Luxury-brand awareness is growing among China’s super rich, who recognize 20% more of the lavish brands than they did last year, according to the Hurun Report.

The 2011 Best of The Best Survey, which interviewed 401 Chinese mainland millionaires, each with assets of more than 10 million yuan ($1.5 million), said the super rich in China are developing more sophisticated tastes in luxury products.

“Chinese entrepreneurs are getting more and more sophisticated, discerning and confident in their personal style, and what they aspire to, as they try to turn new money into old money,” said Rupert Hoogewerf, founder of the Hurun Report.

The cream of China’s hotel industry has been selected by a Chinese publication, with the top gongs going to properties in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Hangzhou.

The China Best Design Hotel Awards were awarded last month in Shanghai, with three exclusive properties coming top of the list — The Mira Hong Kong, the Waldorf Astoria Hotel Shanghai and the Four Seasons Hangzhou West Lake.

Presented by The Bund, a Chinese lifestyle magazine, the China Best Design Hotel Awards are chosen by public vote and a panel of international design experts.

London has been voted the “World’s Leading Destination” at this year’s World Travel Awards, which took place November 7.

It beat off fierce competition from New York, Cape Town and Sydney to take the award, which is seen as one of the most prestigious in the travel world.

The World’s Leading Hotel gong went to the Burj Al Arab in Dubai, despite rivalry from 26 other properties including the Armani Hotel in Dubai, the Hotel Ritz Paris and the Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi.

The hotel loyalty program Marriott Rewards, which counts 33 million members, has swept an awards event honoring the world’s best frequent traveler schemes.

It won the best hotel Program of the Year in both the Americas and in Europe, as well as a further nine awards, the most of any brand at the Frequent Traveler Awards presented November 4.

Gongs for the program included Best Redemption Promotion, Best Earning Promotion and Best Redemption Ability in the hotel category across the Americas, Europe and Africa, and Middle East and Oceania.

The bathrooms in Paris’s swanky Le Meurice hotel have been voted by best in Europe, beating a list of other contenders that prove the French know best when it comes to the salle de bain.

The honor was awarded last week at the industry Villegiature Awards, which recognizes the best aspects of Europe’s hotels — from terraces to websites.

The Philippe Starck-designed bathrooms of Le Meurice were judged to be the best, managing to top competition from Hotel Raphael in Paris, Le Palais Stephanie in Cannes, La Mas Candille in Mougins, and Muse in Ramatuelle (all in France) as well as Luna Baglioni in Venice, Italy.

Conde Nast Traveler magazine has announced the winners of its prestigious 2010 Readers’ Choice awards, lauding the best of today’s travel world.

More than 25,916 readers voted in the awards, which encompassed some 10,000 destinations and also included airlines and cruise lines.

The magazine’s readers judged San Francisco to be the best city in the US for the 18th year in a row, while Florence in Italy was voted the best in Europe, Bangkok the best in Asia, Cape Town the best in Africa and the Middle East and Sydney the best in the Australia/Pacific region.