Telegraph Travel Awards 2013: Best hotel group This year has seen it bring two properties to Russia (with St Petersburg now open and Moscow to follow in mid 2014) and to China (with new openings in Beijing and Shenzen). The latter is a clear attempt to establish the brand within China so that its fast-growing middle class looks to the Four Seasons when travelling to Europe, the US and beyond. Eyebrows were raised when Four Seasons brought its particular brand of luxury accommodation to the African bush for the first time last year. Set in the Serengeti in Tanzania, the property has been sympathetically built, with the luxury lodges coming complete with infinity pools overlooking watering holes - a salubrious way to get a glimpse of the Big Five. Closer to home, the regeneration of George V has, again, been well received, with the Penthouse suite on the eight floor becoming one of the world's most sought after rooms with its jaw-dropping views (and prices). RIU Hotels was more of an unexpected choice - the Spanish all-inclusive premium hotel chain has been quietly expanding, adding city-centre hotels to its stock of sunshine destinations (think Aruba and Bahamas to Tunisia and Turkey). But Jumeirah, the purveyors of Middle Eastern luxury, was no surprise, and global expansion continues apace with new openings in the Maldives, the Himalayas and Baku as well as London, Frankfurt and Venice. Charles Starmer-Smith