20 best Hilton hotels in the world

Hilton operates thousands of hotels in more than 120 countries and territories globally. So, how do you go about choosing the best of the best? How do you comb through the rooms, amenities and myriad other details that make a hotel stand out from the crowd to find the ones you should save up your points to experience or those you will think back on fondly, even years after your stay?

If you work at The Points Guy, you turn to a group of travel writers and editors and ask them which Hilton hotels they’ve visited in the past and still think about to this day. Some of these hotels stand out because of their unforgettable settings, some because of their prime sightseeing, others for their impeccable service, and others because of their advantageous Hilton Honors award rates.

Here are the 20 best Hilton hotels in the world and what makes them so special.

Zemi Beach House is one of only a few properties that belong to Hilton’s luxury hotel brand LXR, and the accommodations, attentive service and amenities reflect the hotel’s deluxe designation. The resort sits on 6 acres of Anguilla’s picture-perfect coastline, with direct access to Shoal Bay Beach. This boutique hotel has just 76 rooms and suites with either garden or ocean views. Each room is done up in natural hues with blue accents that mirror the sand and sea outside on your private balcony.

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Zemi Beach House boasts five on-site restaurants serving fresh, seasonal dishes from around the globe. There are special dining events weekly, including a “Caribbean Beach BBQ,” “Sushi & Jazz” night and sunset cocktails and tapas on the beach. The hotel’s Thai House Spa invokes a traditional Thai spa experience with authentic Asian massage and body treatments, a secluded pool, a yoga deck and a juice bar housed in a 300-year-old Thai structure. Other amenities include four outdoor pools, a 24-hour fitness center, tennis courts and a complimentary kids club for kids ages 4 through 12.

Pricing starts at around $600 or 110,000 Hilton Honors points per night.

The Botanika Osa Peninsula sits right in the middle of one of the most biologically diverse places on Earth. This resort goes above and beyond to highlight and preserve its rainforest locale with gorgeous views, rooms and suites designed in such a way that they blur the lines between indoors and out. Guests also enjoy easy access to discover the unique plant and animal species at Costa Rica’s Corcovado National Park and the Pacific Ocean’s Golfo Dulce.

Standard rooms, as well as one-, two- or three-bedroom suites are available, each with simple but comfortable room decor, colorful tiled bathrooms and floor-to-ceiling windows. Further adding to the resort’s local flair, Botanika Osa Peninsula’s Tierra a la Mesa restaurant serves sustainable Costa Rican cuisine, and the on-site spa offers treatments such as a Costa Rican coffee scrub. The resort will also help to arrange experiences like paddling with whale sharks, local hikes and environmental education at the on-site conservation center.

Pricing starts at around $217 or 80,000 Hilton Honors points per night.

Separated from the mainland by a short ferry ride and overlooking the Mamanuca Islands, the DoubleTree Resort by Hilton Hotel Fiji is an island oasis that offers phenomenal value. Standard guest rooms are clean and simple, with large furnished balconies or patios that have direct access to the beach. Suites are spacious, private “bures” (villas) with either garden or ocean views, and large furnished verandas located mere steps from the sand.

The resort also has a large, lagoon-style pool overlooking the ocean, access to nonmotorized watersports, swings and loungers from which to enjoy the beach, a game room and activities like Polynesian dance and fire dance demonstrations. The hotel has a fitness center, self-serve library, tennis courts, sand volleyball and a spa that offers haircuts, massages and facials. Guests can also dine at its two restaurants, a poolside bar and a grab-and-go cafe. The main restaurant, Vulani, serves a buffet for breakfast and seasonal, local dishes for dinner, often accompanied by live entertainment.

Pricing starts at around $157 or 38,000 Hilton Honors points per night.

The Embassy Suites by Hilton Nashville Downtown is now the largest Embassy Suites in the country. It’s also conveniently located in the heart of the city, close to popular attractions like the Music City Center, the Country Music Hall of Fame and more. The hotel stays true to its boot-scootin’ locale with a lobby mural featuring country crooners like Dolly Parton and Johnny Cash, live music in the evenings, and an exterior facade designed to look like sheet music.

