The 2025 MICHELIN Key Hotels: A Guide to the Global Selection

North & Central America + Caribbean

Updated MICHELIN Keys in the United States, Mexico and Canada — plus brand-new Key hotels across 15+ countries.

The United States, Mexico and Canada just updated their MICHELIN Key lists with upgrades and new selections. Inspectors also revealed Key hotels in Central America and the Caribbean for the very first time, with a cross-section of tropical and cultural destinations and particularly robust lists in Costa Rica and Saint Barts, as well as the Bahamas, Jamaica and the Dominican Republic.

In this cluster of the Western Hemisphere, the best hotels are often surprising in form and function. This is where you find plenty of wilderness glamping and jungle eco-lodges, in addition to sleek city boutiques and affordable countryside gems. In this section, too: more than twenty Three-Key hotels.

Editor’s Picks: Highlights from the New Selection

Nayara Springs, Costa Rica: Costa Rica's first Three-Key hotel is this high-end, adults-only masterpiece in the country's Arenal Volcano National Park. Excellent dining, open-air spa pavilions surrounded by forest and hikes of the volcano — among many more excursions — showcase exactly what makes this small Central American country a perennial favorite for international travelers.

Golden Rock Inn, St. Kitts and Nevis: A Two-Key hideaway founded by artists Helen and Brice Marden, decorated with the lush gardens of Raymond Jungles, a former collaborator of Frank Gehry. The point here is tropical seclusion, and the result is something like a garden of Eden.

Six Bells Countryside Inn, United States: A One-Key hideaway in the mountains outside New York City, an inspired escape with an intricate, fictional backstory that informs the entire aesthetic. The appeal of the Catskills and Hudson Valley are perennial and only growing year after year; the opening of Six Bells Inn in 2025 proves that upstate New York is still in its boom years as a destination.

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In South America's flourishing hotel scene, the variety of styles, experiences and prices matches the continent's equally rich diversity of cultures and landscapes. Inspectors distinguished the best hotels here with 84 Key hotels across seven countries, including five Three-Key hotels.

You'll find MICHELIN Keys in the major cities, in the small towns along the coastlines and even in the farthest reaches of the continent, a stone's throw from Antarctica. For regions with both MICHELIN Keys and MICHELIN restaurants, look to Argentina and Brazil.   

Editor’s Picks: Highlights from the New Selection

Las Casitas, Peru: Machu Picchu has its own Key hotels, but the country's first Three Key is an awe-inspiring 20-acre estate in the Colca Valley. Las Casitas makes this a must-visit destination, a more under-the-radar way to discover the Andes that's by no stretch any less unforgettable.

Copacabana Palace, Brazil: This icon, built in 1923 and still at the top of its class, earns Two Keys and becomes our Inspectors' highest-rated hotel in Rio de Janeiro. The restaurant, Mee, speaks for itself, and it's the hotel's mix of old-world glamor, top amenities and beach service that excites today's travelers.

Explora Rapa Nui:  The Explora brand is known across the Southern Hemisphere for adventure hotels that pair wide varieties of on-the-ground explorations with all-inclusive experiences. On Rapa Nui, formerly Easter Island, their One-Key retreat is an unmatched way to visit the moai statues and endless more archaeological and cultural sites. 

Additional MICHELIN Keys have all been added to existing selections in Austria, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Spain, Switzerland and the UK. Meanwhile, Europe adds hundreds of new Keys for the very first time in countries across every corner of the continent. Today, you can find Inspector picks in every category in Europe: from ski gems in Andorra, to beautiful wine estates in Georgia, to futuristic glass boxes in Norway. 

Travel looked very different at the time of the Grand Tour in Europe — but it never goes out of style here. As of Oct 8, 2025, France leads the continent with 203 Keys, followed by Italy with 188 and the United Kingdom with 124. Altogether, this is a place with a significant chunk of the world's best hotels: There are over a thousand MICHELIN Keys in Europe. 

Editor’s Picks: Highlights from the New Selection

De L'Europe Amsterdam: One of Europe's newest Three-Keys, De L'Europe is the classic European grand hotel. If it feels traditional, that's because it is — continuing a legacy that began, here on the banks of the canal, in 1896. But this is no boutique canal house hotel, instead boasting a timeless luxury experience with a variety of distinctive styles in the accommodations and fine dining at Two-Star Flore.

EN Hotel, Poland: Set in the Tatra National Park, an intimate 15-room, Two-Key retreat for adventurers drawn to the mountains. No cars allowed; the hotel will pick you up in the town of Zakopane and bring you to this quietly luxe base for skiing, hiking and treatments ranging from stone to ice massage. 

La Monastica Resort & Spa, Italy: A One-Key highlight in a country blessed with some of the highest numbers of the world's best hotels, this one is a new opening, transformed from a painstakingly restored 16th-century monastery on a hilltop in Tuscany. The original chapel is now a charming restaurant, and the old stone terraces are now home to gardens and lemon tree-fringed swimming pools.

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The inaugural selection of MICHELIN Keys in Africa spans the luxury safari experiences of South Africa and Kenya, the historic riads of Morocco and the beach resorts of Mauritius and the Seychelles.

But Inspectors' picks for the best hotels in Africa uncover too some of the boldest, most creative hospitality experiments in the world — including six Three-Key hotels in four different countries.

