What does it take to be Condé Nast Traveler's best hotel in the world? Turns out, you need a perfect score of 100 like the Qualia hotel on Hamilton Island, overlooking the Great Barrier Reef.
This year's best hotel was determined by a reader's choice survey and received perfect ratings across the board for its rooms, service, food, location, design, and activities.
The adults-only retreat has 60 pavilions with floor-to-ceiling windows, infinity-edge plunge pools, an expert chef, and access to staggeringly beautiful beaches. Qualia retails from AUD $975 ($1,103 US) per night for a standard pavilion to AUD $4,200 ($4,365 US) for the beach house during the tourist season.
This is not the first award for the luxury resort, which has also previously won World Travel Awards' Australia's Leading Resort title in 2012, and made it onto the UK Condé Nast Traveler Gold List last year.
Qualia is located in an exclusive precinct on Hamilton Island's northern-most tip, and has 60 private pavilions that look out onto the Coral Sea and Whitsunday Islands.
Source: Qualia
The architecture is a combination of local timber and stone, handcrafted for each pavilion and common area. The buildings are surrounded by native Eucalyptus trees.
Source: Qualia
The North-facing Windward Pavilions have breathtaking views of the Coral Sea.
Source: Qualia
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