a profession, not a job and there is no master/servant relationship.

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The Torridon Hotel - at the edge of Loch Torridon in the far north west of Scotland is lovely. A former baronial lodge - it’s now thriving on the back of the “North Coast 500” route.

I went there a few years ago - will definitely head back.

Oh - and they have quite an extensive Whisky bar :tumbler_glass:

…the BBC did one of their “Great Hotels” programs with Giles Coren and Monica Galetti about it last year. Worth watching.

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Another Aman Hotel we’ve stayed at is Amandari - which is in Ubud, in the centre of Bali.

Bali was a wonderful surprise - we thought it would be full of brash Aussie Instagram wannabes (not wallabies) and I’m sure there are areas that are - but we never saw it. Ubud is just beautiful - and surrounded by terraced rice paddies.

The hotel is built to replicate a Balinese village - something it does really well. The Hindu shrines and the moss covered architecture give it a very special atmosphere.

This is one of the pool suites - lovely and right on the edge of the valley. The bedrooms are upstairs above a large open plan area, which opens out onto the pool.

We were there as part of our Honeymoon - and the hotel arranged a traditional Balinese wedding blessing. This was how they set the shrine up for it - Really special. I’ll spare you a picture of me in my traditional Balinese wedding outfit - to be honest, it wasn’t really me… :relieved::joy:

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