Four Global Winner titles and seven additional category honors put The Shilla Hotels & Resorts at the top of the 2026 World Luxury Awards leaderboard, with its South Korean flagship and a Vietnam beach resort driving the breadth of recognition. The wins span fine dining, urban luxury, resort hospitality, and food-and-beverage programming — a sweep that signals how deeply culinary excellence has become embedded in the group's brand identity.
Seoul's Fine Dining Moment
The Shilla Seoul earned the Global Winner title for Best Luxury Culinary Hotel, a designation that reflects the hotel's deliberate investment in restaurant programming. That recognition was reinforced by its two flagship dining concepts. La Yeon, the hotel's Korean restaurant, was named Global Winner for Best Korean Cuisine and also received Best Luxury Heritage Restaurant honors in East Asia — a dual win that positions it among the continent's most decorated venues for traditional Korean fine dining. Continental, the hotel's French restaurant, claimed the Global Winner award for Best Wine Selection and Best French Cuisine in East Asia, a pairing that highlights how a thoughtfully curated cellar can be as commercially and reputationally significant as the food program itself. For operators tracking luxury restaurant trends in the Asia-Pacific market, the Continental result is a pointed reminder that beverage curation is increasingly a differentiating factor at the highest tier of hospitality.
Resort and International Reach
Beyond Seoul, The Shilla Jeju captured three awards — Best Luxury Ocean View Resort in Asia, Best Luxury Resort in East Asia, and Best Luxury Family Resort in South Korea — demonstrating the group's ability to serve distinct traveler segments from a single property. In Vietnam, Shilla Monogram Danang claimed the Global Winner title for Best Luxury Beach Resort, adding an international dimension to the group's award portfolio. The Shilla Monogram brand, which pairs the group's service heritage with destination-specific programming, also expanded in October 2026 with the opening of Shilla Monogram Hanoi Westlake, suggesting the international pipeline remains active.
For hospitality operators watching luxury lodging and dining strategy, the Shilla sweep offers a case study in how integrated food-and-beverage programming can amplify a hotel brand's global positioning. The World Luxury Hotel Awards, now in their 20th year, and the World Luxury Restaurant Awards, in their 11th, determine winners through online voting across global, continental, regional, and country categories — making the breadth of Shilla's 11-category performance a reflection of consistent recognition across multiple competitive tiers, not a single niche strength. Hotel Shilla, an affiliate of the Samsung Group, operates 23 properties across South Korea, China, and Vietnam under three brands: The Shilla, Shilla Monogram, and Shilla Stay.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
