Each year, we vet hundreds (hundreds!) of hotel openings around the world to produce our annual selection of the best of the new: the Hot List. We're not gonna lie, it's a sweet gig. But there's a lot more to the process than simply dialing room service, testing the fluffiness of bathrobes, and hoping the bartender in the (fabulous) lobby bar remembers that we like our Old Fashioneds with *one* piece of ice. On this week's podcast we unpack just what goes into the year-long process of creating the final list. And in the process, we ask ourselves how the meaning of "great," when it comes to hotels, may be changing.

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