The Travel + Leisure2012 World's Best AwardsReaders' Survey Results of

Top Hotels, Cities, Islands, Cruise Lines, Airlines, and More Announced Today

 The Westin Resort & Spa, Whistler has been named in the Top 10 list for Best Resort in Canada in Travel + Leisure 2012 World's Best Awards readers' survey. The results of the 17th annual Travel + Leisure World's Best Awards survey revealing readers' favorite hotels, cities, islands, cruise lines, airlines, car-rental agencies, spas, safari outfitters, and tour operators are listed on www.TravelandLeisure.com now, will be featured in the August digital editions and is the cover story of the August issue of the magazine, on newsstands July 20.

The 2012 results, including the Top 100 Hotels, Top 50 Resorts in the Continental U.S., Top 10 Cities Overall, and Top 10 Islands Overall, among other lists, are featured on www.TravelandLeisure.com/worldsbest now.

"We are thrilled to have been recognized by the readers of Travel + Leisure magazine among the top resorts in Canada," said Tony Cary-Barnard, General Manager. "This prestigious recognition is a testament to the great personalized service our associates at The Westin Resort & Spa, Whistler provide to our guests day in and day out!"

The Westin Resort & Spa is the only luxury all-suite, full service hotel and destination spa in Whistler and the ideal home base for all your activities at Whistler. The resort is located at the base of Whistler Mountain, adjacent to both the Blackcomb and Whistler gondolas that whisk skiers, snowboarders, bikers, and hikers to the top of the greatest vertical rise mountains in North America.  The Westin Resort & Spa is just steps from the heart of the village, where visitors can revel in the charm of Whistler's enchanting pedestrian-only village, alive with festive entertainment, exquisite shops and cozy bistros, and an endless variety of year-round recreational pursuits.

The residentially-designed suites at the resort are well appointed and ideally suited for leisure getaways and business retreats, featuring windows that open to fresh mountain air, quality-appointed kitchens, Westin's Heavenly Bed®, gas fireplace, inviting soaker tub and wireless high speed Internet access. The resort also offers versatile function space where upscale cuisine, dramatic views, and destination services will treat you to the adventure of a lifetime. For more information visit www.westinwhistler.com or follow the hotel on Facebook or Twitter.

Travel + Leisure2012 World's Best Awards Survey Methodology

A questionnaire developed by the editors ofTravel + Leisure®,in association with ROI Research Inc., was made available to Travel +Leisurereaders at tlworldsbest.com from December 1, 2011, to March 31, 2012. Readers were invited to participate through Travel + Leisure magazine (January, February, March, and April issues), T+L iPad® editions and newsletters, and online at TravelandLeisure.com. To protect the integrity of the data, after March 31, 2012, respondents were screened by Travel + Leisure and responses from any identified travel-industry professionals who completed the survey were eliminated from the final tally. The survey website, tlworldsbest.com, was maintained, monitored, and kept secure by ROI Research Inc., which collected and tabulated the responses and kept them confidential. The scores are indexed averages of responses concerning applicable characteristics. Respondents were asked to rate hotels,islands, destination spas, and rental-car agencies on five characteristics; cities, cruise lines, and tour operators and safari outfitters on six characteristics; and airlines and hotel spas on four characteristics (see below). In most categories, respondents could also rate additional optional characteristics; these ratings were not included in the final score. For each characteristic, respondents were asked to rate a candidate on a scale of 1 to 5, where "1" means poor and "5" means excellent. Requiredcomponent ratings were then averaged, creating an overall score. A minimum number of responses was necessary for a candidate to be eligible for inclusion in the World's Best Awards listings. Some companies were rated in both the cruise lines and tour operators and safari outfitters categories, and some properties were rated in both the destination spas and hotel spas categories. In both cases, companies, and properties have different scores for each category. Throughout the Travel +Leisure World's Best Awards, scores shown have been rounded to the nearest hundredth of a point; in the event of a true tie, properties, companies, or destinations share the same ranking. The majority of ships in large-ship cruise lines carry 600 passengers or more; the majority of ships in small-ship cruise lines carry fewer than 600 passengers. Spa results will appear in T+L's October 2012 issue.

These were the categories and characteristics:

Hotels: Rooms/facilities, location, service, restaurants/food, value.

Cities:Sights, culture/arts, restaurants/food, people, shopping, value.

Islands:Natural attractions, activities/sights, restaurants/food, people, value.

Cruise lines:Cabins, food, service, itineraries/destinations, activities, value.

Tour operators and safari outfitters: Staff/guides, itineraries/destinations, activities, accommodations, food, value.

Airlines:Cabin comfort, in-flight service, customer service, value.

Rental-car agencies:Vehicle selection, vehicle availability, car-rental location, service, value.

Destination spas:Accommodations/ambience, treatments, service, food, value.

Hotel spas:Ambience, treatments, service, value.