The Michelin Key: Unlocking Top Hotels Across USA, France, Italy, & Spain

Adam Bisby June 6, 2024

The late great French chef Joël Robuchon famously quipped that one Michelin Star earns restaurants about 20 percent more business, two stars 40 percent more, and three stars 100 percent more.

What kind of effect, then, will Michelin Keys have on hotels’ fortunes?

Last October, the venerable French guidebook unveiled a Keys-based system as a way to highlight the best of the 5,000-plus hotels it covers. “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,” explained Gwendal Poullennec, the guide’s international director.

Under the new system, one Michelin Key denotes “a very special stay” in “a true gem with its own character and personality.” Two Keys indicates “an exceptional stay” that is “truly unique and exceptional in every way,” while three Keys signals “an extraordinary stay” that is “all about astonishment and indulgence.”

Just over six months later, the first Keys were awarded to 189 hotels across France, with 24 earning three, 38 two, and 127 one. A few weeks after that 124 U.S. hotels received Keys, followed in quick succession by 97 in Spain and 146 in Italy. According to Michelin spokesperson Carly Grieff, Canadian hotels will get the Key treatment later this year.

Here, we explore a selection of the 48 French, American, Italian and Spanish hotels that were the first in history to earn three Michelin Keys.

La Réserve Ramatuelle, Saint-Tropez, France

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Inland and uphill from Saint-Tropez, this 40-room property from hotelier Michel Reybier and designer Jacques Garcia “feels both timeless and rich with history,” Michelin’s incognito inspectors report. “Like its sister in Paris (the Réserve Paris, which also earned three Keys), it’s an unmistakably high-end experience, but one that doesn’t need to hammer the point home — the setting is stunning, the comforts are first-rate, and anyone worth impressing is already here. Its modest size adds to its discreetly hushed atmosphere, and its rooms, suites, and villas offer a remarkable sense of privacy.”

SingleThread Inn, Healdsburg, California

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“Don’t be fooled by the small scale of this downtown Healdsburg hotel,” Michelin’s inspectors caution readers. “Though it weighs in at a mere five rooms and suites, SingleThread Inn offers what might be one of the most luxurious experiences in California.”

The work of Los Angeles-born chef Kyle Connaughton and his wife Katina features accommodations that “are anything but an afterthought, with their modern-classic aesthetic and their top-shelf comforts, not to mention their extravagant daily breakfast. But the main attraction is the Japanese-accented SingleThread Restaurant, where inn guests enjoy preferential booking.”

Terra Dominicata, Tarragona, Spain

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Set in the mountains outside Tarragona, this former monastery is all about “upscale modern elegance,” Michelin’s inspectors note, with Terra Dominicata’s 28 rooms “retaining more than a little bit of rustic character, from the beamed ceilings to the hardwood floors to the occasional original stone wall. There’s an outdoor pool, which takes full advantage of the impressive scenery, and modern-day Spain being what it is, there’s also a restaurant that serves a diverse menu of inventive fare.”

Le Bristol, Paris, France

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Described as “the most well-mannered of the Paris grand hotels” by Michelin’s inspectors, the 190-room Le Bristol “is creamy Art Deco on the outside, and decadent 18th-century within. It’s particularly fine in spring, when the window boxes of geraniums are in bloom and the large garden is redolent with the smell of magnolia. The pool is one of the few in Paris, and though small, it is beautiful, enclosed in glass and bathed in Parisian sunlight.

“With its 18th-century antique furniture, Gobelin tapestries, and artwork that once hung in the Louvre, Le Bristol is as pure a dose of pre-modern Parisian style as you’re likely to run across these days. But in spite of this, it never looks aged or faded. The penthouse, which has played host to everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Prince, has been subtly refurbished, its once-unfortunate yellow replaced with cool white. Nonetheless, for all its character it’s a favourite among style leaders — you won’t have a chance of getting a room during Fashion Week.”

Castello di Reschio, Lisciano Niccone, Italy

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“Italian hoteliers in general are no strangers to working with heritage buildings, but the Castello di Reschio is an extreme example,” Michelin’s inspectors write. “Set on a vast estate in the picturesque hills of Umbria, near the border with Tuscany, the castle dates back all the way to the 10th century, which makes the decade-plus its owners, an architect and an artist, spent on careful restoration seem like the blink of an eye by comparison.

“Given the results you’d have to agree it was worth the wait — the rooms and suites are impeccably well designed, and widely varied, each one featuring thousand-year-old architectural details, contemporary Italian design furniture, and artworks and objects that provide echoes of the centuries in between. Some of the grander suites occupy a neighbouring building, once the church’s vestry, but the most extravagant one spans five floors of the castle’s ancient tower, with a spectacular view of the Umbrian landscape.”

Atrio Restaurante Hotel, Cáceres, Spain

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“Even without the hotel, Atrio’s (three-Michelin-starred) restaurant alone would easily merit a detour,” reads the Michelin. “It’s a serious establishment — white tablecloths, finely besuited waiters, diners with similar sartorial inclinations — that’s perfectly matched by a wonderfully peaceful, architecturally striking hotel whose 14 modern, clean-lined rooms have been masterfully integrated into the stone facade of a much older building in Extremadura’s ancient walled city of Cáceres.

“If there’s a single bit of ornament, it’s the art; original works by Andy Warhol and Georg Baselitz are the highlights of an impressive collection. Meanwhile, accommodations provide plenty of space, both physical and mental, for contemplation. Just about everything is vivid white: crisp bedding, painted wood-panel walls, the curtains and lamps, spacious bathrooms with big round tubs. Upgrading to a suite adds views of the historic town and extra space adorned with little more than a few extra pieces of comfy modern furniture.”