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Of course, you’ll also find the features you’ve come to expect from Embassy Suites — a free hot breakfast and functional rooms with space for sleeping, eating and relaxing. Some rooms even have balconies with views of the Nashville skyline. The hotel also has an indoor rooftop pool with city views, a 24-hour fitness center, a coffee shop and a rooftop bar.

Pricing starts at around $220 or 62,000 Hilton Honors points per night.

At The Caledonian Edinburgh, Curio Collection by Hilton, you’ll feel as regal as if you were staying in Edinburgh Castle itself, which is just down the road from the hotel. Located in a former rail station, the hotel melds modern luxury with Victorian style in a prime spot for exploring the city. Guest rooms are upscale, with plush seating, tufted headboards, marble baths with complimentary robes and slippers, and high-end amenities like Nespresso machines and exclusive Waldorf Astoria Serta mattresses. Some rooms have views of Edinburgh Castle.

The hotel’s spa offers a full range of treatments, including massages, manicures, pedicures and facials, and is also home to the hotel’s two-floor gym and indoor swimming pool (overlooking Edinburgh Castle, no less), which all guests have access to. Dining options range from a traditional afternoon tea at The Lounge to a seven-course tasting menu at Dean Banks at the Pompadour and after-dinner cocktails at The Caley Bar.

Pricing starts at around $234 or 54,000 Hilton Honors points per night.

Calm, crystal-clear seas, tropical landscaping and an organic, open-air design that complements the island’s natural beauty make the Conrad Bora Bora Nui a true paradise on Earth. Standard suites are spacious and set back from the water amid the lush trees, but the real gems of the Conrad Bora Bora Nui are the private pool villas with direct beach access and the overwater pool villas. Both villa types get you about as close to the water as you can be without actually sleeping on a raft in the ocean.

The resort has five unique dining options, ranging from fine French dining at Iriatai to alfresco Mediterranean and Polynesian dishes at the Upa Upa Lounge Bar.

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Guests of the resort can immerse themselves in the Polynesian lifestyle with complimentary activities like ukulele lessons, flower lei-making classes, outrigger canoe cruises and more. The hotel also offers snorkeling (complimentary), scuba diving (for an additional fee), kite-boarding and jet-skiing (for an additional fee). Kids can play at the indoor-outdoor Tamariki kids club. The Conrad Bora Bora Nui’s infinity pool overlooks the beach and has in-water loungers and a swim-up pool bar, too.

Pricing starts at around $975 or 120,000 Hilton Honors points per night.

The Waldorf Astoria Seychelles Platte Island is one of the newest resorts to join the Hilton family, and an instant TPG favorite. The hotel’s private-island location offers a gorgeous tropical backdrop, whether you are watching the sunset from your terrace or snorkeling in the jewel-toned waters. Guest rooms range from standard rooms with a king bed to multibedroom villas with private pools.

The resort has several dining options, including all-day dining at La Perle, dinner at Maison des Epices, a plant-based tasting menu at Moulin, alfresco dining at Peacock Terrace and cocktails at Lalin. Breakfast is included in your stay. If you want to give your vacation an all-inclusive feel, opt for the “full board” service, which includes lunch, dinner, room service, a daily minibar refresh, and two massages or nonmotorized water activities daily.

Pricing starts at around $1,471 or 130,000 Hilton Honors points per night.

The Conrad Los Angeles is the upscale Conrad brand’s first California property. It sits atop a flashy, modern Frank Gehry-designed mixed-use building and has a 16,000-square-foot rooftop terrace with an infinity pool that overlooks downtown Los Angeles, including the striking Walt Disney Concert Hall, also designed by Gehry.

Guest rooms are bright and comfortable, with light-wood floors, midcentury-inspired furnishings and floor-to-ceiling windows. Touches like a comfortable chaise and small dining table, open wardrobe with a seat and full-length mirror, a Nespresso machine and luxury bath amenities from Byredo reinforce the hotel’s luxury classification.

