At the HDBoutique show in Miami Beach, the Boutique & Lifestyle Lodging Association (BLLA) announced the winners of the 2011 BLLA Awards.

The boutique hotel of the year award for 2011 went to The Iron Horse Hotel in Milwaukee, WI. The lifestyle hotel of the year award was taken by The W Hotel & Residences Hollywood.

Iron Horse Hotel, Milwaukee

The finalists in both categories are listed below:

Boutique Hotel finalists:

The Iron Horse Hotel, Milwaukee, WI

The Hotel Andaluz, Albuquerque, NM

The Jupiter Hotel, Portland, OR

Hotel Renew, Honolulu, HI

Lifestyle Hotel finalists:

W Hollywood Residences, Hollywood, CA

The Good Hotel, San Francisco, CA

The Surrey, New York, NY

The Westlake Village Inn, Westlake Village, CA

The Iron Horse Hotel has won this award for the second year running. The hotel’s owner Tim Dixon was also named BLLA 2011 Hotelier of the Year.

“I’m honored to have received these awards from BLLA and I accept on behalf of an amazing team,” said owner Tim Dixon. “This honor shows that exceptional, experiential and independent hotels can thrive in any market as long as there is a vision and commitment to customer service.”

The 102-room Iron Horse Hotel, located across the river from the Harley-Davidson Museum, is celebrating its 3rd anniversary after opening in what was formerly a historic 100 year old warehouse.

The hotel has made a name for itself not just as a luxury hotel that caters to business travelers and motorcycle enthusiasts alike, but also for the sweeping artwork by Charles J. Dwyer, and for its green practices and environmental sustainability.

Photo – Iron Horse Hotel

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Condé Nast has published its listings of the 2010 Readers Choice Awards. The list includes the top 100 hotels in the world and in the US, in addition to separate listings of the top hotels in Mexico, Canada and other parts of the world.

The 21C Hotel in Louisville, KY got the award of being the best hotel in the US and the sixth best hotel in the world with an overall score of 97.7.

The 21C Museum Hotel – which combines art with lodging and the trademark red penguins, was the winner in last year’s list too. Before that, the top slot was held by The Peninsula Chicago for several years running, but they ended up getting beat again by 21C this year.

The Peninsula, Chicago scored 96.4 and was followed by the Mandarin Oriental in Boston in third place with 96.1. 

21c Museum Hotel, Louisville, KY

Here’s the list of the top 10 hotels in the United States, according to the Condé Nast 2010 Readers Choice Awards:-

1. 21C, Louisville, KY
2. The Peninsula, Chicago, IL
3. Mandarin Oriental, Boston, MA
4. The Peninsula, Beverly Hills, CA
5. Auberge Du Soliel, Napa Valley, CA
6. Stephanie Inn, Cannon Beach, OR
7. Rosewood Crescent, Dallas, TX
8. Hotel Murano, Tacoma, WA
9. Rosewood Mansion on Turtlecreek, Dallas, TX
10. The Setai, Miami Beach, FL

See the full list of the top 100 hotels in the US at Concierge.com.

Photo courtesy 21c Hotel

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Forbes Travel Guide, formerly known as the Mobil Travel Guide, has announced its 2010 Five and Four Star Award Winners. In the 5 star list, six are from New York City, and four from Beverly Hills. The 4 star list is dominated by Las Vegas which scored eight properties on the list, followed by Washington D.C. with five hotels.

Mandarin Oriental New York

The New York hotels awarded the 5 star are:-
Mandarin Oriental, New York
Four Seasons Hotel New York
The Peninsula New York
The Ritz-Carlton New York, Central Park
The St. Regis Hotel, New York
Trump International Hotel and Tower New York

The Beverly Hills hotels awarded the 5 star are:-
The Beverly Hills Hotel
Montage Beverly Hills
The Penninsula Beverly Hills
Raffles L’Ermitage Beverly Hills

You can see the full list of Forbes Travel Guide’s 2010 Star Award winners here – www.forbestravelguide.com/.

In October 2009, Mobil Travel Guide announced a strategic partnership with Forbes Media LLC, and the prestigious Mobil Star ratings and certifications are from now on being awarded under the name of Forbes Travel Guide.

Photo by George Apostolidis, courtesy Mandarin Oriental

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