ROME – It’s not just the beauty of the countryside, fantastic food and wine, and historic sites that Italy can boast to international travellers, it’s the best hotels in the world.

“Italy has incomparable cities and sights and a hospitality ethic like now other. It is no wonder they have the best hotels in the world,” says International Traveller magazine managing editor Quentin Long.

The top Italian hotel on the list is Villa Feltrinelli on the edge of Lake Garda, which appeared at # 4. Legendary Hotel Cipriani, an aristocratic 15th-century Palazzo in Venice was the other Italian entry in the top 10 at #7.

The United States was the second best country on the list with nine hotels in the top 100; two also in the top 10.

The French may cry foul with just five entries on the list, equal with fierce rivals United Kingdom, China and New Zealand, but taking out the coveted #1 spot may just lessen the Gallic rage. Riviera hotel to the stars, Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc, is named the Best Hotel in the World. The 118-room hotel has been a celebrity hangout through the ages hosting such luminaries as JFK, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Picasso and Audrey Hepburn.

The magazine claims the list is the hotel and resort equivalent of the famous 50 Best Restaurants list published by a UK industry magazine. “The beauty of a panel of travel writers is these experts collectively have more than 230 years experience and have seen and stayed at the best the world has to offer. Like the 50 Best Restaurants reviewers, these are the only people in the world with the qualifications to decipher the good from the great from the best,” Long says.

Some of the experts involved include local luminaries like former Vogue Australia editor Kirstie Clements and global writers like former Conde Nast Traveller managing editor Claire Wrathall.

The 10 Best Hotels and Resorts was a partnership between International Traveller and Hotels.com. Katherine Cole, regional marketing director, said: “We’re proud to be associated with one of Australia’s leading travel magazines. International Traveller’s 100 Best Hotels and Resorts in the World showcases some of the world’s most unique and luxurious resorts and provides travellers endless inspiration for their next holiday.”

TOP NATIONS FOR HOTELS (No. hotels in 100 best)

1. Italy (11)

2. United States (9)

3. China (5)

3. France (5)

3. New Zealand (5)

3. UK (5)

7. Canada (4)

8. India (4)

via Italy best country for top hotels in the world for International Traveller.