In addition to a rooftop pool and lounge, the Conrad Los Angeles has a spacious fitness center with TechnoGym equipment, a full-service Conrad Spa and a collection of dining options including a tapas and cocktail lounge and two signature restaurants helmed by chef José Andrés.

Pricing starts at around $384 or 90,000 Hilton Honors points per night.

Arriving at the Waldorf Astoria Los Cabos Pedregal feels like stepping into a dream. After driving past Cabo San Lucas’ raucous bars and nightclubs, you pass through a guarded tunnel and come out on the other side to a pristine stretch of rocky coastline. That’s quite an entrance, but the fantasy doesn’t end there. For example, during the daily “Guacamole Happy Hour,” chips, guacamole, salsa and a bucket with two small Coronas are delivered straight to your room. Talk about a dream!

The hotel serves gourmet, regionally sourced dishes at Don Manuel’s (led by executive chef Manuel Huerta), agave tastings at Peacock Alley and tacos at Travesia at Su Cocina. The highlight, however, is a meal at El Farallon. The restaurant is carved into the granite rock face of the cliffs with views of the crashing waves below. There’s also a coffee shop, a beach bar and a pool bar.

Other amenities include a quiet, adults-only pool, a family pool, a fitness center with weight and cardio machines, a yoga studio and group fitness classes, and a world-class spa with treatments designed around Mexican folk healing techniques and rituals.

Pricing starts at around $963 or 120,000 Hilton Honors points per night.

The Hilton Tulum Riviera Maya All-Inclusive Resort offers family-friendly comfort and fun on the Riviera Maya shore. This 735-room resort has nine pools, a kids water park, a kids club, a teens club, nightly entertainment, a full-service spa, a fitness center and 13 restaurants. In addition to these amenities, you can fill your days with activities, including traditional Mexican art experiences, yoga, meditation and beach games.

The resort’s light colors and natural textures convey an eco-chic vibe that complements the mangrove forests, white sand and lapping waves that surround the resort. This design ethos flows from the public areas to the guest rooms, with blond wood furnishings, white linens and a wall of ivory bricks framing the bed. All guest rooms have a private balcony with either a garden or ocean view.

Pricing starts at around $330 or 74,000 Hilton Honors points per night.

The Waldorf Astoria Park City is conveniently located between downtown’s shops and restaurants and Park City Mountain Resort, and the hotel offers a complimentary shuttle to both. After a day of skiing or exploring the postcard-perfect mountain town of Park City, you can warm up in front of your gas fireplace (there’s one in each and every guest room) or in the heated outdoor pool or one of multiple hot tubs. Of course, an old-fashioned or espresso martini from the hotel’s Powder restaurant (or room service) may help to speed up the warming process.

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Guest rooms have an upscale ski lodge feel with dark-wood furnishings, soft white bedding and artwork that highlights the area’s scenery. Standard rooms have one king or two queen beds, and multibedroom suites that sleep up to 10 guests are also available.

Aside from cocktails, the Powder restaurant serves breakfast, lunch and dinner, or you can have your meal delivered directly to your room. A massage from the on-site spa can soothe aching muscles after a day on the slopes, or you can participate in a variety of group fitness classes in the fitness center. Strength and cardio equipment, including Peloton bikes, is also available.

Pricing starts at around $435 or 110,000 Hilton Honors points per night.

Hilton Rose Hall Resort & Spa is one of the best Hilton resorts for families. The all-inclusive pricing covers your guest room, drinks, dining, non-motorized water sports equipment like kayaks and stand-up paddle boards, a kids club and access to an outdoor pool and a water park with slides, a lazy river and a second swimming pool with a swim-up pool bar. Daily activities include family-friendly games, live music and nightly entertainment like dancing, karaoke and pool parties. Private dining, spa services and poolside cabanas are available for an additional fee.

