nick_a

I've seen passing mention of Michelin Keys in other threads, but vaguely surprised not to see further discussion (there may be a reason - perhaps it's well known FTers hate Michelin, and I've missed that!). Interested to see folks' take on the (in)famous Guide's new undertaking.

Some decisions made sense to me (Auberge du Soleil, Hotel Bel Air, and Post Ranch Inn, among others, in CA), others did not. San Ysidro Ranch not mentioned at all is odd; SingleThread is a perfect 3 star restaurant but they're playing fast and loose with these designations calling the 5 room Inn - with no spa or pool - worthy of the attendant top tier hotel rating! In my opinion, the FS Surfside is 100x better than both the Setai and the Faena. Also following the Aman NY conversations here, and in my experience from this past weekend (spoiler: not very good!), I'm left to wonder if they're actually staying in the hotels they're visiting...

As we all know, there's no accounting for taste. Will anyone here be swayed by this guide? Or do we have other thoughts? Inquiring minds...

HaleiwaFlyer

I think the biggest issue is that the Michelin guide is no longer reliable (some Dubai Michelin rated restaurants should not even be given one star). Once you lose your credibility, then you lose your product itself, such as why would even rely on the Michelin guide for hotels if they can't even do what they are known for properly?

Google Review is much better for looking at the product as a whole.

The Michelin guide is just a catalogue now; but the true verification of products is through the rest of the internet, such as FT.

Michelin guide has zero influence for hotels.

EuropeanPete

A brief look at the hotel qualification suggested to me they have less credibility than the stars for restaurants.

Quite what credibility that has left is a matter for debate. Personally I find them useful in some cities/ regions. In others (looking at you, Hong Kong), they’re clueless.

RichardInSF

I've never regarded Michelin hotel ratings as having any significant value and I don't believe that will change with the key system. Furthermore, they take hotel bookings through their guide, which surely entails them receiving a commission. That alone fully demolishes any facade of impartiality they might otherwise have had.

offerendum

Not regarding restaurants, I still think Michelin is the benchmark (at least in most regions). Google review is mot s reliable source in my eyes. As ai said before regarding hotels Michelin was and is totally useless and sometimes even misleading.

reigndrop

Agree - for restaurants, vey region dependent. Dubai / Abu Dhabi are shambolic but Europe, Asia and US are still the gold standard.

LHT on FT is still the very best in terms of figuring out each destinations best available choice - I absolutely enjoy the snobbery because our expectations are largely aligned in terms of what a true 5* should be

lepmd

I'd love to see a few of us rewrite the list and I think we would have consistency on what should warrant a Michelin key. I was shocked to see Beverly Hills Hotel given 3 keys when the rooms are shabby and the service isn't up to par. I prefer Peninsula to BHH and I prefer FS Westlake Village to almost anything else in LA. Fouquet's in NYC getting 2 keys was also surprising. I would rate Fouquets 1 key (if even, after a recent stay) and I would give Baccarat another key. I think the Parisian list is good. In the US, they were too generous with 2 keys and overlooked some really great hotels. The list makes me want to try The Whitby although the rooms look very small and not very impressive. The DC list is not correct at all. I think Aman NY deserves its rating on the hard product. Best room in NYC even though service is inconsistent based on other people's experiences.

lepmd

Oh and don't get me started on The Lowell. That place is gross. I've never stayed anywhere dirtier. It's dog friendly at least.

nick_a

I love this idea - could be a fun exercise for this particular group of luxury hotel nerds, and ultimately quite helpful for those lost in the years-old threads about certain regions or hotels (love FT but that is definitely a thing!). I would love to jumpstart this if people are interested! I could create a survey that allows folks to nominate and rate hotels they've stayed at, let's say, in the last two years. The ratings could be a weighted sum of multiple categories (service, room, common areas, check-in, location, F&B, hard product, etc. - I can even have blank spaces for people to suggest rating categories that may have been missed). All responses/data, of course, would remain completely anonymous (even to me).

Then I'll do some data magic, come up with the "top" hotels from ratings, and we could release the results as a LHT "Best Of" list. If enough people do it, we could even create tiers (a la Michelin - 1, 2, 3 etc). Or open to suggestions as to data viz and reporting!

Anyway - if any moderators think this could be a fun exercise, let me know, and I'll start a dedicated thread for discussion before launching a survey! And if not, no worries