Conde Nast Traveler announced the results of its 2009 Readers' Choice Awards, ranking the best cities, islands, cruise lines, airlines, hotels, resorts, and car rental agencies worldwide. The awards appear in the November issue (on newsstands Oct. 20). This year, 25,008 readers voted on more than 10,000 properties and destinations.

The results of the 2009 Readers Choice Awards reveal some surprising news: The friendliest U.S. cities are Charleston, Savannah, and Honolulu, while the least friendly, by an uncomfortable margin is New York. Ubud, Bali, is the friendliest town of all. Santa Fe, New Mexico, bumped New York City out of the number three spot for best. San Francisco remained the number one domestic city to visit and New York City slid to number four. San Francisco takes the Best U.S. Cities category for the 17th year in a row. One reason: its worldwide high restaurant score. Ubud dethrones Bangkok as the Best Asian City. Bangkok held the top spot since the category debuted in 2004.

Newcomer Virgin America was once again named the Best Domestic Airline, for the second year in a row, with JetBlue Airways at number two. Singapore Airlines is again the number one International Route Airline, and has led this category for 21 of the past 22 years. (only Swissair, in 1994, has taken the top spot from Singapore Airlines). The growing number of mega-ship cruise lines now have their own category for the first time, led by Celebrity. With so many superb hotels with fewer than 50 rooms, this year's survey has three new categories: Small Hotels in Europe, Small Hotels in the United States, and Small Resorts in the United States with the Kenwood Inn and Spa taking first place. Fully one-third of the hotels and resorts on our Top 100 list began their journey on our Hot List of the world's best new properties, published each May, confirming that Conde Nast Traveler readers are ahead of the curve and connoisseurs of the cutting edge.

Here are results for the top three winners in each category. Top Cities United States: San Francisco, Charleston, S.C, Santa Fe, N.M. Top Cities Europe: Florence, Rome, Venice. Top Cities Asia: Ubud (Bali), Bangkok, Hong Kong. Top Cities Africa & Middle East: Cape Town, Jerusalem, Beirut. Top Cities-the Americas: Vancouver, Buenos Aires, Quebec City. Top Cities Australia/Pacific: Sydney, Melbourne, Queenstown. Top Islands Caribbean/Atlantic: Bermuda, St. John, St. Barts. Top Islands Pacific: Maui, Kauai, Bora Bora. Top Islands Asia/Indian Ocean: Maldives, Bali, Phuket. Top Islands North America: Kiawah, S.C., Vancouver Island, Nantucket, Mass. Top Islands Europe: Mykonos and the Cyclades, Bozcaada and the Turkish Aegean Islands, Capri
Top Resorts Asia: Four Seasons Tented Camp Golden Triangle, Chiang Rai; Oberoi Vanyavilas, Rajasthan; Four Seasons Resort Bali at Sayan. Top Resorts Mexico: One & Only Palmilla, Los Cabos; The Tides, Riviera Maya; The Tides, Zihuatanejo. Top Resorts Africa: Mombo and Little Mombo Camps, Botswana; Sandibe Safari Lodge, Botswana; Safari Lodges at Phinda Private Game Reserve, South Africa.

Top Resorts Europe: Hotel du Palais, Biarritz; Ashford Castle, Co. Mayo; Adare Manor Hotel & Golf Resort, Co. Limerick. Top Resorts Hawaii: Four Season Resort Maui at Wailea; Four Season Resort Hualalai at Historic Ka'upulehu, Big Island; Four Seasons Resort Lana'i, The Lodge at Koele. Top Resorts Atlantic Ocean: The Reefs, Bermuda; One & Only Ocean Club, Paradise Island, Bahamas; Grace Bay Club, Turks and Caicos. Top Resorts Middle East; Burj Al Arab, Dubai; Madinat Jumeirah, Dubai; One & Only Royal Mirage, Dubai. Top Resorts Oceana: Bora Bora Lagoon Resort & Spa; Huka Lodge, Taupo, New Zealand; La Taha'a Island Resort & Spa, French Polynesia.

