The world's best hotel for 2016 boasts bragging rights to being the most exclusive property in Ireland and to having hosted one of the most powerful couples in the world, Kim Kardashian and Kanye West, during their honeymoon.
In the 29th edition of CN Traveler magazine's Readers' Choice Awards, guests of the Ballyfin Demesne hotel, located an hour outside Dublin, helped it snag the coveted title of best hotel 2016, for bringing unrestrained luxury and refined elegance to guests.
With just 20 bedrooms, the country house reopened in 2011 after nine years of painstaking renovations that restored the Regency mansion to its former glory, with Irish art and antiques, Irish mahogany and French chandeliers.
Stone walls also enclose 614 acres of parkland, lake, ancient woodlands and grottoes.
In addition to being referred to as Ireland's answer to Downton Abbey, Ballyfin made headlines around the world when Kimye decided to book the property as part of their 2014 honeymoon.
Ireland secured another two spots on the top 10 list while England landed two properties on the list.
For the 29th edition of the magazine's Readers' Choice Awards, more than 300,000 readers weighed in on their favorite destinations, hotels, cruises, airlines and resorts -- nearly twice as many as last year -- to help editors compile lists of the best in travel for 2016.
Rounding out the top three spots on the best hotels list is COMO The Treasury, Perth, Australia and Hotel Matilda, in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.
Here are the top 10 hotels for 2016, according to readers of CN Traveler magazine:
1. Ballyfin Demesne, 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 Paulo, Brazil
9. The Lodge at Ashford Castle, Co. Mayo, Ireland
10. Hotel Il Pellicano, Tuscany, Italy
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