Editor’s Picks: Highlights from the New Selection

Royal Malewane, South Africa: An impeccable safari lodge in Kruger National Park: this Three-Key selection is the peak of the safari experience, with posh, giant suites and residences, ranger-led expeditions to see the Big Five and elevated dining and spa experiences. 

Shipwreck Lodge, Namibia: You're unlikely to find a more fascinating setting than Namibia's Skeleton Coast, where dunes, deserts and ghost towns meet the Atlantic Ocean. Here's a Two-Key hotel with design inspiration from the ships that have long met disaster along this treacherous stretch, with its plush accommodations a base for all variety of adventure.

Riad Sakkan, Morocco: A superlative, One-Key example of one of the most recognizable, and among the oldest, hospitality forms in the world: the riad. In a corner of the famous Marrakesh medina, a contemporary vision with inward-facing courtyard and 12 rooms that capture the warmth of a private home. 

Among the updates to the MICHELIN Key lists in Japan and Thailand is a brand-new Three-Key hotel, Asaba Ryokan, newly upgraded from its former Two-Key distinction. But that's hardly the only news on the best hotels in Asia. Mainland China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Laos, the Maldives, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Vietnam not only gain their very first Keys, but add too their first Three-Key hotels.

The Three Keys may grab the most headlines, but on a continent home to everything from the most iconic cultural landmarks to the most understated beachside treasures, Keys across all distinctions lead the way to both bucket-list destinations and unsung discoveries, from the beaches of the Maldives and Bali to the mountains of Bhutan and the foothills of the Himalayas.

Editor’s Picks: Highlights from the New Selection

Ceylon Tea Trails, Sri Lanka: In the country's interior tea country, a Three-Key hotel whose scattered accommodations, in a hybrid colonial/contemporary style, dot the valley and provide access to kayaking and mountain climbing, tours of the tea trails and guided explorations of the national park and rainforest. But many guests will be happy, simply, to take in the miraculous surroundings.

Capella Shanghai, China: Amidst the distinctive shikumen architecture of Shanghai's Xuhui District, the Singapore-based Capella brand showcases some of the city's most distinctive design in a Two-Key hotel and oasis — complete with spa, MICHELIN-Star restaurant and no shortage of meeting and event space for business travelers.

The Kumaon, India: This One-Key in the Himalayas is one of the most fascinating hotels in the world, where disciples of modernist master Geoffrey Bawa created a 10-suite mountain retreat that is nothing short of a work of art. The building process itself was a miraculous achievement at these heights — and the view from the cantilevered dining room is alone worth the trip.

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The very first Keys in the Middle East encompass the outrageous luxury travelers expect from cities like Dubai, but this is a region too for secluded escapes amidst some of the world's most staggering scenery. In the first Keys in the region, Inspectors uncovered dozens of Keys for a broad spectrum of business, leisure and adventure travel.

Dubai has 13 Key hotels across a spectrum of style and luxury, but the hotel scene in the capital of Qatar, Doha, has 10 Keys of its own, several sporting their own private beaches. Oman and Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, are where you'll find some of the world's most remarkable desert adventures — the type of spots you might arrive at via paraglider.

Editor’s Picks: Highlights from the New Selection

Atlantis the Royal Dubai, UAE: Out of the dozens of hotels in Dubai selected by Inspectors, both those with Keys and without, Inspectors' top-rated Atlantis the Royal is no hidden gem of a Three-Key. The outrageous design reimagines the skyscraper into an indoor/outdoor oasis of terraces, pools and endless dining and entertainment.

Alila Jabal Akhdar, Oman: Stylish, LEED-certified and remote: a Two-Key oasis in Oman's Al Hajar mountain range where hand-painted suites with private balconies give way to miracle vistas. Six Senses Zighy Bay, also a Two-Key in Oman, is the aforementioned hotel for paraglider arrivals.

Bratus Hotel, Jordan: This One-Key in downtown Aqaba is the rare luxury hotel in this coastal city not owned by an international chain, its excellent hospitality and elegant design a welcome discovery just a short walk from the beach.

The very first MICHELIN Keys in Oceania span the best hotels in Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and French Polynesia — but in this short list of destinations are 63 Key hotels and some of the most extraordinary experiences in the world. The Three-Key and Two-Key selections tend towards the remote island resorts like those on Bora Bora, sublime architectural gems on the Australian coast or spectacular estates in New Zealand.

But you'll find too a wonderful range of hotels throughout the major cities, including a welcome collection of historic properties, underrated hidden finds and plenty of representation from all the world's renowned luxury brands.

Editor’s Picks: Highlights from the New Selection

The Brando, French Polynesia: A Three-Key named for the famous actor who bought this idyllic atoll as a private escape and later set it on the path to today's eco-resort. Guided excursions cultivate awe for the diverse ecosystem of the atoll, with one standout experience a tour of the many physical elements — organic gardens, solar panels, research station — that center the eco-first mission.

Thorngrove Manor, Australia: A gothic-style castle that launched in 1984 as a response to the blandness of the day's chain hotels. In 2025, with boutique hotels firmly in the mainstream, this handcrafted, antique-filled Two-Key masterpiece in the Adelaide Hills is still a standout.

Stoneridge Estate, New Zealand: A One-Key hotel just outside Queenstown, this is a luxury lodge that draws no shortage of weddings — you can understand why. On a 150-year-old stone homestead, just off the idyllic Lake Hayes, it's surrounded by mountain peaks, features its own vineyard and offers modern accommodations just reminiscent enough of an old European château.

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