MICHELIN Keys
The MICHELIN Guide hotel distinction, recorded from none to three keys. In the curation score each key counts three times. A house with no keys simply contributes nothing from this signal.
The Standard
How We Select
A house is here because someone with a standard already knows it. We do not rank the collection by crowd stars, and we do not invent a score the record does not hold.
The collection
Where the houses come from
The collection is built from lists we can name, so you can check every one of them.
- Hotels on the Forbes Travel Guide Five-Star list for the current year.
- Hotels in American Express Fine Hotels + Resorts and in The Edit by Chase Travel. Neither card issuer publishes its list, so we use an independent compilation and show the date it was taken on each house.
- Houses our editors consider when MICHELIN, Condé Nast or another curator already recognises them.
- Where we have written a profile, every fact in it comes from the hotel’s own website. A house we have not written about yet says so.
The collection
Which hotels appear on Atlas
Atlas lists hotels worldwide that are recognised by at least one of: Forbes Travel Guide (Five-Star, Four-Star, Recommended), AAA Five Diamond, MICHELIN Keys, The World's 50 Best Hotels, France's Palace distinction, La Liste, Relais & Châteaux, The Leading Hotels of the World, Small Luxury Hotels of the World, Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts, The Edit by Chase Travel, editorial awards, or an ultra-luxury or luxury hotel house.
Each hotel shows a badge for every list it is on.
Atlas may include or exclude a hotel after review.
What is recorded
The criteria, as they are used
Selection and the Best Addresses ranking rest on signals stored on each property, plus the General Manager who keeps the house.
Forbes Travel Guide rating
The rating on the official Forbes Travel Guide Star Awards list, shown with its year. Five-Star adds three to the curation score and Four-Star adds one. Forbes claims that do not come from the official list are not shown or counted.
Condé Nast recognition
A named Condé Nast Traveler recognition, when one is recorded — Gold List or Readers’ Choice, for example. If that field is present, the score adds three. It is a separate signal from listing Condé Nast among editorial sources.
Editorial sources
The authoritative curators recorded on the house: Condé Nast, MICHELIN Keys, Travel + Leisure, World’s 50 Best, Leading Hotels of the World, and peers kept on the property. Each recorded source counts twice.
Card programs
Whether a house is in Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts or The Edit by Chase Travel, with the date of the list. It is a fact about the house, not a distinction: it adds nothing to the score, and its benefits apply only when you book through that card issuer, never through Atlas.
Star classification
The hotel’s own star classification, rounded to a whole number, counts once. It is not a guest average, and it is never shown as a crowd score.
Awards
Named awards recorded on the property count one point each, and only up to three are counted. Awards that are not on the record are not implied.
General Manager profiles
A house is also known by the person who keeps it. When the catalog records a current General Manager, we show the name, philosophy, tenure, prior houses, and distinctions. That profile is not a score, and it does not add points to the curation total.
The score
How a house is ranked
The curation score is recomputed from the recorded signals. Nothing else is added to it.
- MICHELIN Keys, multiplied by three.
- Three points for a Forbes Five-Star rating, one for Four-Star.
- Each editorial source, multiplied by two.
- The hotel’s star classification, rounded, counted once.
- Three further points when a Condé Nast recognition is recorded.
- One point for each recorded award, capped at three.
Best Addresses are ordered by that score, then by MICHELIN Keys, then by star classification. A General Manager profile is shown beside the house when the catalog has one. It is how we ask you to know the place. It is not a hidden point value, and a missing distinction is left blank rather than filled in.