(See 2009's winners: Uwards 2009)

BEST NEW HOTEL
NOMINEES:
1. Ace Hotel, New York - Cool vintage-bohemian design for all budgets, plus a coffee shop, restaurant, and retail space -- one of New York's hippest hotels.
2. Altis Belém, Lisbon - Wonderful riverfront location in between two iconic landmarks, one of the city's best restaurants, a spa, and attractive contemporary design -- just what Lisbon needed in its emergence as a hip new destination.
3. Barcelona Suites Avenue, Barcelona - Behind a striking, undulating façade in the world's most unconventional avenue is a mixture of contemporary design and 19th century Hindu art together with exclusive services.
4. Epic Hotel, Miami - This "boutique resort" includes a private marina, lush gardens, a fantastic rooftop pool, rooms looking out to South Beach, a spa, a restaurant with views, and a fabulous lounge -- the complete Miami package.
5. Fashion House, Athens - The Greek capital's most fashionable hotel, with fabulously designed rooms, a hip café, bar, and restaurant, as well as extra services such as personal shoppers, dog-walkers, and stylists.
6. Il Salviatino Hotel, Florence - This 15th century palazzo overlooking the center of the city from a panoramic hill is the most romantic retreat in Florence, with landscaped gardens, a spa, a restaurant serving inventive dishes made from traditional recipes, and rooms designed with opulent period furnishings.
7. Maison Moschino, Milan - A 19th century neoclassical railway station was converted into a fantasy fashion world with fabulously unique rooms, a bar, restaurant, gym, and spa.
8. Recamier Hotel, Paris - One of Paris' exclusive addresses offering classy-contemporary rooms and true Parisian elegance. It's a refreshing hotel for a hideaway and not meant to be a place to see and be seen.
9. Romeo Hotel, Naples - The first real choice for style-conscious travelers in Naples, found behind a striking glass façade on the waterfront. The interior features original Italian design, rooms with views of Capri and Mount Vesuvius, a gourmet restaurant, and a fabulous spa.
10. W Barcelona, Barcelona - It's a new city landmark, with well-designed rooms, a fantastic pool with views of the sea, a spa, and a hot bar overlooking the coastline. It's Barcelona at its most glamorous.

WINNER: W BARCELONA
Of all the ten best urban hotels that opened in the last year, only one is sure to still be talked about for years to come. The landmark status of W Barcelona will guarantee that it will be the most photographed hotel in the city, and considering its glamorous bar and restaurant, a major attraction for locals and travelers who don't necessarily have to stay at one of its rooms to enjoy.

HOTEL GROUP OF THE YEAR
ROOM MATE HOTELS
In a year of international economic crisis that affected much of the travel industry, it was comforting to see that authenticity and style don't have to be compromised for the sake of affordability. The first "Room Mate" opened in Madrid and the group proved that it meant serious business when it acquired New York's QT Hotel (now Room Mate Grace). Every Room Mate has its own personality, but all share a youthful spirit, central locations, attractive design, and reasonable prices. If compatibility is the main issue when looking for a roommate, these hotels certainly are a great match for today's savvy urban travelers.

BEST NEW RESTAURANT
NOMINEES:
1. Cecconi's, Los Angeles - One of London's most refined Italian restaurants opened in West Hollywood, offering the same sophisticated service and menu in an attractive space featuring some cool velvet banquettes.
2. Contigo, San Francisco - An environmentally-conscious approach to cooking and interior design (local organic farmers and fishermen, and a space built from recycled materials), as well as satisfying Catalan cuisine in a hip but informal ambience.
3. Kaa, São Paulo - A city already known for its fantastic restaurants has a new urban oasis, a lush interior covered in greenery where a creative French-Italian menu is served. There is also a bar and lounge area with natural lighting, and lots of wood and stone to further create a natural atmosphere in the concrete jungle.
4. Kaspia, Miami - The first "Caviar Kaspia" restaurant has been a Paris gastronomic landmark since the 1920s, and this is the first time it crosses the Atlantic, all the way in Miami. As expected, it offers a refined menu where top-quality caviar is king, in a classic/art deco space.
5. Katsuya LA Live, Los Angeles - Designed by Philippe Starck, this is the fourth Katsuya restaurant in Los Angeles, this time downtown. The menu is still by sushi master Katsyua Uechi, and the décor is made up of geisha eyes and lips on the walls.
6. Orlando Di Castello, Vienna - This mostly-white space is open throughout the day, allowing you to enjoy a menu of lighter yet refined dishes any time you wish. You could call it a café but the seriousness which it took in the design of the interior and creation of the menu, allow it to be seen as a full-blown restaurant. It also offers some extraordinary pastries and a good list of European wines.
7. Philippe West Hollywood, Los Angeles - One of New York's finest restaurants has opened in the country's West Coast, serving the same refined Chinese cuisine in an elegant light-filled interior.
8. RN74, San Francisco - San Francisco's new Millennium Tower opened one of the city's hottest new restaurants. It serves French-American cuisine and there is also a wine bar offering simpler, slightly cheaper dishes. The wine list is spectacular, as is the $4.5 million décor.
9. Sage, Berlin - It's another factory conversion in the German capital, a new restaurant with an interior featuring concrete floors and exposed walls, divided into three different areas. In each space, a refined gourmet menu is served, as well as a brunch buffet on Sundays.
10. Tegui, Buenos Aires - An intimate dining area looking out to a banana tree courtyard is found behind a graffitied façade in the hip Palermo Hollywood neighborhood, and that's where an exciting menu of contemporary Argentinean cuisine in served. The bar is also an excellent spot for cocktails.

