The MICHELIN Guide celebrates the most remarkable hotels in the world, by creating a special distinction: The MICHELIN Key

• The MICHELIN Guide teams have selected more than 5,000 hotels and accommodations throughout the world, all available for booking on guide.michelin.com and the Guide mobile application

• With this new selection, The MICHELIN Guide creates the MICHELIN Key, a special distinction that highlights the establishments offering the most exceptional hotel experiences

• These hotels and accommodations will receive the MICHELIN Key beginning in 2024

26 October 2023 – As it does for restaurants, The MICHELIN Guide intends on independently recommending hotels that constitute true destinations. After four years of work, The MICHELIN Guide now proposes a new selection of more than 5,000 remarkable hotels in 120 countries.

In an industry saturated with questionably trustworthy endorsements, the MICHELIN Guide offers its expertise to travelers to guide them towards only the very best experiences. In response to today’s hyper-standardization of accommodation (in terms of design, interior decoration, special touches, and so on), The MICHELIN Guide will appeal to travelers’ emotions by orienting them towards bold establishments that excel in every way: architectural approaches, professional know-how, and the existence of a true, identifiable personality.

The new MICHELIN Guide selection recommends more than 5,000 hotels throughout 120 countries in a broad range of prices and styles. The selection is based on five criteria:

1. A destination unto itself: the hotel contributes to the local experience;
2. Excellence in interior design and architecture;
3. Individuality, reflecting personality and authenticity;
4. Quality and consistency in service, comfort and maintenance;
5. Consistency between the level of experience and the price paid.

Determined independently from all existing labels and free of any pre-established quotas, this hotel selection addresses those travelers who already trust The MICHELIN Guide and all those who seek verified, well-informed advice.

With this new approach to hotels, The MICHELIN Guide has three objectives:

1. To enable travelers to precede or follow a gourmet experience with a memorable hotel stay.
2. To guide guests towards accommodations of character that offer much more than just a room for the night.
3. To offer travelers the opportunity to choose, book, and share their experiences on a single independent platform.

Exploring the MICHELIN Guide website and mobile application is easy and intuitive from planning to booking. Clients may take inspiration from the magazine section, choose between accommodations using a filtering search engine, reserve a room, pay online, and provide feedback or share their experiences. The platform is ad-free for more fluid browsing, and future travelers can also enjoy a customer service available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, as well as the assistance of a team of travel experts who specialize in offering tailored guidance.

The MICHELIN Key, a new MICHELIN Guide distinction

In this new selection, The MICHELIN Guide teams seek to highlight the establishments that raise hospitality to an art form, forging absolutely unique experiences for travelers.

Gwendal Poullennec, International Director of The MICHELIN Guides, states: “The MICHELIN Key is a clear, reliable indication for travelers. Just as the MICHELIN Star distinguishes those restaurants that are at the peak of their art, the MICHELIN Key recognizes the most exceptional hotels throughout the world. It is also an acknowledgment of the teamwork of committed enthusiastic hospitality professionals.”

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

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