Michelin Guide to begin awarding keys to worlds best hotels | Travel & leisure

Michelin Guide to begin awarding keys to world’s best hotels

A group of more than 5,300 hotels in 120 countries to hear next year whether they have won what may become a coveted symbol

The world-famous Michelin Guide, the red gastronomic bible that awards stars to the best restaurants, is to begin rating hotels using key symbols.

Guide editors say they want to create a “trusted reference” to help travellers navigate the large and varied offers of accommodation on the internet by flagging up “establishments offering exceptional hotel and travel experiences”.

The new benchmark will be introduced next year. Preselected group of more than 5,300 hotels in 120 countries are up for the award, which is based on five criteria, including whether the establishment gives visitors a “local experience” as well as its design and architecture. The hotels have been rated by independent “mystery” Michelin inspectors, all former travel professionals, of 25 different nationalities and a range of ages. As well as the inspectors’ recommendations, the awards will also take into consideration customer reviews.

The original Michelin Guide was launched in France in 1900 by brothers André and Édouard Michelin – the founders of the tyre company of the same name – to dispense local dining and motoring knowledge at a time when there were fewer than 3,000 cars on French roads. To help motorists plan trips, bolster car and tyre sales, the guide was filled with maps, helpful tips on changing tyres, where to buy petrol and where to get a good meal as well as how to find a mechanic in case of breakdowns.

Early editions were, as the red cover stated, “offered graciously to drivers” for free, but it began charging in 1920 and launched its coveted one-to-three star rankings in 1931.

In recent years, the red book has been largely replaced by a website that now has 47 million visitors a year and an additional 6 million subscribers on social media networks.

Announcing the new “key” awards on Thursday, Gwendal Poullennec, the head of the guide, said it “was created to give travellers the keys to discovery and help them make the right choices at a time when there was a lack of such information”.

“Today, on the other hand, they face a mass of information. Our [guide] users spend an average of 10 hours on their screens to prepare for a trip and consult more than 10 different platforms. It’s a real obstacle course.”

Poullennec added: “We will be looking at the destination, the way the hotels are rooted in the place they are located, their uniqueness, the architecture, decoration, quality of the welcome and the service.”

The Michelin Guide has been at the centre of a number of controversies in recent years, with celebrated chefs left wondering why they have lost stars and those who have refused to claim them saying it puts too much pressure on them to live up to the expectations of the onerous ratings system.

There have also been accusations of snobbery and of bias for French restaurants, and in recent years complaints from disgruntled chefs in France and the US that the guide has favoured UK establishments.

In 2003, the restaurant world was shocked and saddened when the prominent French chef Bernard Loiseau killed himself after his Côte d’Or restaurant in Saulieu, Burgundy, was downgraded from three to two stars. In 2019, the South Korean chef Eo Yun-gwon announced he was suing Michelin for including his Italian inspired Ristorante Eo in Seoul in the guide after he asked it not to, telling journalists: “Michelin Guide is a cruel system. It’s the cruellest test in the world.”

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