Forbes Travel Guide Names 23 Hotels to Its First-Ever Hotel Icons List
A new accolade highlights century-old Five-Star properties that continue to set the pace for global luxury.
Photo: Courtesy of Browns Hotel
Forbes Travel Guide has introduced a new distinction within its rating ecosystem: the Hotel Icons List, awarded this year to 23 properties that have maintained the same name for more than a century while continuing to earn a Forbes Five-Star rating. In a landscape shaped by constant expansion and brand turnover, the Icons designation underscores a different kind of achievement—long-term consistency, stewardship, and the ability to modernize without altering a hotel’s fundamental identity.
Europe accounts for the majority of honorees, with London leading all destinations. Brown’s Hotel—often cited as the city’s oldest—joins Claridge’s, The Goring, The Savoy, and Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park in a cluster of properties that have defined London’s luxury vocabulary for more than a century. Each has undergone extensive renovation cycles in recent years, yet remains anchored in architectural heritage and service philosophies honed across generations.
The oldest property on the list, Waldorf Astoria Amsterdam, occupies a row of canal houses from the 17th and 18th centuries. Its continued appeal reflects a broader trend among this year’s Icons: history is leveraged as an asset rather than treated as a museum piece. Hôtel de Crillon in Paris, Park Hotel Vitznau in Switzerland, and Badrutt’s Palace in St. Moritz take the same approach by pairing restored façades and storied public spaces with contemporary dining, wellness, and design programs.
Six U.S. properties were recognized, with New England emerging as a standout region. Chatham Bars Inn, Ocean House, and Weekapaug Inn, all with deep coastal roots, show how legacy resorts can retain their character while introducing new culinary, wellness, and residential concepts. The St. Regis New York and The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs rounded out the U.S. selections, the latter holding the distinction of being the longest-running Forbes Five-Star hotel, with 65 consecutive years.
Asia is represented by two landmark addresses: Mandarin Oriental, Bangkok, which is preparing to mark its 150th anniversary, and Raffles Hotel Singapore, both hotels whose histories shaped their respective hospitality markets.
Hermann Elger, the CEO of Forbes Travel Guide, said the Icons represent “the most extraordinary addresses in the world,” emphasizing their blend of heritage and current relevance. And that is the defining point of this inaugural list: these hotels are not being recognized simply for age but for endurance backed by ongoing investment, consistently high service standards, and a clarity of identity that has lasted more than a century.
