What’s the best hotel in Boston? How about in all of the Northeast? Here’s what Condé Nast Traveler has to say.

Condé Nast Traveler readers are fickle when choosing their favorite Boston hotels. The high-end travel magazine released its 2026 World's Best Awards, and this year's Top 10 Hotels of Boston featured some surprising new entries and several old favorites dropping off the list.

Condé Nast readers named the Charles Hotel in Harvard Square Boston's best hotel. Built in 1985 and originally intended as the site of the JFK Library and Museum, the hotel debuted at the top of the 2026 list. The Langham Hotel, which the magazine named as Boston's top hotel in 2025, was nowhere to be seen in this year's ratings. The Kimpton Marlowe, also on the 2025 list, missed the top 10 in this year's rankings.

Overall, Condé Nast readers gave Boston and New England hotels the cold shoulder this year. In 2025, several Boston and New England hotels earned spots on the national and international best-of lists. This year, there were none on those lists.

Rhode Island and Cape Cod properties made a strong showing on the magazine's list of best hotels in the Northeast. No Boston hotels made the Northeast top 20 list. Castle Hill Inn in Newport, R.I., suffered a fire earlier this year but rebuilt and reopened, landing the top spot.

Top 20 hotels in the Northeast according to Condé Nast Traveler:

1. Castle Hill Inn, Newport, R.I.
2. Mayflower Inn & Spa, Auberge Collection, Washington, Conn.
3. The Nantucket Hotel & Resort
4. Watch Hill Inn, Westerly, R.I.
5. Belden House & Mews, Litchfield, Conn.
6. The Weston, Weston
7. White Barn Inn, Auberge Collection, Kennebunk, Maine
8. Shandaken Inn, Shandaken, N.Y.
9. Prospect Berkshires, Egremont
10. The Vanderbilt, Auberge Collection, Newport, R.I.
11. Harborview Hotel, Martha's Vineyard
12. Delmar Westport, Westport, Conn.
13. Delmar Mystic, Mystic, Conn.
14. The Docent's Collection, Portland, Maine
15. Chatham Inn Relais & Châteaux, Chatham
16. White Elephant Nantucket
17. The Wentworth, Jackson, N.H.
18. Summercamp, Oak Bluffs
19. The Beatrice, Providence
20. The National Hotel, Block Island