The MICHELIN Key selection is landing in Italy, highlighting 146 outstanding hotels

After its inaugural announcements in France on April 8^th, the US on April 25^th, and Spain on April 29^th, Michelin is pleased to unveil today its very first selection of hotels awarded MICHELIN Keys in Italy. A total of 146 hotels have been awarded One, Two or Three MICHELIN Keys, highlighting the most outstanding experiences and stays throughout the country.

Offering an ever more comprehensive service, the MICHELIN Guide's hotel selection provides users with recommendations for a complete travel experience. Awarded by the MICHELIN Guide inspection team based on anonymous stays or visits - independently of existing labels, tourism stars and pre-established quotas - the MICHELIN Keys are a new international benchmark for travelers, aiming to guide them to accommodations that stand out for their unique hospitality concept, distinctive character, warm welcome and extremely high level of service.

146 hotels and accomodations receive One, Two or Three MICHELIN Keys in Italy

In this first Italian selection, 146 accommodations have earned distinctions out of more than 500 hotels recommended by the MICHELIN Guide across the country: 8 received Three MICHELIN Keys, 31 Two MICHELIN Keys and 107 One MICHELIN Key. This selection brings together a wide range of concepts and accommodations, from hotels in historic buildings, to trendy urban boutiques, relaxing and intimate hideaways, and spectacular, world-renowned palaces.

Gwendal Poullennec, International Director of the MICHELIN Guide commented : “With this new distinction, the MICHELIN Guide has opened up a brand-new chapter in the service it provides for travelers, which has been its lifeblood for the past 124 years. Steadfast in our field-based approach, the MICHELIN Guide inspectors drew up this unprecedented list to share their best hotel experiences in Italy. Every establishment awarded One, Two or Three MICHELIN Keys is a gem sculpted by talented professionals. Using the MICHELIN Guide digital platforms, travelers can filter their search and book awarded hotels for stays that we hope will be unforgettable.”

One, Two and Three MICHELIN Keys

Just like the Stars that indicate the best culinary experiences in the MICHELIN Guide restaurant selection, the MICHELIN Keys reveal accommodations in the Guide’s hotel selection that offer the most outstanding stays. They are a new benchmark for travelers, qualifying each hotel experience in broader terms than simple amenities.

One MICHELIN Key: a very special stay

This is a true gem with its own character and personality. It may break the mould, offer something different or simply be one of the best of its type. Service always goes the extra mile and provides significantly more than similarly priced establishments.

Two MICHELIN Keys: an exceptional stay

Somewhere truly unique and exceptional in every way, where a memorable experience is always guaranteed. A hotel of character, personality and charm that’s operated with obvious pride and considerable care. Eye-catching design or architecture, and a real sense of the locale make this an exceptional place to stay.

Three MICHELIN Keys: an extraordinary stay

It’s all about astonishment and indulgence here – this is the ultimate in comfort and service, style and elegance. It is one of the world’s most remarkable and extraordinary hotels and a destination in itself for that trip of a lifetime. All the elements of truly great hospitality are here to ensure any stay will live long in the memory and hearts.

8 hotels awarded Three MICHELIN Keys establish themselves as world’s most extraordinary places

Three MICHELIN Keys indicate an extraordinary stay, worthy of a special trip. 8 hotels, located in Campania, Latium, Umbria, Emilia-Romagna, Tuscany and Veneto, received Three Keys, the highest hotel accolade of the MICHELIN Guide.

On one of the world’s most picturesque islands, JK Place Capri is a smart seaside boutique, located on a cliff overlooking the harbor. Its 22 rooms feature interiors by architect Michele Bonan, in a classic urbane style with soft pastels and patterned wallpaper. The Penthouse suite comes with a long private terrace with a breathtaking panoramic view of the Gulf of Naples, while other rooms have small balconies facing the sea.

