Our Favorite Hotels of 2024

Every January we join the universe in pausing to take a look back, just as we're striving to look ahead. It’s supposedly a good time to review and reevaluate.

OK, but also it's just fun to recap. You know…lest we forget where we've been and how far we've come.

In short, Tom and I covered a lot of ground, traveling to 14 countries on four continents in 2024. That included 57 cities for Kris, and 42 for Tom. (We don't always travel together.) We were on the road for about 130 days or 35 percent of the year, so that means we had a bunch of nights away from home.

Where did we stay when we weren't in our own beds? Hotels, motels, rentals, guest houses and rural lodging. Here are our annual hotel awards to recognize some of the stand-out facilities and experiences from our travels in 2024.

Best New Discovery and/or Most Likely to Return (Tie)

Hotel San Anselmo in Rome. This is our first time staying in the leafy Aventino neighborhood, a pleasant walk (uphill) from the Capitoline Museum. Convenient nearby restaurants and markets. Lovely rooms, indoor/outdoor lounge spaces with a friendly barkeep, and delicious breakfasts.

Glu Boutique Hotel in the Palermo Soho neighborhood of Buenos Aires. Excellent location and breakfasts made to order and delivered to the quiet courtyard.

Best Views and Best Spa

Arakur Ushuaia Resort. Arranged by Polar Latitudes for our excursion to Antarctica, the Arakur offers views over the town to the Beagle Strait. Spacious spa facilities include a series of pools that lead outdoors to more views off the infinity edge.

We can't overlook in the Best Views category, if not exactly a hotel, the night we (well, one of us) spent under the stars camping overnight on Antarctica. And the Polar Plunge easily qualifies as best ‘spa' experience. Read about our expedition with Polar Latitudes if you really want the best scenery and hospitality.

Most Consistent and Responsible

Radisson hotels, specifically Hotel Graz (Austria) and Radisson Blu Carlton Hotel Bratislava (Slovakia). Always well lit, accommodating bags for two, and much appreciated bulk dispensers of soaps, shampoos and conditioners. We're consistently impressed with front desk service and local recommendations.

Most Austere

Gästehaus im Priesterseminar, or the seminary guesthouse in Salzburg, Austria, was a standout for its great location, not so much for its lux furnishings. The room, as you might guess from its setting in a priest seminary, lacked rugs and decor, save a cross. The staff was stingy with towels and breakfast hours, the drain smelled musty, but the location was wonderful. Walking to Mozart concerts, the Christmas market, the castle and old town made up for the rest.

Brush with Fame

NH Collection Cáceres Palacio de Oquendo, Cáceres, Spain. The tiled courtyard lobby of the hotel is worth a visit even without celebs. But it might be where you spot visiting bullfighters carrying their elaborate costume boxes as we did.

Honorable mention to the artsy HM Palma Blanc hotel in Palma de Mallorca, Spain. Though we didn't run across any movie stars, we were introduced to the producer of the Palma Evolution Film Festival. And we met Cristina Zaforteza Fortuny, the owner of the Gardens of Alfabia event center. She's an old guard Mallorcan who could chat with us about her family legacy on Spain's Balearic Island.

Agritourism

Sant Joan de Binissaida, Menorca. Olive trees and olive oil production on the property. Beautiful rooms, fine restaurant in a calm setting.

Best Airport Hotel

We crowd sourced this Sheraton Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport Hotel and were soooo glad we took our readers' advice. After a long trip, we weren't interested in schlepping through Paris for one afternoon. So we took a train directly to CDG Terminal Two (from Strasbourg) and walked directly from the platform to the hotel. The lobby is on the second level of the terminal. (CDG airport is notorious for poor signage and difficult transfers between terminals.) The next morning, we were able to walk less than 10 minutes to get to the departure area for our early flight back to Minneapolis. In between, we thoroughly enjoyed a lunch in the restaurant, a visit to the club lounge, and our spacious room perfect for a little work and a bit of re-packing. It's not the cheapest alternative (we've been to that place, too!) but it was a real treat for our last respite before returning home.

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