101 best hotel restaurants around the world

CityZen at Mandarin Oriental (Washington, D.C.) [left] and Signature at Mandarin Oriental (Tokyo). (Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group)

It used to be that a hotel was the last place any serious eater would venture to dine. That started changing about two decades ago when hotels began recognizing that their in-house restaurants could be an asset, crafted into destinations in their own right. And it's not just a matter of adding to the hotel's draw for travelers. While guests may come and go with the seasons, hotels that have invested in their restaurants have seen they can keep their tables booked year-round with locals or folks like us who might actually even visit a hotel specifically for the food.

The Daily Meal’s first annual 101 Best Hotel Restaurants Around the World seeks to pay homage to the world’s most exemplary hotel feasts. This is our comprehensive look at hotel restaurants that have consistently set the benchmark by which other hotel restaurants are measured.

Restaurants that have made the list include Joël Robuchon Restaurant at MGM Grand Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, sometimes considered the best French restaurant in America; the estimable Man Wah at the Mandarin Oriental in Hong Kong; the tiny, charming Le Comptoir at the Relais Saint-Germain in Paris; the legendary Caesar's Restaurant at Hotel Caesar in Tijuana, birthplace of the Caesar salad; and the opulent, newly refurbished La Marocain at La Mamounia in Marrakech.

Our list (see the full list) was carefully curated by consulting the Michelin Guide and other trusted sources and through recommendations from The Daily Meal’s editors, who have traveled and dined extensively around the world.

With hundreds of innovative restaurants to choose from, it was a culinary challenge to whittle the list down to a select 101. To be in contention, a hotel had to have at least 15 rooms (so quaint auberges, family-run bed and breakfasts, and famed restaurants that happen to have a few rooms for the convenience of guests were immediately eliminated). Likewise, notable restaurants that lie just steps from hotels, even if they are under the same ownership, were also excluded — for instance Cibo Trattoria, adjacent to the Moda Hotel in Vancouver.

For the purposes of compiling the list, price was no object; but the fact is that the majority of restaurants that made the cut are located in luxury hotels with equally luxurious tabs. We did not discriminate on location; no island, nation, or province was off the table. In fact, the list includes some surprising gems in far-flung locales like Acquapazza at the Four Seasons Mauritius and Fontaine at the Hayma Island Resort in Australia’s Great Barrier Reef.

From Inverlochy at the Inverlochy Castle Hotel in Torlundy, Scotland, to Jaan at Swissôtel The Stamford in Singapore to The Bazaar at the SLS Hotel in Los Angeles, the globe-trotting list spans six continents, more than 40 countries and nations, and more than 80 cities, with Paris claiming the most spots on the list (with five).

The cuisine at these honored spots runs the gamut from classic Cantonese to Caribbean to Catalan and from French to fusion.

