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I stay at least 100 nights a year in hotels (between business and leisure travel). This number used to be double pre-pandemic, but is still healthy with over 1/3 of the year away from home.
With numbers like these there are going to be some great stays, some bad ones, and whole lot that are forgettable. It’s the hotels that wow or horrify you that create lasting memories. I’ll focus on the positive here. This could be an amazing upgrade, a lovely suite I booked, awesome service, great facilities, or something else that sets it apart.
Here are my ten favorite stays from this past year:
10. Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay
The Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay is about 15 minutes from where I’m living this winter. I’ve stayed at the hotel five or six times now and found that I love parts of this hotel and am not so fond of others. It makes the top ten for its expansive grounds including a boardwalk nature trail (where we saw a shark’s fin surface in the bay) and the Casitas. These standalone buildings are tucked away from the main resort and offer privacy, a Koi pond outside your door, as well as access to a separate pool. The main building is kind of dated, but the Casitas feel special.
Address: 2900 Bayport Drive, Tampa, FL, 33607
9. Grand Hotel Angiolieri
Part of Small Luxury Hotels of the World and in partnership with Hyatt, Grand Hotel Angiolieri offers a great location to explore the Amalfi Coast. The hotel has the feel of a private villa with only 36 rooms and incredible views of Mount Vesuvius from its pool adorned with a life-size statue of Pulcinella. The breakfast provided to Hyatt guests is delicious while the small garden and citrus trees remind you of where you are staying (not far from Sorrento).
Address: Via Santa Maria Vecchia 2, 80069 Seiano, Vico Equense Italy
8. W South Beach
Stay here and you’ll be right in the thick of all that South Beach has to offer. The W South Beach has a nonstop party vibe, but its rooms and suites are quiet and relaxing. There are tons of suites here, which makes upgrades (especially those with Suite Night Awards – SNAs) fairly easy. I’ve stayed a few times and always received a great upgrade (even on reward stays). The hotel often tops $1,000 a night, so it’s a good use of Marriott Bonvoy points.
Address: 2201 Collins Ave, Miami Beach, FL 33139
7. Andaz 5th Avenue
What other city hotel offers balconies like these? The rooms and suites at the Andaz 5th Avenue are huge. Upgrades tend to clear fairly easily. Its location across the street from Bryant Park and the New York Public Library (yes, the one from Ghostbusters) make it perfect for exploring the city. Globalists get an amazing breakfast in The Bar Downstairs and Kitchen that is always delicious.
Address: 485 5th Avenue, New York, NY 10017
6. Querencia de Sevilla, Autograph Collection
The Querencia de Sevilla is part of Marriott’s Autograph Collection and a new addition to city (it just opened in April 2022). Its location offers most of the major attractions just steps outside your door. Breakfast for Bonvoy Platinum, Titanium, and Ambassador members is plentiful. The rooftop pool is a calm place to relax after a day out in the city. Check out my full review of the hotel here.
Address: C. Fernández y González, 4, 41001 Sevilla, Spain
5. Hyatt Regency Zurich Airport The Circle
An airport hotel has to do a lot right to get on to a “best” list and the Hyatt Regency Zurich Airport The Circle actually nails all aspects of staying there. It’s not cheap, but it feels way more elegant than any other airport hotel I’ve ever stayed. The rooms are brand new, luxe, and modern(it’s more like a Park Hyatt). It is just a few steps from the airport and part of the new Circle district, which offers shops, restaurants, a convention center, and a park. The hotel has a fitness center, spa, and anything else you could need for a layover.
Address: The Circle 41, Zurich Airport, Switzerland, 8058
4. Hyatt Regency Thessaloniki
An upgrade to the massive Presidential Suite might have made me biased toward adding the Hyatt Regency Thessaloniki to this list, but the truth is it offers great elite recognition, a generous lounge, and beautiful grounds. It’s a resort versus a city hotel and you’ll need to drive to the area’s major attractions. It’s nice to return to the tranquility this place offers at the end of the day to enjoy the pool. Check out my full review of the Hyatt Regency Thessaloniki here.
Address: 13 kilometres -Perea, 570 01, Greece
3. JW Marriott Grosvenor House London
It’s posh and located in a neighborhood filled with swanky boutiques. Here you’ll be staying with a moneyed crowd that is not afraid to drench themselves in Chanel No. 5 and show off their finery from head to toe. The hotel offers an excellent lounge for breakfast and evening snacks. This JW Marriott Grosvenor House London is a must if you want to stay in Mayfair to experience all the area has to offer.
Address: 86-90 Park Ln, London W1K 7TN, United Kingdom
2. St. Regis Bal Harbour
The St. Regis Bal Harbour makes my list evert year. This perennial favorite is glamorous, generous with upgrades (the Imperial Suite is my favorite and it oftens runs over $2,000 per night if you were to pay), has an exceptional breakfast at Atlantikos, a gorgeous beach and spacious pool and easy access to Starbucks®, shopping at the Bal Harbour Shops, and restaurants. This is one of the crown jewels of the Marriott portfolio.
Address: 9703 Collins Avenue Bal Harbour, Miami Beach, FL 33154
1. Grand Hotel Cocumella
There are some places that are just magical when you visit. When you can stay there it makes it even more special. The Grand Hotel Cocumella earns my favorite hotel stay of 2022 (and ranks among my favorite hotels anywhere). The property is a refurbished 17th-century monastery. It retains the gardens and groves that have been growing there for centuries. Set up on a cliff above the Bay of Naples, it features an elevator down to a swim platform, a beautiful pool surrounded by lush greenery, and a delicious breakfast provided for Hyatt members that book through Hyatt.com (this property is also part of Small Luxury Hotels of the World – SLH)
Address: Via Cocumella, 7, 80065 Sant’Agnello NA, Italy
Anthony’s Take: These were my favorite hotel stays in 2022 for a variety of reasons. From amazing upgrades to beautiful beaches and lots of amenities, I’d gladly return to any of these hotels and hope that I get to again soon.
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Advertiser & Editorial Disclosure: The Bulkhead Seat earns an affiliate commission for anyone approved through the links above This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. We work to provide the best publicly available offers to our readers. We frequently update them, but this site does not include all available offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities.
2 comments
Lots of good options here – appreciate you calling out St Regis Bal Harbour – but you totally lost me at Thessaloniki. Hotel is in the middle of nowhere. They try to pull off a destination resort model with everything under one roof and it just doesn’t work. Why would anyone eat there when there are 50 restaurants in Thessaloniki that have better food, 10x better people watching and at 1/3 the price? Hyatt affiliate (excelsior) has better location that is truly in the city, better breakfast, more interesting architecture and more genuine service. Hyatt Regency is basically an airport hotel that isn’t convenient to the airport (or anything else other than a sad casino).
I liked the resort for what it was, a nice resort. It’s isolated, but if you rent a car then everything is accessible. We ate at restaurants in Thessaloniki and explored some great beaches.