WINNER: KAA, SÃO PAULO
Several of the best new restaurants last year were branches of successes found elsewhere, but there was one that was truly authentic. São Paulo's Kaa proves that while a restaurant only survives if the cuisine has any quality and originality, today's diners also demand a sophisticated and comfortable ambience. This restaurant is therefore a destination, with its creative French-Italian cuisine and an oasis of an interior using natural lighting, wood, and lush greenery. A natural favorite.

FAVORITE NEW NIGHTSPOT
NOMINEES:
1. Circus, London - Designed by Tom Dixon, Circus mixes bar, restaurant, and cabaret entertainment in a glamorous space where Pan-American cuisine and innovative cocktails are served.
2. Eclipse Bar, Barcelona - Found on the 26th floor of W Barcelona, this is one of the hottest addresses in the city for cocktails and panoramic views in an exclusive ambience.
3. L'Arc, Paris - This fabulously-designed space offers a menu created by Anthony Germani from L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon, to be enjoyed before spending the night with cocktails in hand and moving to the sound of new and classic mixes.
4. Mokai, São Paulo - One of Miami's most glamorous clubs descended to the southern hemisphere with the same exclusive ambiance and hot nights of drinking and dancing among fashionable crowds.
5. Provocateur, New York - The 3 U_Star Gansevoort Hotel opened a hot new spot, an exclusive lounge with a sensual atmosphere created by a lavish décor and offering private areas to enjoy light Japanese cuisine and cocktails.

WINNER: CIRCUS, LONDON
It isn't just the Tom Dixon design or the innovative cocktails that can be enjoyed here, London's Circus is UCityGuides' choice for favorite nightspot of the year because it showed that "glamorous" and "fun" can be used in the same sentence. While most night venues open and close at the blink of an eye, Circus has all the ingredients to make it a local classic.

COOLEST NEW SHOP
NOMINEES:
1. 66 Gallery, Prague - Designed by local architects, this part gallery part shoe store presents redesigned sneakers of the classic Czech brand Botas together with art and design exhibitions.
2. Antonios Markos, Athens - Athens' first concept store displays a variety of products from international labels on natural beige stone floors and walls revealing shards of mirrors. It's a beautifully designed store that makes every piece stand out.
3. Design Supermarket, Milan - The upscale La Rinascente department store opened this minimalist space to present Italian design and famous brands at reasonable prices.
4. L'Eclaireur, Paris - The Marais is already home to some fantastic shopping, but this extraordinary space makes it that much of a must-browse neighborhood. It actually looks like a gallery exhibiting art installations of recycled materials, until you look closely at what's for sale, which includes young labels' designs.
5. United Nude, Amsterdam - The first flagship store of the United Nude brand offers the works of art for your feet it is famous for, in a space that looks like a gallery with a "wall of light" highlighting the fabulous shoes.

WINNER: L'ECLAIREUR, PARIS
In such an increasingly homogeneous shopping world, it's becoming quite difficult to be surprised and excited by a new shopping experience. Paris' L'Eclaireur is what came closer to that last year, thanks to a gallery-like space and young labels' designs.

