There’s the way to travel that involves simply luxuriating in the comfort of your room, lounging by the pool, and maybe a massage a day. Hey, we fully support that. But if you’re looking to mix up your days with something out-of-the-ordinary, something inaccessible to non-hotel-guests, something you never in the million years would have considered but once you’ve done it you won’t be able to stop talking about it, well, that’s a job for some of the most luxurious and creative-minded hotels. This list of our readers’ picks of the Best Hotel Experiences in Asia is a multi-culti bucket list to the nth degree.
IT’S HARDLY A WELL-KEPT SECRET that Asia is buzzing with rich cultural experiences. However, if you need more proof, then look no further than this year’s Best Hotel Experiences in Asia winners. The votes came in fast and strong, with the top five spanning luxurious seafaring expeditions, exclusive sustainable dining journeys, a wellness adventure curated by a medicine woman, and a unique culinary immersion. All of them have us thinking we should perhaps pick a hotel by its best experiences, not the other way around.
However, there could only be one winner, and the title went to Mandarin Oriental Guangzhou’s How to Train Your Dragon Boat. Voters were gripped by this unique way to learn about the ancient sport, learning first-hand from 2010 Asian Games’ gold-medalist, Zhang Guo Lin, in Guangzhou’s 1978 Cultural Creative Town before delving into dragon boat traditions at galleries and museums, along heritage trails, and more.
Capella Ubud’s Jungle to Sea Expedition also sounded pretty bucket-list-worthy to voters, who ranked it second Best Hotel Experience in Asia. Maybe that’s because it stretches the idea of “hotel” to both a Bill Bensley-designed luxury tented camp that was named Best Upcountry Hotel in Indonesia for the second year in a row, and a luxurious yacht built for adventure, the Kudanil Explorer. The six-day experience-travaganza has you immersed in the jungle in Bali then navigating unchartered territories of Komodo National Park, under the guidance of explorer, filmmaker and author, Dr. Lawrence Blair.
Best Hotel Experiences in Asia-Pacific
1. How to Train Your Dragon Boat – Mandarin Oriental Guangzhou
2. Jungle to Sea Expedition – Capella Ubud
3. Little Bukit Farm to Table – Rosewood Phuket
4. Five Senses of Wellness – Raffles Bali
5. Singaporean Cultural and Culinary Immersion – Capella Singapore
Read on for the full descriptions and rankings of our readers’ picks of the Best Hotel Experiences in Asia for 2023. Keep an eye out for our soon-to-launch Travel + Leisure Experiences Marketplace, where you’ll be able to peruse and purchase some of the awesomest adventures at the region’s top hotels. And for all of this year’s Luxury Awards Asia-Pacific winners, click here.
