There are battalions of Michelin obsessives around the world, who visit as many restaurants with accolades from the French tyre maker as they can. The more stars the better. This year, Michelin , and has just announced the 123 hotels in the UK and Ireland that have won “Michelin Keys”.
So, how many doors will they open to new (and repeat) customers? The Keys have, predictably, generated immediate buzz – hotels love to make a noise about anything that adds a plaque to their reception desks – while many magazines and newspapers (including, as of last month, ) create annual “best of” lists and awards. What does the new Michelin Key list tell us about the landscape of hotels here and across the Irish Channel right now? And what does it tell us about the judging process at Michelin? There’s an overall focus on higher price points, suggesting expense equates to quality, which has often been the case with Michelin. (Alain Ducasse’s restaurant at the Dorchester still gets three stars in the Michelin Guide, which is unfathomable to me – but Michelin also always favours all things French).
One thing the new list tells us is that the UK does the country-house hotel very well indeed, and Michelin does well to celebrate this. Giving Three Keys to – where Raymond Blanc brings his culinary mastery to an Oxfordshire idyll – is a no-brainer. It’s also great to see Michelin cast its net wider than Cornwall and the Cotswolds.
Three Welsh hotels make the cut: , near Snowd.