Asia's leading deluxe hotel group, Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts, has been voted Favourite Hotel Chain in Asia in the third annual TIME Readers' Travel Choice Awards Survey. This is the third time for the group to receive this prestigious award.

In addition, Shangri-La's Mactan Island Resort, Cebu in the Philippines was voted Favourite Resort Hotel, whilst the Shangri-La Hotel, Singapore was awarded joint runner-up in the Favourite Resort Hotel category, and the Makati Shangri-La, Manila was voted joint runner-up in the Favourite Business Hotel category.

The survey was open to TIME's readers in Asia and the award winners were voted by the magazine's elite audience of decision makers, based on their preference of Asia's top brands in the travel sector. 'The 2003 awards not only acknowledge an overall standard of excellence at the winning hotels, they are also testament to each hotel's outstanding customer service and amenities', according to Andrew Butcher, president and publisher of TIME International.

Hong Kong-based Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts currently manages 41 hotels in Australia, mainland China, Fiji, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and the United Arab Emirates, with a rooms inventory of over 21,000. It has over 20 projects under development in Australia, Dubai, India, mainland China, Malaysia, Maldives, Oman, Qatar and Thailand.