While the Jas Vilas figures on the list of Top 100 Bargain Hotels worldwide ranked 86, the Grand Oberoi not surprisingly tops the list for India and has been included in the Top 100 Luxury Hotels list globally ranked 44. The Taj Rambagh Palace also found a place in the Top 100 Luxury Hotels list globally and was ranked 72.

The lists were released on the occasion of the announcement of 2009 Travellers' Choice awards for best hotels and included categories like 'best bargain', 'best luxury', 'best hidden gems', 'best for families', 'best for romance', 'best inns and business-to-business', 'best all-inclusive hotels', 'best service' and 'best brands'.

"When it comes to finding a bargain, the 2009 Travellers' Choice awards include outstanding properties in India," TripAdvisor India Managing Director Sharat Dhall said.

The best brand worldwide was the Ritz-Carlton which shouldn't come as a surprise for anyone who's stayed there.

Here are the complete India lists.

Top 10 Best Bargains - India
1. Jas Vilas, Jaipur
2. Shanti Home, New Delhi
3. Sajhome, Kochi
4. Hotel Arches, Kochi
5. Ratan Vilas, Jodhpur
6. Mewar Haveli, Udaipur
7. Devra Udaipur, Udaipur
8. St. Mark's, Bangalore
9. Raintree Lodge - Fort Kochin
10. Greenshore Apartments, Kovalam

Top 10 Best Luxury Hotels - India
1. The Oberoi Grand, Kolkota
2. Taj Rambagh Palace, Jaipur
3. Taj Lake Palace, Udaipur
4. Oberoi Amarvilas, Agra
5. The Oberoi Udaivilas, Udaipur
6. Amanbagh Resort, Rajasthan
7. Oberoi Cecil, Shimla
8. The Oberoi Vanyavilas, Ranthambore
9. Oberoi Rajvilas, Jaipur
10. The Taj West End, Bangalore

And the 10 Dirtiest Hotels in India included 8 from Delhi
1. Centaur Hotel IGI Airport, Delhi
2. Hotel Regent Continental, Delhi
3. Ashok Hotel, Delhi
4. Marina Hotel, Delhi
5. Jupiter Spa & Resort, Goa
6. Ajanta Hotel, Delhi
7. The Connaught, Delhi
8. Hotel Janpath Ashok, Delhi
9. Hotel Welcome Palace, Delhi
10. Hotel Yamuna View, UP

Note: The Indian Tripadvisor website alone gets 100,000 US visitors a month.

Needless to say, this caused quite a stir with strong opinions as expressed in an IBN Live story extracted below.

"Its someone's opinion and they are free to express it but we don't agree with it. We (Ashok) are a world class hotel, you can see for yourself," says Commercial & Mktg, Manager, ITDC, Rajeev Makin.

While Delhi CM, Sheila Dikshit said, "Its shameful that someone has said this. Its time for Ashok to pull up their socks."

Some Global Winners include:
Best Bargain (World) - Hotel Vecchio Asilo, San Gimignano, Italy
Best for Families (World) - Hotel Princesa Playa, Ciudadela, Spain
Best Hidden Gem (World) - Anastasis Apartments, Imerovigli, Greece
Best Inns & B&Bs (World) - Brewery Gulch Inn, Mendocino, California, US
Best for Romance (World) - Etu Moana, Aitutaki, Cook Islands
Best Service (World) - Anastasis Apartments, Imerovigli, Greece
Best Luxury (World) - Aria Hotel, Prague, Czech Republic
Best Bargain (India) -Sunder Palace Guest House, Jaipur, India
Best Luxury (India) - The Oberoi Grand, Kolkata
Best Brand - Ritz-Carlton

Download the Travellers Choice PDF with the complete list of hotels ranked around the world

The TripAdvisor Travellers' Choice award winners for 2009 were determined by a combination of TripAdvisor's Popularity Index and traveller ratings of specific property attributes. TripAdvisor's Popularity Index is a proprietary algorithm that determines traveller satisfaction based on a variety of sources, including TripAdvisor hotel reviews and travel articles and opinions from across the web. TripAdvisor also gathers ratings, allowing travellers to grade hotels based on a variety of attributes, including cleanliness, value and suitability for specific types of travellers.