Jamaica’s S Hotel in Montego Bay has been ranked as the best hotel in the Caribbean and Central America by Conde Nast Traveller, a global luxury and lifestyle travel magazine.
The rankings were compiled in Conde Nast Readers’ Choice Awards which were announced recently.
Conde Nast, in commenting on S Hotel’s high ranking amongst the world’s best said: “At S Hotel you get the laid-back vibe of a stay in Jamaica with a bit of South Beach, Florida glitz – they even line the deck of their sleek pool with some of the island’s famous white sand.”
The hotel scored a rating of 96.9 by the magazine, making it highest ranked in the region. Since opening in 2019, S Hotel has consistently remained among the best of the best in the awards, copping recognition in the last several years.
Another Jamaican hotel, Jamaican Inn in Ocho Rios, copped seventh place in the top 10 categories, receiving a score of 94.17.
Other hotels in the region that were spotlighted include Calabash Luxury Boutique in St George’s, Grenada, Condado Vanderbilt in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Hotel Grano de Oro, San Jose, Costa Rica, and the JW Marriott in Panama City, Panama.
A ‘big deal’ for Jamaican tourism
Jamaica’s Minister of Tourism Ed Bartlett said S Hotel’s ranking as one of the best in the world speaks volume to Jamaica’s tourism product.
Bartlett said the fact that the ranking was coming from Conde Nast Traveler, the world’s foremost travel magazine, makes the honour even the more special.
“Conde Nast Traveler is the Forbes Magazine of the hospitality sector… . If they say you are a big deal, then it simply means you are top-tier stuff,” Mr. Bartlett said.
“Of note and equally significant is that Conde Nast Traveler also ranked the S Hotel as the number-one hotel in the Caribbean and Central America. This is huge and must be celebrated. This is a big win for the S Hotel and, by extension, Jamaica’s tourism product,” he added.
A Jamaican-owned, managed and staffed and a relative newcomer on the Jimmy Cliff Boulevard, more popularly known as the Hip Strip, the S Hotel came in at number 16 on the magazine’s 2023 Best Hotels in the World Readers’ Choice Awards.
The New York City, United States-headquartered Readers’ Choice Awards, and which has been running for 36 years, had some 526,518 participants deciding on the hotel rankings, a list that was dominated by world-renowned brands such as the Ritz Carlton, Four Seasons, Peninsula and Shangri-La resorts, among other international giants.
“It is an impressive ranking for a hotel that opened in 2019, a year before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. S Hotel is Jamaican in every sense and they are known to be very meticulous in their operations. It is good to see Jamaica’s higher-end resorts getting this attention – the emphasis on Jamaican culture, first-rate service and that family feeling is gaining a lot of traction. Kudos to the phenomenal team there for continually striving for perfection,” Bartlett said.