Not far, on the Amalfi Coast, Il San Pietro Di Positano hangs on the cliffside, and offers truly unparalleled views of the sea from every room. The spacious accommodations have been individually designed in a spare and tasteful style, each with its own private terrace. In addition to the swimming pool, carved dramatically into the terraced cliffside, the property even has a lift which takes guests directly from the lobby to the hotel’s own private beach.

In the medieval village of Civita di Bagnoregio, Corte Della Maestà, a tiny boutique hotel with only four rooms, has been remarkably restored by an Italian couple. Retaining part of this former bishop’s quarters as a second home, the rest they transformed into an aesthetically fantastic guesthouse, the old-world charm carefully preserved.

Castello di Reschio, in Lisciano Niccone, also underwent a careful restoration by its owners. Set on a vast estate in the picturesque hills of Umbria, the rooms and suites of this former 10^th century castle are impeccably designed and widely varied. Some of the grander suites occupy the church’s vestry, but the most extravagant spans five floors of the castle’s ancient tower. With its spectacular swimming pool seemingly cut directly into the lawn, guests enjoy every 21^st century amenity combined within this historic site.

In Modena, Casa Maria Luigia is an intimate country-house hotel by the award-winning chef Massimo Bottura. In 12 rooms, guests will marvel at his lively, boutique style, while outside they are surrounded by gardens, tennis court, and a unique fitness center that does double duty as an art gallery.

Rosewood Castiglion Del Bosco in Montalcino has, in addition to its Michelin-starred restaurant, an organic kitchen garden and a cooking school. This bucolic hotel, anchored in a 5,000-acre agricultural estate that produces its own wine, welcomes guest in rooms and suites whose many features include giant terraces, extending the charm of the hotel into the rolling Tuscan landscape.

Finally, the team at Aman Venice makes use of a meticulously preserved renaissance palace to create first-rate accommodations, that mix period details with every conceivable modern comfort. The best rooms have views of the Grand Canal itself, culminating in the Canal Grande Suite. Making the most of its city setting, the hotel offers excursions led by chefs, art historians or literary types, taking guests to see special aspects of the Floating City depending on their interests.

Also in Venice, located in the 15^th century aristocratic residence of Palazzo Vendramin, Cipriani, a Belmond Hotel is also awarded Three Michelin-Keys. Its old-fashioned rooms sport a pale Venetian color scheme, slightly antique appearance, and private butler service. It is quite possibly the most romantic hotel in the world.

Two MICHELIN Keys are awarded to 31 hotels, in recognition of exceptional stays

Highlighting an exceptional stay worthy of a detour, 31 hotels have been awarded Two MICHELIN Keys.

Within this category, travelers can find recommendations in Campania, Tuscany, Aosta Valley, Latium, Lombardy, Trentino-Alto Adige, Sicily, Umbria and Veneto. In Rome, Hotel Vilon is one of the finest boutique hotels, its aim to provide not just luxury-hotel service and comfort, but residential charm and a sense of  intimacy. In this 16^th century house attached to the storied Palazzo Borghese, each room has been remade by the architect Giampiero Panepinto and decorated by film production designer Paolo Bonfini. The results are truly cinematic.

In Florence, travelers will find no shortage of hotel, from the Four Seasons Hotel Firenze (nested in a renaissance-era palazzo) to Palazzo Portinari Salviati Residenza D’Epoca, its own home a famous 15^th century palazzo once home to Dante’s muse Beatrice. Aiming to recreate the romance of that era for a modern audience, amenities include a luxe spa and a MICHELIN-starred restaurant, Atto di Vito Molica.

In Piegaro, I Borghi Dell’Eremo is not a single farmhouse, but three distinct “villages” with beautiful bedrooms – that represent the modern update to rustic places, complete with antique features like timbered ceilings and stone walls.

Set amidst the dramatic landscapes of the island of Vulcano, Therasia Resort is a hotel with is own cascading salt-water pools, from which guests can gaze across a narrow strait to the next island of Lipari. This sea & spa resort offers access to three memorable black sand beaches, as well as lavish spa.