Top Resorts Mainland U.S.: Sanctuary at Kiawah Island; Inn at Spanish Bay, Pebble Beach; Montage Laguna Beach. Top Small Resorts Mainland U.S.: Kenwood Inn and Spa, Sonoma; Casa Palermo, Pebble Beach; Lake Austin Spa Resort, Austin. Top Resorts Canada: King Pacific Lodge, Princess Royal Island; Emerald Lake Lodge, Alberta; Wickaninnish Inn, Tofino, Vancouver Island. Top Resorts Caribbean: Ritz-Carlton, Grand Cayman; Curtain Bluff, Antigua; Nisbet Plantation Beach Club, Nevis; Top Resorts Central/South America; Four Seasons Resort Carmelo, Uruguay; Four Seasons Resort Costa Rica at Peninsula Papagayo; Hotel Salto Chico, Explora en Patagonia, Chile.

Top Cruise Lines Mega-Ship: Celebrity, Disney, Cunard. Top Cruise Lines Large Ships: Crystal, Regent Seven Seas, Cunard. Top Cruise Lines Small Ships: Sea Cloud, Yachts of Seabourn, Regent Seven Seas. Top Airlines Global: Singapore Airlines, Emirates, Virgin Atlantic and Cathay Pacific (tie). Top Airlines North America: Virgin America, JetBlue Airways, Midwest Airlines. Top Car Rental Agencies: Hertz, Enterprise, Avis.

Top Hotels Southern Europe: Il San Pietro di Positano, Positano, Italy; Il Pellicano, Porto Ercole, Tuscany; Four Season George V, Paris. Top Hotels Northern Europe: Hotel Taschenbergpalais Kempinski Dresden; Four Seasons Gresham Palace, Budapest; Ritz-Carlton, Berlin. Top Small Hotels Europe: La Scalinatella, Capri; La Colombe d'Or, St-Paul de Vence; Grand Hotel a Villa Feltrinelli, Lake Garda. Top Hotels Central America: Lapa Rios Ecolodge, Osa Peninsuala, Costa Rica; Casa Santo Domingo, Antigua; Villas Caletas, Costa Rica. Top Hotels Oceana: Blankey Bay, South Island, New Zealand; Henry Jones Art Hotel, Hobart; Park Hyatt, Sydney. Top Hotels British Isles: Chewton Glen, Hampshire; Milestone Hotel, London; The Goring, London.

Top Hotels Caribbean/Atlantic: Peninsula House, Samana, Dominican Republic; The Caves, Jamaica; Hotel Le Toiny, St. Barts. Top Hotels Asia: Oberoi Udaivilas, Rajasthan; Ritz-Carlton, Tokyo; The Peninsula, Hong Kong. Top Hotels Africa: The Saxon, Johannesburg: Table Bay Hotel, Cape Town; Cape Grace, Cape Town. Top Hotels Canada: Auberge Saint-Antoine, Quebec City; Fairmont Vancouver Airport; Hotel Le Germain-Dominion, Quebec City. Top Hotels Mexico: Casa Natalia, San Jose del Cabo; Las Mananitas, Cuernavaca; JW Marriott Hotel, Mexico City. Top Hotels United States: 21c Museum Hotel, Louisville; The Peninsula, Chicago; Mandarin Oriental, Boston. Top Small Hotels United States: Blantyre, Lenox, Mass.; The Swag, Great Smoky, Mountains, N.C.; Tu Tu' Tun Lodge, Gold Beach, Oregon. Top Hotels South America: Hotel Monasterio, Cuzco; Four Seasons Hotel, Buenos Aires; Alvear Palace Hotel, Buenos Aires. Top Hotels Middle East: Jumeirah Beach Hotel, Dubai; David Citadel Hotel, Jerusalem; Park Hyatt Dubai.

In 2009, the questionnaire was available to all readers through a secure website. The final tabulations of 25,008 responses were done by Mediamark Research, Inc., of New York City. Poll categories (Cities, Hotels, etc.), and the criteria for each appear at the bottom of the first page in every category. Questionnaires contained lists of candidates (individual cities, hotels, etc.), and write-ins were allowed. Only candidates that received a required minimum number of responses were deemed eligible for an award. Each candidate was rated by various criteria on a five-point scale: excellent, very good, good, fair, poor. Criterion scores, which represent the percentage of respondents rating a candidate excellent or very good, were averaged to determine the final score. The full list of winners can be found at www.cntraveler.com/readerschoice.

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