Travel + Leisure magazine's much-awaited World Best Awards 2006 should bring cheer to the Oberoi and Taj groups. Two Oberoi hotels and the Taj Lake Palace ( Udaipur ) have been rated by among the world's top ten. The Udaivilas ( Udaipur ) has been ranked third and The Rajvilas (Jaipur), which was at No. 3 last year, the sixth best hotel in the world. Lake Palace is at No. 10. The top two positions went to Singita Private Game Reserve (Sabi Sands, South Africa ) and Four Seasons Resort Bali at Sayan ( Indonesia ).

Both Udaipur hotels were not on the list last year. Surprisingly, Amar Vilas, the Oberoi property in Agra, has slipped from No. 22 last year to No. 54 this year. Travel + Leisure, published by American Express, is among the world's most authoritative magazines in the travel sector.

The rankings were based on a readers' poll conducted by the magazine. Hotels around the world were evaluated on characteristics that ranged from rooms, facilities and location to service, restaurants/food and value.

The Travel + Leisure questionnaire asked respondents to report where they had travelled worldwide and how, and to rate only the destinations, properties and companies that were relevant to their recent travels. They were asked to rate hotels, cities, islands, spas, hotel spas, tour operators/safari outfitters, cruise lines, airlines and car rental companies on several characteristics. The scores on which the final rankings are based are indexed averages of responses concerning applicable characteristics.

Nancy Novogrod, Editor-in-Chief, Travel + Leisure, said, "A powerful gauge of the interests and tastes of sophisticated travelers, the 2006 World's Best Awards reveal a preference for places farther away, smaller, and more unique than ever before - a lodge in South Africa, a castle in Scotland, and three hotels in India are among the top ten hotels worldwide."

For the complete list, go to http://www.travelandleisure.com/worldsbest/2006/results.cfm?cat=hotels