COMO the Treasury in Perth has been voted the second best hotel in the world, according to leading travel publisher Conde Nast.
The hotel is part of a $580 million dollar redevelopment of the Cathedral Avenue precinct and occupies the top three floors of three historic buildings. Wildflower, COMO's top floor, glassed-in rooftop restaurant offers more than just an impressive experience, according to Conde Nast: "when you taste the kangaroo, delicately smoked over jarrah ambers and served with grilled blueberry dressing, you'll get what we mean." Anyone hungry?
The Perth outpost is COMO's first in Australia. No other Australian hotels made Conde Nast Traveler's Readers' Choice Awards top 50 list.
Traveller.com.au's reviewer Ute Junker named the COMO the best city hotel in Australia.
The service "hits the mark every time: friendly, informal, and utterly faultless," she wrote, while the rooms have "a sense of tranquillity, provided by neutral tones and an uncluttered aesthetic that lets the elegant lines of the period architecture shine through".
A stately Georgian home north of Dublin called Ballyfin secured the top spot on the Conde Nast list; the kind of place you can imagine being the setting of a Jane Austin novel. Inside you'll find four-poster beds, textured wallpaper and gilded mirrors; outside, there's 614 acres of private gardens and a lake, which the butler will row you across prior to lunch. Just the spot to imagine Mr Darcy emerging from the water, wet blouse clinging to his torso.
Other hotels to make the top of the list include a Indian residence called Umaid Bhawan Palace where 'even the most jaded of jaws will drop'. So good, the royal family still occupy one wing of the stately building.
A Thomas Hardy-designed estate in Dorset, UK which was the 'hallmark of quintessential English charm' featured at number five with an afternoon tea service that would make the Queen green with envy. At the complete opposite of the spectrum, Richard Branson's first female-friendly, ultra-modern Virgin hotel in Chicago also featured in the top ten.
Conde Nast's top ten also featured two Irish castles, where you can eat at Michelin-starred restaurants, or head out on a yacht with eight of your closest buddies, as well as a classic Italian hotel overlooking the mediterranean from the heart of Tuscany, modern minimalism in Mexico to champagne check-ins and killer rooftop bars in Brazil's Sao Paolo.
To see the full list of Conde Nast's best 50 hotels in the world, click here.
Conde Nast's top ten hotels in the world:
1. Ballyfin, Co. Laois, Ireland
2. COMO The Treasury, Perth, Australia
3. Hotel Matilda, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico
4. Umaid Bhawan Palace (Taj), Jodhpur, India
5. Summer Lodge Country House Hotel, Dorset, England
6. Virgin Hotels Chicago, IL
7. Waterford Castle, Co. Waterford, Ireland
8. Hotel Unique, São Paolo, Brazil
9. The Lodge at Ashford Castle, Co. Mayo, Ireland
10. Hotel Il Pellicano, Tuscany, Italy
