A Star is worth as much as a Key. They are not the rules of a board game but the awards that the Michelin Guide assigns to the best restaurants in the world (we are talking about thethe starsfrom a minimum of one to a maximum of three) and to the accommodation facilities (here they make their entrance the keysit always goes from one to three).
For the first time in Italy (after France, the United States and Spain), the inspectors of the MICHELIN Guide have assigned the MICHELIN Keys to 146 hotels of excellence which, more than others, have been able to offer one of the most extraordinary experiences in the world.
It was 1906 when the Michelin Tire Factory, the Italian factory of the French group, was built. We are in Turin, at a time when the development of the automotive industry was concentrated in the city. Today they are the world’s largest tire manufacturer by turnover. And while they continue to hand out Stars to the most deserving chefs (we’ll be back for these in November), they adapt to the passing times and to the new way of understanding travel, which becomes an art form, like knowledge “welcome”.
There is a new market demand, a new need and to satisfy it the Michelin Guide has chosen to expand into the hotel sector, so that all those who consult it to choose where to eat among the best restaurants in the world will also be able to find the best option to sleep.
We are talking about the Bible of catering, which will blow out 70 candles next November, the one that everyone consults (often secretly, ed.), the one that everyone would like to be in (no matter what anyone says), because it is the only gastronomic guide in the world that really makes the difference, even in terms of turnover. To be there or not to be there: this is the dilemma, the good William Shakespeare would say.
And so we’re here to talk about Keys which become international points of reference for travellers. There are 6000 accommodation facilities worldwide recommended by the Michelin Guide, 526 are in Italy. Among these, 146 were awarded the blessed key: 8 received Three MICHELIN Keys, 31 Two MICHELIN Keys and 107 One MICHELIN Key. There is everything inside: accommodation, concepts, historic buildings, boutiques, urban hotels, internationally renowned Grand Hotel farmhouses. Did we say right that the way of understanding travel is changing?
Gwendal Poullennec, International Director of the MICHELIN Guide, commented in front of a small audience at the Luigi Rovati Foundation in Milan, home of the two Michelin Star Andrea Aprea: “With this new recognition, the Guide has opened a new chapter in the service that has been providing travelers for 124 years now. Every establishment awarded with one, two or three MICHELIN Keys is a jewel managed with talent by great professionals.”
A MICHELIN Key defines a special stay. With two MICHELIN Keys, we’re talking about something exceptional. The three MICHELIN Keys instead intercept a unique stay. As with restaurants, hotels are also selected using 5 criteria: excellence in architecture and interior design; individuality, personality and authenticity; quality and solidity of service, comfort and maintenance; relevance of the structure within the locality in which it is located; consistency between the price and the experience offered.
THE AWARDED.
Tuscany is present with 32 hotels (1 three Keys, 7 two Keys, 24 one Key), followed by Campania with 18 (2 three Keys, 5 two Keys, 11 one Key), Lazio with 17 hotels (1 three Keys, 2 two Keys, 14 one Key), and from Lombardy (7 two Keys, 9 one Key) and Trentino Alto-Adige (4 two Keys, 12 one Key) both with 16 award-winning accommodation facilities.
Eight hotels, across Campania, Lazio, Umbria, Emilia-Romagna, Tuscany and Veneto, have received the MICHELIN Guide’s highest hotel recognition, the Three Keys:
- The elegant boutique hotel by the sea JK Place Caprilocated on a cliff overlooking the port of Marina Grande.
- The San Pietro in Positano in the heart of the Amalfi Coast, perched on the cliff with an unparalleled view from every room.
- The four-room boutique hotel, located in the ancient bishop’s residence of the medieval village of Civita di Bagnoregio, Corte Della Maestà.
- The Reschio Castle, in Lisciano Niccone, the subject of a careful restoration.
- Casa Maria Luigia in Modena, the intimate country house designed by three-starred chef Massimo Bottura and his wife and right-hand man, Lara Gilmore.
- The Rosewood Castiglion Del Bosco, in Montalcino, where in addition to the Michelin-starred restaurant we find an organic vegetable garden and a cooking school.
- The Aman Venice, a meticulously preserved Renaissance palace in Venice.
- The Vendramin Palace, a 15th century aristocratic residence inserted in the Cipriani, which today houses the Belmond Hotel.
Two MICHELIN Keys are awarded to 31 hotels. There are facilities in Campania, Tuscany, Valle d’Aosta, Lazio, Lombardy, Trentino-Alto Adige, Sicily, Umbria and Veneto.
One hundred and seven hotels received a MICHELIN Key instead. There is a great diversity between them, both geographically and in terms of offer. Tuscany, also in this category, is the most awarded region, with 24 structures.
On July 4, 2024, the Michelin Keys will also be announced in Japan. The choice made by the French guide is clear: to talk about the different cultures of hospitality, as well as the different gastronomic cultures, because this is what we are talking about. To choose a destination because it is capable of keeping an open door on a territory.
