What are you favorite cities? Even the Ugliest in the eyes of the beholders?

And Beirut was selected 20 of the top 25? Ahead of Paris? Looks like the French hate to vote on anything?

Frances Cha, CNN, posted this October 17, 2013 : And the Best City is...?”

How many cities have you been to? And do you agree with the rankings?

Condé Nast Traveler announced the winners of its 26th annual Readers’ Choice Awards yesterday.

As they do every year, this year’s results introduce new categories, new hotels and re-ordered lists of the world’s best destinations.

The magazine said this year’s list was the most comprehensive ever, with 1.3 million votes cast for a whopping 16,000 properties around the world.

World’s best cities

The “Top 25 Cities in the World” list had refreshingly surprising additions and rankings — Paris came in at a lowly 22 while Bruges (Belgium) and Cape Town (South Africa) tied for 11th place.

Budapest and Florence tied for second, while the very top spot was seized by the colonial city of San Miguel de Allende in central Mexico, which took the crown from last year’s favorite of Charleston, South Carolina (which was tied for fifth this year) and voted the top city in the United States for the third year in a row,.. for its “sand, sun, history, good food and friendly people.”

Italy snapped up five of the top 25 cities, while Spain managed to take three.

Top cities in the world

1. San Miguel de Allende, Mexico
2.= Budapest, Hungary
2.= Florence, Italy
4. Salzburg, Austria
5.= Charleston, South Carolina, United States
5.= San Sebastián, Spain
7. Vienna, Austria
8. Rome
9. Siena, Italy
10. Québec City
11.= Cape Town, South Africa
11.= Bruges, Belgium
13. Vancouver, Canada
14. Kyoto, Japan
15.= Prague, Czech Republic
15.= Kraków, Poland
17.= Victoria, Canada
17.= Sydney
17.= Santa Fe, New Mexico, United States
20.= Seville, Spain
20.= Beirut, Lebanon
22.= Paris
22.= Melbourne, Australia
24.= Venice, Italy
24.= Barcelona, Spain

Top cities in the United States

1. Charleston, South Carolina
2. Sante Fe, New Mexico
3. San Francisco
4. Honolulu
5. Chicago

Top hotels and resorts in the world

1.= Lodge at Kauri Cliffs in Maturi Bay, New Zealand
1.= La Residence, Franschhoek, South Africa
3.= Singita Sabi Sand, South Africa
3.= Bushmans Kloof Wilderness Reserve, South Africa
5. Grand Hotel Timeo, Sicily

Top U.S. airlines

1. Virgin America
2. Jetblue Airways
3. Hawaiian Airlines
4. Southwest Air Lines
5. Alaska Airlines

Top international airlines

1. Singapore Airlines
2. Emirates
3. Virgin Atlantic
4. Etihad Airways
5. Air New Zealand

What are you favorite cities, hotels and airlines? Did the Condé Nast Traveler readers get it right? Tell us below!

And the top 10 UGLIEST CITIES IN THE WORLD

We’ve made the list of the world’s 10 most beautiful cities, now we present the ten ugliest.

There may be countless ugly small and medium-sized cities around the world, but these are the 10 least attractive of the world’s capitals and major cities. If you live in any of these places, you’ll surely disagree, but here is our unbiased list:

AMMAN, JORDAN

1 | GUATEMALA CITY, GUATEMALA

This fumes-and-crime-filled city is the capital of an otherwise beautiful country. It looks more like a slum than a capital city, with most buildings appearing on the verge of collapse.

 

2 | MEXICO CITY, MEXICO

It’s currently known as one of the world’s most dangerous cities, but even if it was a safe haven, it still would not be a very inviting city. It’s one of the world’s most polluted and there isn’t much to look at.

MEXICO CITY, MEXICO

3 | AMMAN, JORDAN

The capital of the country with one of the world’s most fascinating historical sites (magical Petra) should simply be an arrival and departure point on your travel itinerary. Unless you enjoy dirty, chaotic streets and ugly buildings looking like they’re crumbling on top of each other.

4 | CARACAS, VENEZUELA

Venezuela is known for its extraordinary success at international beauty pageants and Venezuelan women are famous for their plastic surgery-enhanced bodies, but the country’s capital sure is no beauty. Not only is it surrounded by shantytowns, its most central districts seem devoid of planning and style.

CARACAS, VENEZUELA

5 | LUANDA, ANGOLA

It’s undergoing a spectacular boom as the capital of Africa’s recent economic success story, but let’s hope the new development creates something more attractive than what we see now: ugly apartment buildings dotting the skyline of what incredibly is the world’s most expensive city.

LUANDA, ANGOLA

6 | CHISINAU, MOLDOVA

Moldova’s capital is an eyesore. It’s an industrial city mostly made up of very ugly Soviet-style apartment buildings, most of them decaying (and not very clean either). There are many unattractive Soviet-era cities in Eastern Europe, but we expect more from a capital.

7 | HOUSTON, USA

Houston, we have a problem: You’re ugly. This is the United States’ fourth largest city when it comes to population, but the attraction sure isn’t scenery. There are many other ugly American cities (let’s face it — American metropolises aren’t exactly beauties: Atlanta, Cleveland…), but this one should win the title of ugliest of them all, with a large impoverished and homeless population (close to one in five families live below the poverty line) and a cityscape with no formal zoning regulations.

 

8 | DETROIT, USA

Here’s the ugly truth: Detroit is ugly. Not just aesthetically but also in quality of life, which explains why it lost a quarter of its population in a decade. One of the highest crime rates in the country may have contributed to that, but this is also a dirty, rundown city mostly made up of brick, concrete and glass. Not pretty.

9 | SAO PAULO, BRAZIL

Nature seems to have concentrated all of its efforts on Rio and completely forgotten Brazil’s other big metropolis. São Paulo may be one of the world’s most exciting cities when it comes to dining and shopping, but there’s no question that it’s one big ugly concrete jungle.

SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL

10 | LOS ANGELES, USA

A city known for its congested highways is enough to make it unattractive, but then there isn’t much to look at walking down the street either (if anyone actually walks — this is one of the world’s least pedestrian-friendly cities). Despite the allure of Hollywood and the beaches nearby, Los Angeles is simply not the prettiest place on Earth. As one of the world’s most famous cities there is no excuse for lack of beautification year after year

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