Travel ranking: Hotels

So I started with airlines and now it's time for hotels.

I decided to just go with urban and resorts. No distinction between cities or even cities... I really can't be bothered. Still, hope there's something of interest for you guys.

Urban
1. W Hotel San Diego: I absolutely love it. I have been there twice on vacation, because unfortunately I have never had any business trips to the incredible San Diego. What a hotel!
You relax as soon as you check-in. I know it must be the San Diego effect, since it's so close to Coronado and all, but it's more than that: Rice is a fantastic restaurant; the Living room is an absolute mess (in a good way) from Thursday to Saturday (cool music by the way); Magnet is very nice with incredible music, although you have to be aware of female "stag" nights... you might overindulged with female company and your photo might become a very important part of the evening; and finally the Beach... go early or you will need to use all your negotiation skills to get in (I did but also got lucky) - below your feet you will have sand, there is a fire(place), the "cabanas" and really cool and nice people - the waiters, bartenders and the "crowd", and then you look around and ... you're in the middle of downtown... sky-rises all around you and for a split second you feel special. This what makes it the best. That and the W service - West Coast style - not a big fan of the East Coast W service standards.

2. Island Shangri-La Hong Kong: I know it's not a shock: Asian service at its absolute best. You don't feel people are around you all the time to see if you need something. Rather, I have this belief there is some weird system they use... telepathic... it must be... just to know when you need something and then they will be around you. The rooms are great. Great views to either side and the food is exceptional: I am typically not a breakfast guy, but rather a "sleep guy"... but here I do make the effort to go downstairs.
Truly an exceptional hotel. I know in Hong Kong you will have the Peninsula, the Mandarin Oriental and the refurbished Intercontinental, but for me this is the one to beat.

3. Hotel Arts in Barcelona: Let me tell you a story: I had just had a very tough week filled with meetings, interviews and even my birthday. I had just had one of the best moments of my professional career, but was tired, very tired. I had decided weeks before to stay the weekend and switch hotels.
I walked in the hotel on Friday for a meeting and loved what I saw. Later I checked in, asked for a Barcelona match ticket, which I did get at a perhaps to hefty price... but still well worth it, and the rest... the rest was great: great food in the different restaurants; great room and the feeling that every moment of stress is just gone! Like that, just gone.
Barcelona is an exceptional city, but Arts is exceptional in its own right.

Special mentions: Hotel Omm in Barcelona with really incredible contemporary rooms, with a tremendous boutique and lounge feel: exceptional restaurant, one of the best breakfasts I've had in my life, a fantastic lounge and even a club.
W Los Angeles is fantastic with a great bar, great rooms and although the posy LA scene is still there... a great hotel overall.
Ian Schrager's Hudson in NY and Mondrian in LA... the Hudson with its three great bars/lounges, tiny rooms and great beds. A HUGE boutique hotel that actually works. The Mondrian is absolutely fantastic... mind you as posy as it gets, but with big minimalist rooms, a great Asia de Cuba and the (in)famous Sky Bar where you definitely feel you are in LA.
Skt. Petri in Copenhagen with one of the best bars in Copenhagen (better than the very famous NASA, I can assure you) and with the small cool rooms.

Resorts
1. Amankila and Amanusa in Bali: It was impossible for me to decide in favor of one versus the other. These are incredible examples of the Aman experience: service at its best (truly at its best), fantastic rooms and exceptional facilities with a very special focus on swimming pools that are just legendary - the infinite pool at Amankila and the "monument" at Amanusa.
Then you have private beaches, fantastic food... did I say incredible service: minor examples, I visited the three resorts in Bali this year and was upgraded in two of the three without so much as hinting to ask; had a haircut literally in the middle of the jungle by someone who had no clue of English (very good haircut by the way) and the best massage of my life.
Nothing can be said... this is it. As good as it gets.

2. The Grove in Hertfordshire: Considered one of the best Spas in Europe - it truly is. The rooms are... exceptional: huge plasma screens with vintage bathtubs, very nice beds. Great lounges in the old/original house and very good restaurants.
And then you have the Golf and the whole thing this year with Tiger Woods winning... not a golfer unfortunately, but the guys who know something about it say it's quite good. Have never checked Babington House... but until then, this is the paradigm in "Urban resorts" ... located on the countryside.

3. Soho House New York: "It's in New York. So, how can it be a resort?" It is. I assure you it is. You will not want to leave it to go to work so don't do that. That is called masochism.
From the moment you get in, you feel it's all yours. Sort of your house (only 25 rooms or so). People will treat you on a first name basis. The receptionist/concierge/personal assistant will probably be able to get you anywhere in town you want to be in - restaurant, club, etc... but who would want to if you are just staying in what is one of the best clubs in town and members' only for that matter.
Gorgeous pool on the top floor (very famous parties have taken place there). Private cinema (Soho house oblige). Great bar with very beautiful people. Great music. The Games room. Ok, the gym/spa is not overwhelming and you have the Gansevoort right next door, but then you get in the rooms. I stayed in a Playroom (the Playpen are the "smallest" rooms) and it's the Loft experience all the way. Had a bathtub in the middle of the room. Incredible bed - only beaten by the small, yet disturbingly good beds/mattresses at the Hudson in Midtown. A DVD player. A music system. Dolby (or whatever) like setup with tons of Bose speakers around and so cool... oh so cool.
So, as I started... don't go there during the week if you are working and need to leave the building for most of the day... of if you do, start preparing your "I am sick" excuses.

Special mentions: The Datai in Langkawi, Malaysia is fantastic... have already talked about it in another post, so will not delve into that again.
Carlyle Bay in Antigua should have made the top 3 of my list ... if just the service was better. Maybe it's a Caribbean thing. The rest is surely great: great rooms, fantastic beach, great food, but the service is just not there... or at least it wasn't.
Amandari is a great - and a "normal" - Aman experience, but just didn't stand out versus some of the others.