The resort boasts 11 indoor and outdoor restaurants and bars with cuisine that ranges from local specialties like salt fish and ackee to hearty Italian fare. Rooms are clean and simple, with floor-to-ceiling windows that allow the beauty outside to shine in, each with a private terrace or balcony where you can soak up the fresh sea air.

Pricing starts at around $296 or 67,000 Hilton Honors points per night for a family of four. Children under 3 stay for free.

The Conrad Maldives Rangali Island has long been one of the gems of the Maldives, but thanks to a recent multiyear makeover, it’s more resplendent than ever. Guest rooms include beach villas, private pool villas and overwater villas, all designed with integrated indoor-outdoor living spaces and private sun decks for endless ocean views.

For a Maldives experience you’ll never forget, the resort also has a two-story, three-bedroom residence with an underwater bedroom, bathroom and living area surrounded by the Indian Ocean.

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If you can pull yourself away from the aquamarine water, the Conrad Maldives Rangali Island has also refurbished some of its dining venues, including the Atoll Market, the all-day buffet with live cooking stations; Rangali Bar, a snazzy lunch, dinner and cocktail spot; and Vilu, an open-air restaurant.

The resort has separate complimentary clubs for kids and teens, a fitness center, an overwater spa, a snorkeling reef, a dive center, an open-air cinema, weekly entertainment and, of course, the unparalleled service you’d expect from a high-end resort in one of the world’s most stunning destinations.

Pricing starts at around $646 or 120,000 Hilton Honors points per night.

The Grand Wailea Maui occupies pride of place right on Wailea Beach and its gentle waters. This sprawling resort has spacious rooms, pools designed for guests of all ages, one of Hawaii’s best spas, delicious traditional Hawaiian cuisine and activities like hula lessons and guided resort tours that encourage you to learn more about the history, culture and traditions of Hawaii.

You can start your day with beachfront yoga, hop on an outrigger canoe tour in the afternoon (for an additional fee), go for a swim in the adults-only pool or the family-friendly activity pool with slides and a rope swing, and attend a lively luau in the evening (also for an additional fee).

Guest rooms have garden or ocean views, plush bedding, bathrooms with oversize soaking tubs and separate showers and private furnished lanais. If you are traveling with a large group, the three-bedroom Hoolei Villas are located across from the resort in a private gated community, with a private pool and beach access, along with access to all Grand Wailea amenities.

Pricing starts at around $803 or 110,000 Hilton Honors points per night.

The historic Waldorf Astoria Amsterdam comprises six 17th- and 18th-century canal houses located along the city’s Herengracht canal in the UNESCO-listed city center. The hotel has 93 rooms, suites and lofts, as well as one of the largest private gardens in the city.

The design and decor in the hotel’s public spaces play into the building’s heritage, with marble flooring, elegant chandeliers, ornamental ceilings and the aforementioned meticulously manicured gardens. Guest rooms, on the other hand, are simple and sophisticated with light furnishings and bedding, dark-wood accents and marble bathrooms with showers and soaking tubs.

Spectrum, the hotel’s two-Michelin-starred restaurant led by chef Sidney Schutte, is open on select days for dinner, but you can enjoy all-day dining at Peacock Alley, including afternoon tea, and then cocktails at Vault Bar.

The hotel’s indoor pool welcomes guests for year-round swimming and there is also a fitness center. The award-winning Guerlain Spa offers a full slate of treatments, including anti-aging, beauty, men’s and pre- and post-natal therapies. A spa and steam room are also available.

Pricing starts at around $715 or 120,000 Hilton Honors points per night.

The Faroe Islands’ capital city of Torshavn is situated along the North Atlantic coast and the Hilton Garden Inn Faroe Islands offers spectacular views of the dramatic landscape and shoreline. The hotel is close to the city center, but also only a short drive from the breathtaking Svartafoss waterfall, the educational Nordic House and the National Museum of the Faroe Islands.

The clean lines, unfussy decor and floor-to-ceiling windows in the Scandanavian-style guest rooms allow the coastal views to take center stage, while thoughtful touches like white Smeg refrigerators and matching electric kettles and lamps and plugs on both sides of the bed make it feel comfortable and homey.

