Travel 1 minute 08 October 2025

And the Winners Are: Four Standout Hotels Take Home MICHELIN’s Latest Special Category Awards

They're here: the very first winners of the MICHELIN Architecture & Design, Wellness, Local Gateway, and Opening of the Year awards.

Throughout the summer and fall of 2025, The MICHELIN Guide announced nominees for the very first hotel awards. Chosen by our Inspectors, the nominees for each award — Architecture & Design, Wellness, Local Gateway, and Opening of the Year — represent the very best across four aspects of hospitality. On Oct. 8, 2025, at an event attended by hoteliers across the world in Paris where the latest hotel Keys were revealed, the winners of each inaugural award were finally announced.  


Atlantis The Royal, Dubai: An indoor/outdoor reenvisioning of the skyscraper.
Atlantis The Royal, Dubai: An indoor/outdoor reenvisioning of the skyscraper.

MICHELIN Architecture & Design Award

Celebrating hotels where architecture and interior design do not just support the experience, they are the experience.

Winner: Atlantis the Royal — Dubai, UAE

A complete reenvisioning of the concept of the skyscraper itself; six interconnected towers, constructed with cantilevered blocks, become their own indoor/outdoor neighborhood in the Dubai skyline.

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Bürgenstock Resort, perched 500 meters above Switzerland’s Lake Lucerne.
Bürgenstock Resort, perched 500 meters above Switzerland’s Lake Lucerne.

MICHELIN Wellness Award

Celebrating hotels that make wellness their central ethos, where facilities and experiences prove so powerful they're transformative even beyond the stay.

Winner: Bürgenstock Resort — Bürgenstock, Switzerland

After a century-and-a-half of history, and a decade of restoration, the transformative power of Switzerland’s crisp mountain air is paired with one of the largest spa facilities on the continent.

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La Fiermontina Ocean, on Morocco's northwest coast outside Tangier.
La Fiermontina Ocean, on Morocco's northwest coast outside Tangier.

MICHELIN Local Gateway Award

Celebrating hotels that facilitate the most remarkable and authentic local experiences for guests.

Winner: La Fiermontina Ocean — Larache, Morocco

On Morocco’s spectacular northwest Atlantic coast, a hotel partnership with a local non-profit explores exactly what it means to integrate tourism and community.

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The Burman, a 17-room boutique in Tallinn’s Old Town,
The Burman, a 17-room boutique in Tallinn’s Old Town,

MICHELIN Opening of the Year Award

Celebrating the brand-new hotels whose fresh visions made an immediate impact in their first year.

Winner: The Burman Hotel — Tallinn, Estonia

A 17-room boutique that delivers on the scale of a much larger hotel, a center for dining and entertainment in the heart of UNESCO-recognized Old Town.

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Hero Image: The Droplets sculpture at Atlantis the Royal, Dubai. 

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