The Whitby Hotel, New York City, New York

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“We’ve been looking forward to telling you about this one ever since we saw those telltale steel-framed windows appear over West 56th Street,” Michelin’s inspectors confess before lauding the Whitby for “bringing the warmth and coziness of English hospitality to a neighbourhood that’s already got plenty of American-style luxury hotels.”

The Whitby Bar and Restaurant “is a typically triumphant space — complete with afternoon tea service — as are the lobby lounge, the Orangery, the courtyard terrace, and the 130-seat private cinema that is the Whitby Theater.”

Owner-designer Kit Kemp puts her stamp on the 86 rooms with “trademark bold colours tuned to complement Midtown’s slightly muted palette, and the usual exquisite taste in details, from the artwork to the bathroom fixtures to those steel Crittall windows.”

Villa La Coste, Aix-en-Provence, France

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“As magical as the typical Provençal country hotel can be, it’s not at all the only hospitality experience the south of France has to offer,” Michelin’s inspectors note. “Villa La Coste begins with a 17th-century farmhouse surrounded by rambling stone buildings, but it’s the contemporary additions by architects like Frank Gehry, Oscar Niemeyer, and Tadao Ando that set it apart from the ordinary bastide hotel — not to mention its 600 acres of parkland, vineyards, and gardens, and an art collection that rivals some urban museums.”

The hotel’s 28 suites are “sunny, contemporary, stylish, modernist-inspired and hyper-luxe, and they’re tasteful rather than ostentatious (at least until you get to the bathrooms, which are nothing short of extravagant).”

Post Ranch Inn, Big Sur, California

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Set on the rugged coastline of California’s Big Sur region, the 39-room Post Ranch Inn is “blessed with one of the most extraordinary locations on the face of the Earth,” Michelin’s inspectors write. “It would be difficult for any man-made structure to compete with these cliffside views of the Pacific, or the majesty of the redwood forests; but this strange and decadent little hotel holds its own.

The work of local architect Mickey Muennig comprises “a number of discreet house designs, each uniquely suited to its location. The Tree Houses, for example, are almost exactly as advertised, built on nine-foot stilts and camouflaged amongst (if not actually nailed to the branches of) the redwood trees. Ocean rooms, on the other hand, are close to the cliff’s edge, nearly all glass to take in the view, and blend into the hillside, with grasses and wildflowers covering the sloping roofs.

“There are no televisions here — peace and quiet carry the day. This place is built for relaxation, from the oversized spa tubs and the massage tables in the guest rooms to the infinity pool a thousand feet above the Pacific.”

Four Seasons Megève, France

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This partnership between the venerable Canadian luxury brand and the Rothschild noble banking family features “handsome surfaces in pine wood and subtly Alpinized decorative elements,” Michelin’s inspectors note, adding that the Four Seasons Mageve’s 55 rooms are “quite a bit more polished and less rustic than your average Alpine chalet. In typical Four Seasons style they’re also outfitted with top-flight luxuries, including heated floors and deep soaking tubs in the marble bathrooms.

“An expansive Roman-style spa, complete with a heated indoor-outdoor pool, helps to soothe tired muscles after a day on the slopes or the trails. The services, from the ski concierges to the kids’ and teens’ clubs, are suitably high-touch.”

JK Place Capri, Italy

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Like the original JK Place hotel in Rome, Michelin’s inspectors note, the JK Capri features interiors by Michele Bonan that are “classic, urbane, with perhaps even just a touch of English country style, in soft pastels and patterned wallpapers.”

Some of the 22 rooms feature “small balconies facing the sea, and the penthouse suite (divisible into two penthouse rooms for the rest of us) comes with a long private terrace with a panoramic view of the Gulf of Naples. JK Place is one of the only hotels in Capri that’s right on the ocean, and it could hardly be more central — it’s in the old town, on a cliff overlooking the harbor. That right there pretty much sums up the approach: no expense spared, no corners cut, and nothing out of place. Just a phenomenal location and a first-class hotel from which to take it all in.”

Ritz, Paris, France

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For many decades the Ritz Paris “was in a class of its own at the top of the luxury-hotel world, a world it played a major role in creating,” Michelin’s inspectors write. “And while these days it’s far from the only hotel of its kind, a 21st-century renovation has returned it to the glory of its early days, and — in spirit, at least — it’s once again worthy of legendary guests like Chopin, Proust, and Coco Chanel.”

The 98 rooms and suites “remain classic in aspect, retaining their iconic bedside tulip lamps and the valet bells beside the baths. The opulent Prestige Suites are named for the hotel’s most famous guests and residents, including F. Scott Fitzgerald, Frédéric Chopin, and the Duke and Duchess of Windsor; they are, it may go without saying, among the most extravagant accommodations in Paris.”

Aman, New York City, New York

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Tucked into the upper floors of the Beaux-Arts Crown Building, the Aman’s “quietly elegant setting compares favorably with some of its gaudier neighbors,” Michelin’s inspectors report. “And once you’re inside you’re immediately transported to Aman’s universe, a perfectly peaceful oasis where every detail is exactly as it should be.

The 83 suites “are inspired by Japanese minimalism, a look that demands top-quality materials and craftsmanship. They’re all serviced by butlers, and include every desirable luxury-hotel contrivance and none of the excessive ones. As is customary in an Aman establishment, the service is ever-present and ever-professional. And if the rooms are some of the finest in the world, they’re equaled by the other facilities, from the vast and stylish spa to the social spaces, which include a flexible garden terrace and lounge bar as well as high-end Italian and Japanese restaurants, plus the Jazz Club, a speakeasy-style underground live performance venue.”