The Michelin Guide debuts Michelin Key rating for hotels

To highlight establishments offering exceptional hotel and travel experiences, the Michelin Guide is unveiling the Michelin Key, a special distinction which will be implemented from 2024. 

After four years of work, the Michelin Guide teams have rethought their hotel selection. Like restaurants, the Guide intends to independently recommend establishments that constitute true destinations. 

Each year, the Michelin Key will distinguish exceptional establishments led by teams with unique forms of knowledge. The Key will be awarded following one or several stays conducted anonymously by the Guide selection teams. 

The Guide puts its expertise at the service of travellers to support them in their search for personalised experiences. In response to the hyper standardisation of accommodation, it wishes to arouse the emotion of customers by directing them towards establishments that excel in all areas, including architectural choices, the art of craftsmanship and detail to doing a job, and asserting your own personality.

The new selection of the Michelin Guide recommends more than 5,000 remarkable hotels in 120 countries, with varied price ranges and diverse styles. It is based on five criteria, which are the destination unto itself, the excellence in architecture and interior design, the quality and regularity of service, comfort and maintenance, the singularity reflecting the personality of the establishment, and the consistency between the quality of the experience and the price paid.

With its selection, the Michelin Guide has three objectives – to guide travellers to boutique accommodations that offer much more than a room for a night, to precede or extend a gastronomic outing with a memorable hotel stay, as well as to allow you to choose, book and comment on the stay on a single independent platform.

Exploring the selection on the Michelin Guide website and mobile app will be easy and intuitive from planning to booking. The platform is ad-free for more fluid browsing, and future travellers can also enjoy customer service available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, as well as the assistance of a team of travel experts who specialise in offering tailored guidance.

The Michelin Guide teams are currently in the field and will reveal the first Michelin Key selection in the first half of 2024.

Gwendal Poullennec, international director of the Michelin Guide, said: “The Michelin Key is a clear, reliable indication for travellers. Just as the Michelin Star distinguishes those restaurants that are at the peak of their art, the Michelin Key recognises the most exceptional hotels throughout the world. It is also an acknowledgment of the teamwork of committed enthusiastic hospitality professionals.”