101 Best Hotel Restaurants Around the World

Acquapazza at the Four Seasons Resort Mauritius at Anahita (Mauritius)
Adour at The St. Regis Hotel (New York City)
Al Mahara at Burj Al Arab (Dubai)
Alain Ducasse au Plaza Athénée at Plaza Athénée Hotel (Paris)
Altitude at Shangri-La Hotel (Sydney)
Anne-Sophie Pic at Beau-Rivage Palace (Lausanne, Switzerland)
Baraabaru at Four Seasons Maldives at Kuda Huraa (North Malé Atoll, Maldives)
The Bazaar by José Andrés at SLS Hotel (Los Angeles)
Bei at The Opposite House (Beijing)
Blue by Eric Ripert at The Ritz-Carlton (Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands)
Blue Duck Tavern at Park Hyatt (Washington, D.C.)
Caesar's Restaurant at Hotel Caesar's (Tijuana, Mexico)
Café Boulud at The Brazilian Court Hotel & Beach Club (Palm Beach, Fla.)
Camões Portuguese Restaurant at Legendale Hotel (Beijing)
Capitol Grille at The Hermitage Hotel (Nashville, Tenn.)
Celadon at The Sukhothai (Bangkok)
CityZen at Mandarin Oriental (Washington, D.C.)
Clio at Elliott Hotel (Boston)
dine by Peter Gordon at SkyCity Hotel (Auckland)
Duhau Restaurante & Vinoteca at Palacio Duhau Park Hyatt (Buenos Aires)
é by José Andrés at The Cosmopolitan (Las Vegas)
El Motel Restaurant at Hotel Empordà (Figueres, Spain)
Emiliano Restaurant at Emiliano (São Paolo)
Epicure at Le Bristol (Paris)
Felix at The Peninsula Hotel (Hong Kong)
Fontaine at Hayma Island Resort (Great Barrier Reef, Australia)
Garden Court Restaurant at Sofitel Hotel Sydney Wentworth (Sydney)
gaZette at Le Westin (Montréal)
GB Roof Garden Restaurant & Bar at Hotel Grande Bretagne (Athens)
The Great House at Nisbet Plantation Beach Club (Nevis, West Indies)
Hakkasan at Fontainebleau Miami Beach (Miami Beach, Fla.)
Hawksworth Restaurant at Rosewood Hotel Georgia (Vancouver)
Huang Ting at The Peninsula Hotel (Beijing)
Inverlochy Restaurant at Inverlochy Castle Hotel (Torlundy, Scotland)
Jaan at Swissôtel The Stamford (Singapore)
Jade Cuisine at Jade Mountain (Anse Chastanet, St. Lucia)
Jade on 36 at Pudong Shangri-La Hotel (Shanghai)
Jean Georges at Trump International Hotel & Tower (New York City)
Joël Robuchon Restaurant at MGM Grand (Las Vegas)
La Marea Restaurant at Viceroy Riviera Maya (Playa del Carmen, Mexico)
La Marocain at La Mamounia (Marrakech, Morocco)
La Pergola at Rome Cavalieri (Rome)
Le Beaulieu at Sofitel Metropole Hotel (Hanoi)
Le Cinq at the Four Seasons Hotel George V (Paris)
Le Comptoir at Hôtel Relais Saint Germain (Paris)
Le Louis XV at Hôtel de Paris (Monte Carlo)
Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons Restaurant at Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons (Great Milton, U.K.)
Restaurant Le Meurice at Le Meurice Hotel (Paris)
Le Réservé at La Samanna (St. Martin, West Indies)
Le Verger at Le Franschhoek Hotel & Spa (Franschhoek, South Africa)
Level 3 at Aleenta Resort & Spa (Phuket, Thailand)
Lichfield Café, Restaurant & Bar at Augustine Hotel (Prague)
Livingstone Room at Victoria Falls Hotel (Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe)
Li Yen at The Ritz-Carlton (Kuala Lumpur)
Loggia Restaurant at Villa San Michele (Florence, Italy)
Lung King Heen at the Four Seasons (Hong Kong)
Maialino at Gramercy Park Hotel (New York City)
Man Wah at Mandarin Oriental (Hong Kong)
MASA’s at Executive Hotel Vintage Court (San Francisco)
Matsalen at Grand Hôtel (Stockholm)
Mesh Restaurant at Crown Promenade Hotel (Melbourne, Australia)
MICHAEL MINA at Bellagio (Las Vegas)
The Mohgul Room at Mena House Oberoi (Giza, Egypt)
Moo Restaurant at Hotel Omm (Barcelona)
Morio J-Cuisine at Hotel G (Beijing)
Morjana at Mazagan Beach Resort (Casablanca, Morocco)
Mount Burgess Dining Room at Emerald Lake Lodge (British Columbia)
NoMad at The NoMad (New York City)
NoMI at Park Hyatt (Chicago)
Norman's at The Ritz-Carlton (Orlando)
The Northall at The Corinthia (London)
Noso at W Santiago (Santiago, Chile)
number one at The Balmoral Hotel (Edinburgh, Scotland)
ONE Restaurant at The Hazelton Hotel (Toronto)
Orient Express at Taj Palace Hotel (New Delhi)
Panorama at Gellért Hotel (Budapest)
Pavillon at Baur au Lac (Zurich)
Restaurant at Ponta Dos Ganchos (Governador Celso Ramos, Santa Catarina, Brazil)
Proof on Main at 21C Museum Hotel (Louisville, Ky.)
Relish at The Westin Grand (Berlin)
Restaurant Guy Savoy at Caesar's Palace (Las Vegas)
Restaurant Le Gaïac at Hôtel Le Toiny (St. Barts)
Restaurant Patrick Guilbaud at Merrion Hotel (Dublin)
Restaurant Terrazza Danieli at Hotel Danieli (Venice, Italy)
Restaurante Zafferano at Mantra Resort Spa & Casino (Punta del Este, Uruguay)
The Rib Room at Jumeirah Emirates Towers (Dubai)
Sabaya at Cairo Semiramis (Cairo)
Saffron at Banyan Tree (Seychelles)
Santceloni at Hotel Hesperia (Madrid)
Scala at The David Citadel Hotel (Jerusalem)
Signal Restaurant at Cape Grace (Cape Town, South Africa)
Signature at Mandarin Oriental (Tokyo)
Sir Elly’s Restaurant, Bar, and Terrace at The Peninsula (Shanghai)
Square One at Park Hyatt Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City)
Stella at The Leela Kempinski (Mumbai)
The Tamarind Tree at Curtin Bluff (Antigua, West Indies)
Tatu Restaurant at The Fairmont Norfolk (Nairobi, Kenya)
Terrace at Parrot Cay by COMO (Turks and Caicos)
Tiara at Queen's Landing (Ontario)
Tradewinds at Peter Island Resort & Spa (British Virgin Islands)
The Vineyard Restaurant at Stockcross (West Berkshire, U.K.)

See the slideshow of the 101 best hotel restaurants here