Condé Nast Traveler's 2026 Readers' Choice Awards have landed, and this year's Southern resorts list is a reminder of how much variety the region packs into one corner of the United States. The top 20, voted entirely by the magazine's readers, stretch from the mountains of Appalachia to the marshy coastline of the Lowcountry — a span that takes in Tennessee, the Carolinas, Georgia and beyond.
The annual Readers' Choice survey is one of the biggest polls in travel, drawing hundreds of thousands of votes, so the results reflect a broad crowd of actual guests rather than a panel of editors. For a resort to rank highly means it has consistently delivered on service, food, setting and that harder-to-define feel of a place people want to return to.
What the 2026 list shows is that the American South has quietly become a serious resort destination. The mountains — think Asheville and the Blue Ridge — offer lodges with spas, hiking and distillery culture, while the Lowcountry around Charleston, Savannah and the barrier islands delivers golf, oyster roasts, waterfront pools and genteel inn-keeping that this stretch of coast is famous for. In between sit farmhouse-style retreats, equestrian estates and historic properties that have been hosting guests for generations.
For travellers, the list works well as a shortlist rather than a bucket list. Because the rankings are reader-driven, they skew toward places that execute reliably — good beds, good meals, staff who remember your name — rather than flash-in-the-pan openings. Many of the resorts sit within an easy drive of regional airports, and several offer all-inclusive or nearly-all-inclusive structures that make budgeting simpler for families and couples alike.
If you're planning a US trip for 2026, this ranking is a solid starting point for a Southern road trip: combine a mountain resort with a Lowcountry one and you'll see two completely different sides of the region in a single week. The full list of 20 resorts is available in Condé Nast Traveler's gallery, with details and booking links for each property.
