It opened just over a year ago, but a luxurious 24-key Italian property has already been named the best hotel in the world.

Passalacqua, which overlooks Lake Como, beat off stiff competition to receive the top spot on the first-ever edition of the World’s 50 Best Hotels list, which was announced at an awards ceremony in the UK on Tuesday night.

Open since June 2022, the boutique hotel owned by the De Santis family – local hoteliers – was one of 21 Europe-based hotels included on the list, along with the Four Seasons Firenze in Florence, which came in ninth place.

Asia also did well in the rankings, with 18 hotels from the region making the list, including second, third, fourth and fifth place, awarded to Rosewood Hong Kong, Four Seasons Bangkok at Chao Phraya River, The Upper House in Hong Kong and Aman Tokyo, respectively.

more at cnn.com