Travel + Leisure’s World’s Best Awards: Why It Matters
Each year, the Travel + Leisure World’s Best Awards highlight the hotels, destinations, and travel experiences that resonate most with real travelers. Because readers decide the rankings, the awards have become one of the most trusted benchmarks in the travel industry.
For travelers, the awards offer reliable guidance. For hotels, they deliver something even more meaningful: validation from guests who choose to return, recommend, and vote.
What Are the Travel + Leisure World’s Best Awards?
The Travel + Leisure World’s Best Awards are an annual, reader-driven survey. Travelers rate their favorite experiences from the past three years. These categories include hotels, resorts, destinations, cruises, and airlines.
Voters evaluate each experience based on service, location, comfort, and overall quality. Unlike editorial awards, these rankings reflect how places feel to stay in. As a result, the awards mirror real travel experiences rather than curated impressions.
Why the World’s Best Awards Matter
Because travelers shape the Travel + Leisure World’s Best Awards, the recognition carries real credibility. Guests do not vote based on luxury alone. Instead, they reward places that feel thoughtful, memorable, and worth revisiting.
Additionally, hotels that earn recognition year after year show consistency. In a crowded hospitality landscape, repeated acknowledgment signals sustained excellence. It also shows an ability to evolve alongside guest expectations.
How The Restoration Hotels Align with This Recognition
Both The Restoration Charleston and The Restoration Asheville reflect the qualities Travel + Leisure voters value most. These include comfort, sense of place, and attentive service.
Each property emphasizes livability over formality. Spacious suites, residential details, and walkable locations encourage guests to settle in. Over time, this approach has earned consistent recognition across respected travel platforms and guest-driven rankings.
What Travelers Are Voting On
When participating in the Travel + Leisure World’s Best Awards survey, voters consider several core elements of their stay. These include room quality, service, location, dining, and overall value. Importantly, the survey asks travelers to reflect on experiences from the past three years, allowing thoughtful, experience-based feedback rather than impulse voting.
Because of this structure, the awards highlight hotels that deliver meaningful stays, not just memorable first impressions.
An Added Incentive: Travel + Leisure’s Voter Prizes
In addition to influencing the annual rankings, voting in the Travel + Leisure World’s Best Awards 2026 also comes with a compelling incentive. Travelers who complete the survey are entered into Travel + Leisure’s official giveaways, making participation both impactful and rewarding.
What Voters Can Win
By sharing feedback on your favorite travel experiences from the past three years, you are entered for a chance to win:
$10,000 Cash
One winner will receive a $10,000 cash prize, offering flexibility for future travel, extended stays, or new adventures.
A Luxury Viking Cruise Experience
One winner and a guest will enjoy a Viking British Isles & Norway cruise in an Explorer Suite, along with a four-night Great Homes, Gardens & Gin extension. This experience includes a guided tour of Highclere Castle, the iconic estate known as the filming location for Downton Abbey.
Prize offerings and eligibility details are governed by Travel + Leisure’s official rules and may vary slightly each year. However, the opportunity to pair your travel insights with the possibility of an extraordinary reward remains a consistent part of the World’s Best Awards experience.
Why Your Vote Makes a Difference
Voting in the Travel + Leisure World’s Best Awards allows travelers to shape the future of hospitality by recognizing places that genuinely enhance the way people travel. It also helps surface hotels that prioritize thoughtful design, meaningful service, and a strong sense of place.
For guests of The Restoration Charleston and The Restoration Asheville, voting is a simple way to support a stay that felt personal and well considered, while also entering for a chance to win an unforgettable travel experience.
A Recognition That Evolves Each Year
Because the World’s Best Awards are annual, this recognition remains relevant year after year. Travelers’ expectations change, and the awards evolve with them. Hotels that continue to resonate are those that adapt, refine, and listen.
That ongoing dialogue between guests and destinations is what makes the Travel + Leisure World’s Best Awards not just an accolade, but a reflection of how people truly want to travel today.
Support The Restoration Hotels: Cast Your Vote Today
Help The Restoration Charleston and The Restoration Asheville shine in the Travel + Leisure World’s Best Awards. Your vote supports properties that deliver thoughtful service, memorable stays, and experiences shaped by real guests like you.
Voting is simple and only takes a few minutes:
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Visit the official Travel + Leisure World’s Best Awards 2026 Voting Platform and create an account.
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When asked, select United States as your region of travel.
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Choose Hotels as the category to rate and add North Carolina and South Carolina.
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Look for The Restoration Charleston and The Restoration Asheville and share your experience.
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Submit your vote and enter for a chance to win amazing prizes.
Every vote helps elevate properties that prioritize guest experience and design rooted in place. Whether you stayed with us recently or have unforgettable memories from a past stay, your voice matters.
