World's Best Business Hotels

The winning hotels for business travelers in cities worldwide, as voted by T+L readers in our annual survey.

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After a day of meetings across Mexico City, it’s a pleasure to retreat to the Four Seasons, where a leafy courtyard, an unflappable staff, and a soothing color scheme manage to make the hectic metropolis feel relaxing.

Like the best business hotels, Four Seasons, Mexico, D.F., delivers a winning combination of service, comfort, and high-tech amenities. And T+L’s globe-trotting readers have taken notice: in this year’s World’s Best Awards survey, they rated it the No. 2 business hotel worldwide. Top honors go to The Peninsula, Shanghai, which caters to road warriors with a central Bund location and room amenities that include spa tubs and complimentary Wi-Fi.

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Wi-Fi access is now free at most of the top 10–ranked business hotels, all of which have on-site fitness centers and know how to cater to expensive tastes. The Four Seasons, Atlanta (No. 7) stands out as an especially good value, while Berlin’s Hotel Adlon Kempinski offers the convenience of four on-site restaurants.

Find out which other hotels know just how to please business travelers—and file them away for your next assignment.

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Peninsula Hotels chairman Michael Kadoorie spent his childhood in Shanghai, so the March 2010 premiere of the Peninsula Shanghai was a homecoming of sorts. This granite-clad building along the Bund is a Modernist reflection of its Art Deco–era neighbors, the Shanghai Club and Sassoon House. Architect David Beer and interior designer Pierre-Yves Rochon delivered brass- and-mahogany elevators and 235 guest rooms that combine embossed glass lamps and black-lacquer screens with 21st-century amenities that business travelers will appreciate. All come with VoIP phones, portable master control panels, and spa tubs with music and light settings.

After a day of meetings, it’s a pleasure to retreat to the Four Seasons, which manages to make the hectic metropolis of Mexico City feel relaxing. Its colonial-hacienda architecture, Mexican gardens (with tropical-fruit trees, orchids, and chirping caged canaries), courtyard dining, and proximity to verdant Chapultepec Park represent an oasis of calm amid the bustle of the capital. The 240 spacious guestrooms promote tranquility with a neutral palette, deep soaking tubs, and views of elegant Paseo de la Reforma or the quiet courtyard. In keeping with Four Seasons culture, the large staff is warm, genuinely helpful, and utterly unflappable.

At this waterfront property, the spacious rooms favor clean-lined, modern minimalism, with Asian-infused touches like lacquered-wood tables and silk cushions and throws. All have 42-inch plasma-screen TV’s, and luxurious bathrooms with deep soaking tubs and walk-in showers with rainfall showerheads. Of the on-site dining options, two are excellent: Lung King Heen, serving innovative Cantonese cuisine, and the three-Michelin-star French restaurant Caprice. Set aside some time to enjoy the spectacular rooftop deck, where twin swimming pools overlook Victoria Harbour.

In a city that is notoriously difficult to navigate, the Peninsula’s concierge staff is especially skilled, able to score tables at Michelin-ranked restaurants or find bilingual guides to navigate you through the boisterous Tsukiji Fish Market. The hotel occupies a prime corner facing the Imperial Palace and Hibiya Park. Its 314 rooms and suites each feature stone accents, warm woodwork, and Japanese lacquer touches—as well as high-tech touch lighting and Lavazza espresso machines.

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This refined property offers something for everyone: the renovated main house features tastefully appointed rooms with a traditional decor; the Carriage House has a country flair; and Stafford Mews houses modern suites that sprawl over seemingly endless square feet. There’s also plenty of choice at Lyttelton restaurant, which focuses on rustic, British cuisine. At the American bar, more than 3,000 memorabilia items (knick-knacks, photographs, airplane models, ties) hang from the walls, and the in-house wine cellar specializes in Burgundy and Bordeaux.

This Buenos Aires landmark occupies a modern 12-story tower and a handsome Belle Époque mansion, connected by immaculately landscaped gardens in the exclusive Recoleta neighborhood. Each room reflects the era of the building that houses it: the 161 tower rooms are bright, airy, and understated, with bursts of color, texture, and sheen; while the seven sprawling Mansion suites embody classic French opulence (glass chandeliers, floral rugs, gilded mirrors, and original antique tea sets).

The public spaces gleam with burnished rojo Alicante stone, gilded mirrors, and leather-upholstered chairs; attentive staffers, many of whom have been at the property for more than a decade, stand everywhere at the ready. A 2007 renovation enhanced all 244 rooms, giving them golden yellow walls, silky, earth-toned fabrics, and crisp white bed linens. At the spa, a fleet of aestheticians provides peach manicures and pomegranate polish body wraps; on the ground floor is a spacious indoor pool with an adjacent sun terrace for lounging. Just across the street is the High Museum of Art, one of the city's don't-miss attractions.

A favorite of visiting dignitaries like Margaret Thatcher and Henry Kissinger, this legendary hotel completed a renovation in 2006. The enlarged rooms are equipped with Wi-Fi and touch-screen lighting and temperature control as well as plush velvety fabrics, wood wall panels, and colorfully glazed Asian ceramics. And there are myriad ways to decompress after work: a spa on three floors with Chinese herbal steam rooms; 10 different restaurants and bars; and an old-fashioned barbershop that offers wet shaves using badger-hair brushes.

The Four Seasons gave new life to this 1906 Art Nouveau gem with a $125 million restoration. Ever since, the hotel lobby has wowed guests on arrival with its stained-glass windows and soaring glass cupola from which hangs a custom-designed chandelier created from hundreds of crystal leaves. The lobby’s flooring is just as ornate: it’s covered with 1,021,200 mosaic tiles. You’ll find the landmark located at the base of the Chain Bridge, a short walk from Vaci Street.

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One of Berlin’s most historic and luxurious hotels sits right in the shadow of the Brandenburg Gate. Originally built in 1907, the hotel was destroyed in 1945 and reopened in 1997. The public areas are decorated with Carrara marble and stained glass, while the 1920’s-inspired guest rooms and suites feature lavish brocade silk and cherry wood accents. Road warriors will find welcome relief at the Adlon Day Spa and varied dining options among the on-site restaurants Lorenz Adler Esszimmer, Uma, Le Petit Felix, and Quarré.