The lodge also gained 10th spot in the list of highest scores, irrespective of category, in the Conde Nast Traveller Readers' Travel Awards 2009.
Only two hotels scored higher than Blanket Bay - India's Rambagh Palace in Jaipur and the Four Seasons Hotel in Florence, Italy.
Tourism New Zealand chief executive George Hickton said winning an award of this calibre was great for Blanket Bay, and for New Zealand.
"New Zealand offers a great range of holidays for all kinds of budgets, but Blanket Bay sits at the top of what we offer in this country.
"The Conde Nast award recognises the consistent effort Blanket Bay puts into providing an excellent and friendly experience for visitors."
Along with Blanket Bay's achievements, New Zealand was second in the favourite country category (behind Italy), and Air New Zealand was second in the best long-haul leisure airline category (Virgin Atlantic was No 1).
"That's a pretty good result for a small country on the opposite side of the world from those voting," Mr Hickton said.
Blanket Bay manager Philip Jenkins said it was the highest accolade yet for the hotel.
"This is quite extraordinary and is a very exciting result for Blanket Bay.
"It really is as good as it gets for us.
"Conde Nast Traveller is read by the most discerning of UK travellers and the opinions of its readers are very important to us."
Blanket Bay chef Daniel Reynolds has been named New Zealand Commis Chef of the Year - his third culinary success this year.
Blanket Bay executive chef Mark Sycamore said Mr Reynolds was a deserving recipient.
"Chef Reynolds had by far the most consistent results across the four judging classes.
"He is talented, works hard and we're proud to have such a great chef in our kitchen at Blanket Bay."
To win, Mr Reynolds had to compete in a four-part event and achieve a minimum standard of silver medal in every class.
He was awarded gold medal and second place in the hot main course presented cold class; a gold medal and first place in the static cold dessert class; a silver medal and second place in the live Akaroa salmon main course; and a silver medal and second place in the live main course and dessert class.
Mr Reynolds' success is the latest in a long history of culinary competition success for Blanket Bay, including Morgan Thacker winning last year's South Island Commis Chef of the Year; Joseph Clarke winning the Southern Lights Commis Chef of the year two consecutive years; and Mr Sycamore winning the Southern Lights Open Chef of the Region for the third time in three attempts and a $12,000 Restaurant Association of New Zealand Continuing Education Grant.
Chef Ana Wares has also won a $5000 Hospitality Standards Institute Education Scholarship to be put towards a week-long event management workshop presented by David Williams of Relish Group.
