Forbes Travel Guide, Formerly the Mobil Travel Guide, Announces Five-Star Hotel Winners

The Forbes Travel Guide-- formerly known as Mobil-- has released its yearly round-up of the world's top hotels. A total of 54 hotels in the USA, Canada and China just snagged five-star status, including The Broadmoor in Colorado, which is the longest-running five-star in the US. Noteworthy hotels that just scored five stars for the first time: Four Seasons Resort Hualalai at Historic Ka'upulehu on the Big Island of Hawaii and The Peninsula New York (pictured). Forbes aims to expand its hotel ratings to even more countries worldwide. Curious about the selection criteria? Here's the deal:

Inspectors with Forbes Travel Guide, formerly Mobil Travel Guide, examine every hotel on its current four- and five-star lists, as well as perform assessments of new properties launched the previous year. Each hotel receives an announced visit, wherein an inspector tours the property and looks for more than 200 different attributes (cleanliness of the property, rooms, room products, the beds, linens, bathrooms, etc.). In addition, an anonymous inspector visits the property for a two-night stay, during which he or she tests multiple elements of the experience and service (breakfast, room service, fitness center, concierge, etc.), as well as the facilities. Each five-star hotel receives two unannounced two-night inspections.