Mandarin Oriental leads LTI’s 2026 luxury hotel ranking

By Olivia Hart

Mandarin Oriental retained the top spot in Luxury Travel Intelligence’s 2026 luxury-hotel-brand ranking, scoring 81.1% against Oetker’s 80.6% and Bulgari’s 80.2%. The study expanded to 20 brands and used 134 weighted touchpoints, each contributing to a maximum attainable score of 4,792. Mandarin Oriental’s lead over Oetker was 0.5 percentage point.

How did the 2026 list change?

The field grew from 15 brands to 20, and qualification requires at least eight properties. Capella, Airelles, COMO, Jumeirah and Ritz-Carlton entered as new entries.

Oetker moved from fourth to second, while Four Seasons rose from sixth to fourth. Dorchester Collection advanced from 12th to sixth, and Belmond climbed from 11th to seventh. Aman placed ninth after ranking second last year, while Six Senses and Banyan Tree each dropped six positions.

The complete 2026 ranking, with last year’s position in parentheses, is:

• Mandarin Oriental: 81.1% (1)
• Oetker: 80.6% (4)
• Bulgari: 80.2% (3)
• Four Seasons: 78.7% (6)
• Rosewood: 78.0% (5)
• Dorchester Collection: 76.9% (12)
• Belmond: 76.6% (11)
• Capella: 76.1% (New entry)
• Aman: 75.5% (2)
• Airelles: 75.2% (New entry)
• Auberge Collection: 73.2% (8)
• Rocco Forte: 72.9% (9)
• Six Senses: 71.8% (7)
• Raffles: 70.0% (15)
• One&Only: 69.3% (10)
• Peninsula: 68.6% (13)
• COMO: 68.3% (New entry)
• Jumeirah: 68.2% (New entry)
• Ritz-Carlton: 68.0% (New entry)
• Banyan Tree: 67.4% (14)

How does LTI score a brand?

LTI assesses overall brand performance rather than the performance of individual properties. Its 134 touchpoints measure a brand’s ability to uphold its ethos, values and commitments, along with the quality of its management and staff.

Capital deployment also carries weight. The model considers investment levels and how effectively operators use them, particularly in new properties and the refurbishment of existing ones.

LTI’s researchers engage with chief executives of rated brands, thousands of management personnel, employees and guests. The organization restarts its evaluation each year: “Results from previous years do not influence the current year’s findings.” That independence can produce movement in the rankings without establishing that a brand’s underlying performance deteriorated.

What does this change for luxury hotel operators?

The ranking shifts attention from an individual property’s launch or refurbishment toward consistency across an entire portfolio. A strong opening cannot offset weaker execution elsewhere when the score concerns the brand, its people and the use of investment.

For owners, the report also has an important limitation. LTI publishes no room rates, check averages, revenue, operating margins, labor percentages or food-and-beverage costs. Its percentages therefore measure the organization’s brand-performance assessment, not profitability or a property’s financial results.

That distinction keeps the findings within their proper scope. The model identifies how consistently brands execute their service standards and capital plans; it does not establish which operator generates the strongest return per room, restaurant cover or guest.

How is LTI funded?

Luxury Travel Intelligence is a global, members-only organization serving affluent travelers with real-time reporting on luxury hotels, restaurants, spas and nightlife. It does not sell travel services, operate a booking engine or accept advertising. Membership fees are its sole source of revenue, which LTI says makes the organization accountable to its members.

The funding disclosure matters because the ranking publisher has no travel-sales commission or advertising revenue tied to the brands it evaluates. With the field now set at 20 brands and an eight-property qualification threshold, next year’s results will provide the first like-for-like test of the five new entrants.