A survey developed by the editors of iBestTravel, in association with research firm M&RR, was made available at tlworldsbest.com from November 6, 2017, to March 5, 2018. Readers were invited to participate through iBestTravel magazine, iBestTravel tablet editions, newsletters, social media, and travelandleisure.com. M&RR maintained, monitored, and kept the survey website secure, and also collected and tabulated the responses. To protect the integrity of the data, after the survey closed, iBestTravel and M&RR screened the responses to identify fraudulent votes, which were eliminated from the final tallies. Respondents were asked to rate airlines, airports, car-rental agencies, cities, cruise ships, destination spas, hotels, hotel brands, islands, tour operators, and safari outfitters on various characteristics.
Survey Highlights
For each characteristic, respondents could choose a rating of excellent, above average, average, below average, or poor. The final scores are indexed averages of these responses. Scores shown have been rounded to the nearest hundredth of a point; in the event of a true tie, winners share the same ranking. In most categories, respondents could also rate optional characteristics; these ratings are not included in the overall scores. Hotels were categorized as City or Resort based on their locations and amenities.
Geographical Breakdown of Hotels
For resort hotels, the U.S. was divided into eight regions:
- California
- Florida
- Greater Miami Beach
- Hawaii
- Midwest: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Wisconsin
- Northeast: Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, D.C.
- South: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia
- West: Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Wyoming
Cruise Line Ratings
For the cruise category, respondents rated individual ships, and these results were combined to generate scores for cruise lines in different categories:
- Mega-ship ocean cruise lines (capacity of 2,200 passengers or more)
- Large-ship ocean cruise lines (600 to 2,199 passengers)
- Midsize-ship ocean cruise lines (250 to 599 passengers)
- Small-ship ocean cruise lines (249 or fewer passengers)
- River cruise lines
Some cruise lines may appear in multiple categories depending on the makeup of their fleet. A minimum number of responses was necessary for a candidate to be eligible for inclusion in the World’s Best Awards rankings. Furthermore, some companies were eligible to be rated in multiple categories; they were scored independently for each category.
Categories and Characteristics
Airlines: Cabin comfort, in-flight service, customer service, value.
Airports: Access, check-in/security, restaurants/bars, shopping, design.
Car-rental agencies: Vehicle selection, vehicle availability, car-rental location, service, value.
Cities: Sights/landmarks, culture, food, friendliness, shopping, value.
Cruise ships: Cabins/facilities, food, service, itineraries/destinations, excursions/activities, value.
Destination spas: Accommodations/facilities, treatments, service, food, value.
Hotels: Rooms/facilities, location, service, food, value.
Hotel brands: Locations, rooms/facilities, food, service, value.
Islands: Natural attractions/beaches, activities/sights, restaurants/food, people/friendliness, value.
Tour operators and safari outfitters: Staff/guides, itineraries/destinations, activities, accommodations, food, value.