MOST EXCITING NEW MUSEUM
NOMINEES:
1. New Acropolis Museum, Athens - It took over three decades to plan and nearly five years to execute, but Athens' New Acropolis Museum finally opened in 2009. It's located right below the Acropolis Hill, and shows the treasures from the site under one single roof for the first time ever. The modern glass-walled building was designed by New York-based architect Bernard Tschumi and finally does justice to the treasures of ancient Greece.
2. Hermitage Amsterdam, Amsterdam - A 17th century building underwent a multi-million euro renovation to become one more exhibition space for the Hermitage. The Russian museum has more pieces than it can hold, and has been spreading its wealth around. Hermitage Amsterdam presents temporary exhibitions, hosting two-large scale ones every year.
3. Magritte Museum, Brussels - Housed in a neoclassical building that's part of the Royal Museums of Fine Art, this new museum displays about 200 of Magritte's works, from paintings to drawings, to photographs, advertising posters, and sculptures. The surrealist spirit of the artist was incorporated into the architecture, replacing windows with paintings of clouds on a blue sky.
4. MUDE, Lisbon - Housed in a former bank's headquarters, Lisbon's new design and fashion museum presents innovative 20th century design and fashion pieces from names like Russel Wright, Le Corbusier, Vivienne Westwood, and Christian Dior. What is on display now is just a preview of what's to come, since the pieces of the permanent collection only take up the lower level, while temporary exhibits are placed on the floor above, but eventually the entire building will be used to showcase one of Europe's best design collections.
5. Neues Museum, Belin - This was not an opening but rather a reopening, in a building redesigned by English architect David Chipperfield. This museum houses an extraordinary Egyptian collection, with the most famous piece being the stunning bust of Queen Nefertiti among a total of 9000 items of display.

WINNER: MUDE, LISBON
While most of the museums opening last year provoked a certain sense of déjà vu (particularly Amsterdam's Hermitage), there was one that clearly brought something exciting and new. Merging design and fashion, the fabulous international collection of Lisbon's MuDe is only partially displayed but is already a major attraction in the city, and will certainly be a catalyst for a much-needed renaissance in the city's downtown. Its main pedestrian street where the museum is located already has breaths of fresh stylish air at both ends (the museum at one, and the new Internacional Design Hotel at the other), showing that new and attractive cafés, restaurants, and shops are possible in between as the museum expands and becomes an even bigger must-see.

MOST EXCITING CITY
NOMINEES:
Barcelona - Even with new competition further south in the Mediterranean in a reenergized Valencia, Barcelona continues to impress for its vitality. Evidence of its confidence are two new landmark hotels that opened in the last year. The Gaudi-esque Barcelona Suites and the iconic W Barcelona were built to impress and welcome the city's ever-discerning visitors, while the city's gastronomic excitement and cosmopolitan nightlife still can't be beat anywhere else in Spain, or even the world.
Berlin - The German capital just celebrated 20 years of the fall of its infamous wall, but what it was really celebrating was an exciting new city, one of the edgiest and most dynamic in the world. Its renovation continues, and the last year brought a major new attraction in the form of the reborn Neues Museum. Add major regular events such as the Berlinale and the Art Forum to its vibrant street and cultural life, and you have one irresistible city.
New York - Many already claim that the Big Apple is the most exciting city in the world, and in the last year it gave more reasons for that. It became much more pedestrian-friendly thanks to the partial closing to traffic in two of Manhattan's busiest intersections (Times and Herald squares), and the opening of the new High Line "greenway" (the former elevated railroad is already a favorite spot for jogging, camera-holding tourists, or simply to enjoy the sun when it is out). And although the city never sleeps, visitors eventually have to, so it had a number of new high-profile hotels open recently, with our favorite being the Ace Hotel. Coming up next is a second home for the Whitney Museum designed by Renzo Piano, and the eventual unveiling of the new World Trade Center.

WINNER: BARCELONA
Taking a look at all the nominees in all of the categories of this year's Uwards, Barcelona stands out with the most nominations. That shows the unstoppable vitality of this city, which was unmatched anywhere else over the past year.

COOLEST URBAN BLOG
My Little Paris - What started as a newsletter about personal Paris discoveries to be shared with a group of friends has evolved into a fabulous blog of informative Paris secrets. It currently has more than 150,000 readers every week, and is now also available in English in order to "send out a touch of Paris" around the world. The team behind this personal guide clearly loves the French capital, and it shows in the design of the site, the charming illustrations, and the unique outlook on Parisian life and culture. Completely non-commercial, My Little Paris feels like a Parisian love affair, and we wish every city could have its own little home on the web as Paris has here.