The French government announced the eight recipients of its new ‘palace’ hotel rating May 5, dealing a blow to some of Paris’s most famous hotels.

The ‘palace’ rating is an official designation above five stars awarded by the French tourism authorities — it’s designed to help travelers identify the cream of the country’s many swanky hotels.

A total of four Paris properties were given the award — the Bristol, the Meurice, the Park Hyatt and the Plaza Athenee.

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.

The Wealth Bulletin has compiled a new list of the World’s Top Ten Most Expensive Hotel Rooms.

Despite the past year’s financial and economic turmoil, prices at the best hotel suites have risen by an average of 10% this year.

The winner is the Royal Penthouse Suite at the President Wilson Hotel in Geneva Switzerland which charges a whopping $65,000 a night.

Royal Suite, Burj Al Arab

Demand for the top end of the luxury hotel market has been unaffected by the credit crunch, keeping prices for the best rooms at very high levels : the superrich are still willing to spend huge sums on staying at the best hotel rooms in the world, paying as much as $34,000 a night to lodge at the most luxurious suites, according Wealth-Bulletin’s survey of the Top Ten Most Expensive Hotel Rooms in the World.

Also worth noting is the appearance of Dubai (the Burj Al Arab’s Royal Suite, above) and Moscow hotels on the list, which would have been unheard of just a couple years ago. Here are the Top 10:

1. The Warner PentHouse, Four Seasons; New York, $34,000 per night.
2. Royal Penthouse suite, President Wilson Hotel, Geneva, $33,000 per night.
3. The Presidential Suite, Hotel Cala Di Volpe, Costa Smeralda, Italy $21,000 per night.
4. Royal Suite, Burj-Al-Arab, $18,000 per night.
5. Royal Armleder Suite, Le Richmond, Geneva, $17,500 per night.

6. The Ritz Carlton Suite, The Ritz Carlton, Moscow; 16,500 per night
7. The Royal Suite, Four Seasons George V, Paris; $15,500 per night
8. The Imperial Suite, Park Hyatt Vendome, Paris; 15,500 per night
9. Brook Penthouse, Claridges, London, $10,000 per night
10. Penthouse Suite, Hotel Martinez, Cannes, $9,300 per night (During the Cannes film festival week in May the price rockets to $48,000 a night).