In one of the most privileged locations in south Tyrol, inside an elegant hunting lodge, Castel Fragsburg (Merano) hosts gracefully appointed suites, outfitted with wood paneling, and wrought iron furniture. The hotel also has a unique healing spa where treatments are based around Tyrolean flowers, handpicked by the hotel’s master herbalist.

At Forestis Dolomites (Plose), a strikingly modern luxury lodge compliments its interior design with plenty of natural light, thanks to wide picture windows that open onto views of the landscape. 

At Borgo San Felice (Castelnuovo Berardenga), an entire village has been converted into a luxury hotel - where each room inherits various features of the original construction while mixing in its own contemporary and classic touches. Food and wine take on their own importance here, underlined by MICHELIN-starred and Green Star restaurant Il Poggio Rosso, run by chef Juan Camilo Quintero.

107 hotels received One MICHELIN Key

Within the MICHELIN Guide hotel selection, One MICHELIN Key recognizes a very special stay.

Among the 107 establishments that received One MICHELIN Key, there is great diversity in both geography and offerings. Tuscany is the most awarded region in this category, including no less than 24 highlighted propertie, such as Villa Fontelunga in Arezzo, Precise Tale Poggio Alla Sala in Montepulciano, and Lupaia in Torrita di Siena.

The selection includes hotels such as Palazzo Margherita (Bernalda) a small and elegant nine suite property located in a 19^th century palazzo. The hotel holds a deeply personal significance to the famed director Francis Ford Coppola.

Also nine rooms, Casa Clàt, in the heart of Cagliari, is a luxury boutique hotel that shows an uncommonly refined side of the Sardinian capital. The suites, designed with the stylish and urbane touch of artist Giorgio Casu, are unique creations that span multiple eras and incorporate the work of many other local artists.

Vico Milano is a small-scale, family-run hideaway with a personal vision that’s no less stylish. The atmosphere is hotel is authentically residential but complemented by modern-luxe boutique-hotel details and a house bar.

The shores of Lake Como are home to plenty of extravagant luxury hotels, but even in this context Passalacqua stands out. Its rooms are handsome, decorated in a thoroughly classical style, are lavish but low key, more reminiscent of a country house than a grand hotel.

Le Sirenuse, in Positano, was for 250 years the summer house of the noble Neopolitan family who still run the hotel. The inside is simple and lovely, with glazed tile floors, delicately scalloped windows and pale-hued bedrooms. In the Italian capital, Hassler Roma, a longtime local institution owned and operated by the same family since the 1890s, provides an exceedingly warm welcome and a thoroughly professional manner of operation. Owned by the Ferragamo family, Portrait Roma, located in a 19^th century townhouse, is among the city’s most chic boutique hotels. The hotel’s finest detail has to be the rooftop lounge - where cocktails are served by a fireplace, with a view of the Spanish Steps.

Byblos Art Hotel Villa Amista (Corrubbio) is like a museum. It is a 15^th-century villa outside Verona, a place where sedate gardens and fountains give way to Baroque interiors and artistic masterpieces. This is completed by the MICHELIN-starred Amistà restaurant. In Savelletri di Fasano, Rocco Forte Masseria Torre Maizza is a whitewashed farmhouse, and a perfect example of the traditional local style - but with wonderfully luxurious interiors. Finally Sextantio Le Grotte della Civita is located in Matera – a city famous for its houses carved into the volcanic hillsides, some of them dating back to Paleolithic times. Here, rooms themselves occupy the caves.

All MICHELIN Guide hotel recommendations are available for free on the MICHELIN Guide website and mobile application. On these digital platforms, all recommended hotels can be booked directly at the best market price. To assist travelers throughout their stay, the MICHELIN Guide also provides a concierge service run by travel experts employed by the MICHELIN Guide.

After France, the United States (Atlanta, California, Chicago, Colorado, Florida, New York, Washington DC), Spain and Italy the MICHELIN Keys will be announced in Japan on July 4, 2024. Other destinations will follow during the year.

Find the pictures of the Press Conference Announcement on the link here.