The hotel’s on-site restaurant is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, serving locally sourced ingredients. There’s plenty of shopping, green spaces and restaurants within a few minutes of the hotel and there is a bus stop right outside the front door for more far-flung adventures.

Editor’s note: Some travelers object to the Faroe Islands’ annual whale hunt, which is a cultural tradition and considered a sustainable practice. Consider doing some background research before a potential visit to learn more about this.

Pricing starts at around $125 or 29,000 Hilton Honors points per night.

On the island’s southwestern tip, the Conrad Koh Samui offers guests a tropical escape off the Gulf of Thailand, where each villa faces the water and rewards visitors with uninterrupted views of the far-off horizon. All villas also have a private furnished terrace with an infinity plunge pool and, indoors, a large bathtub that lets you enjoy the scenery from the comfort of your room.

The resort has an array of dining options, including the poolside Azure Bar and Grill, the KO Lounge with delicious cocktails and sunset views, and the Thai-focused Jahn. You can also enjoy meals in your villa cooked by a personal chef. In addition to your private plunge pool, the hotel has an outdoor infinity pool, fitness center, complimentary kayaks and a spa with 10 treatment suites, a private plunge pool and saunas with an ocean view.

Pricing starts at around $543 or 95,000 Hilton Honors points per night.

Named for its former life as a department store owned by the family of Ditlev Thomsen, a German imperial consul in Reykjavik, the Reykjavik Konsulat Hotel strives to pay tribute to the building’s rich history. Rooms and suites at this boutique hotel are stylish and eclectic, but still comfortable with cushy bedding, leather seating and large windows that allow natural light to illuminate the space.

Related: How to use hotel points in Iceland

Konsulat Wine Room, the hotel’s on-site restaurant, serves breakfast each morning before transitioning to wines and small plates from afternoon to late evening. The hotel also houses a traditional Icelandic bathhouse with a hot tub and sauna and 24-hour fitness center. From the hotel’s city-center location, you are within 1 kilometer of Iceland’s Parliament, the Reykjavik Art Museum and the National Museum of Iceland.

Pricing starts at around $244 or 62,000 Hilton Honors points per night.

Given its remote location on a 400-acre estate in the Miconia highland forests next to Ecuador’s Galapagos National Park, the Royal Palm Galapagos is a 21-room, eco-friendly boutique hotel reachable from area airports by water taxi or bus. Situated between two extinct cinder cone volcanoes, there are lots of lava tunnels, crates and other geographical marvels to explore in the area around the hotel.

Of the 21 casitas and villas, many have an indoor hot tub and a porch or terrace overlooking the hotel’s beautiful gardens. Guest rooms have a natural feel, while artwork that features the island’s diverse plant and animal residents lends brightness. The hotel also has an outdoor pool, fitness center and an on-site restaurant that serves international and local cuisine.

Pricing starts at around $230 or 56,000 Hilton Honors points per night.

While it didn’t join the Hilton portfolio until 2017, the Hotel del Coronado has long been a mainstay of the Coronado shoreline just across the bay from San Diego. In fact, the Victorian-style resort has been welcoming visitors since 1888. While the hotel’s historic facade and palatial lobby retain its grandiose charm, the hotel has several more contemporary sections these days, and the guest rooms are modern and elegant, with a muted color scheme and a private balcony or patio. Poolside rooms and rooms with shaded terraces and private fire pits are also available.

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The hotel has an outdoor pool with plenty of shaded loungers and cabanas available for daily rental. The on-site spa offers ocean-inspired treatments, a Marilyn Monroe-inspired Beauty Bar and an oceanfront terrace with a private pool for spa guests. There are seven dining locations on the property, ranging from a beachfront taco shack to fresh-caught seafood at Serea and craft cocktails and small bites at Babcock & Story Bar. The hotel also offers a variety of activities, including a surf academy, bike rentals, a kids club, fitness classes, boat rentals and more (most of which require an additional fee).

Pricing starts at around $411 or 95,000 points per night.

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