The Michelin Guide now rates hotels – these are the places awarded ‘keys’ in the UK and Ireland

The high-rises, castles and townhouses that are more than just a bed to lay your head

ValVades

Oct 2, 2024 - 21:01

0 28

The Michelin Guide now rates hotels – these are the places awarded ‘keys’ in the UK and Ireland

Your support helps us to tell the story

Our mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.

Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.

Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.

Louise Thomas

Looking for luxury in your hotel room? The Michelin Guide have announced the most outstanding accommodation across the UK and Ireland this year.

The British and Irish hotels awarded top honours for 2024 include Irish castles, stately Scottish homes and boutique London townhouses.

Since April 2024, the Michelin ‘key’ has recommended over 5,000 remarkable hotels worldwide following visits from guide inspectors.

Five criteria dictate which hotels make the list – excellence in architecture and interior design, quality and consistency of service, overall personality and character, value in relation to the price and a significant contribution to the neighbourhood or setting.

Those with dining habits guided by Michelin Star ratings are in luck. As with Michelin applauded restaurants, one key reflects a ‘very special stay’, two an ‘exceptional stay’ and three an ‘extraordinary stay’.

Among the 123 hotspots in the UK and Ireland, 14 were awarded three keys, 37 two keys and 72 one key in the Michelin hotel guide.

The ‘three key’ accommodations setting the benchmark for travel feature the iconic Gleneagles Hotel in Scotland, impressive addresses such as Claridges and the Four Seasons in London and the five-star Adare Manor’s golf and hotel resort in Ireland.

A third of the overall list lives on London’s hotel scene with 44 opulent, old-world and Victorian era big name properties tried and tested for a night in the English capital.

Gwendal Poullennec, international director of the Michelin Guides, said: “For our latest European release, we are absolutely thrilled to present to world travellers our very first Michelin key selection for Great Britain and Ireland.

“Featuring no fewer than 123 outstanding hotels, this selection is an invitation to explore the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, visit their historically rich cities, relax in their charming countryside and scenic landscapes, and enjoy, for a few nights, a timeless lifestyle in century-old castles and manor houses.

“From boutique hotels or flagship luxury properties located in eclectic London to country houses nestled in dramatic Irish countryside; from stunning Scottish manor houses to tranquil Welsh retreats: every hotel awarded one, two or three Michelin keys is a gem sculpted by talented professionals.”

Three-key Hotels

England

The Newt in Somerset, BrutonLucknam Park, ColerneLe Manoir aux Quat’Saisons, A Belmond Hotel, Oxfordshire, Great MiltonBvlgari Hotel London, LondonClaridge’s, LondonFour Seasons Hotel London at Park Lane, LondonMandarin Oriental Hyde Park, LondonRaffles London at The OWO, LondonThe Connaught, LondonThe Peninsula London, LondonThe Savoy, London

Republic of Ireland

Adare Manor, AdareBallyfin Demesne, Ballyfin

Scotland

The Gleneagles Hotel, Auchterarder

Two-key Hotels

England

Coworth Park, Dorchester Collection, Ascot The Royal Crescent Hotel & Spa, BathGidleigh Park, ChagfordGravetye Manor, East GrinsteadLympstone Manor, ExmouthHampton Manor, Hampton-in-ArdenHeckfield Place, HeckfieldBeaverbrook Surrey, LeatherheadThyme, Lechlade45 Park Lane, Dorchester Collection, LondonBrown’s Hotel, a Rocco Forte Hotel, LondonCorinthia Hotel LondonCovent Garden Hotel, Firmdale Hotels, LondonHam Yard Hotel, Firmdale Hotels, LondonHaymarket Hotel, Firmdale Hotels, LondonHotel Café Royal, LondonMandarin Oriental Mayfair, LondonRosewood LondonThe Beaumont Hotel, LondonThe Berkeley, LondonThe Cadogan, A Belmond Hotel, LondonThe Dorchester, Dorchester Collection, LondonThe Langham, LondonThe Twenty Two, LondonLime Wood Hotel, LyndhurstWhatley Manor Hotel and Spa, MalmesburyChewton Glen Hotel, New MiltonGrantley Hall, RiponHambleton Hall, RutlandCliveden House, TaplowGilpin Hotel & Lake House, WindermereThe Samling Hotel, Windermere

Republic of Ireland

Cashel Palace, CashelSheen Falls Lodge, KenmareThe Merrion, Dublin

Scotland

The Fife Arms, Braemar The Balmoral, Edinburgh

One-key Hotels

England

Amberley Castle, AmberleyBath Priory, BathHomewood, Bath The Gainsborough Bath Spa, Bath The Queensberry Hotel, Bath The Yard, BathThe Collective at Woolsery, BidefordFarlam Hall Hotel & Restaurant, BramptonArtist Residence BrightonArtist Residence BristolNumber 38 Clifton, BristolThe Gallivant, CamberCowley Manor Experimental, CheltenhamForesters Hall, Isle of WightForest Side Hotel, GrasmereFour Seasons Hotel, HampshireThe Old Rectory, HastingsThe Harper, Langham1 Hotel Mayfair, LondonArtist Residence, LondonBaglioni Hotel, LondonBeaverbrook Town House, LondonBroadwick Soho, LondonCharlotte Street Hotel, Firmdale Hotels, LondonChiltern Firehouse, LondonCOMO The Halkin, LondonFlemings Mayfair, LondonFour Seasons Hotel, LondonKnightsbridge Hotel, Firmdale Hotels, LondonL’oscar, LondonNoMad, LondonNumber Sixteen, Firmdale Hotels, LondonOne Aldwych, LondonRedchurch Townhouse, LondonShangri-La The Shard, LondonSofitel London St James, LondonThe Emory, LondonThe Soho Hotel, Firmdale Hotels, LondonThe Vineyard Hotel & Spa, NewburyEstelle Manor, North LeighArtist Residence Oxfordshire, OxfordThe Swan Southwold, SouthwoldThe Idle Rocks, St MawesHotel Tresanton, St MawesThornbury Castle, ThornburyArtist Residence CornwallLinthwaite House Hotel, Windermere

Channel Islands

Longueville Manor, Jersey

Republic of Ireland

Gregans Castle Hotel, BallyvaughanCliff House Hotel, ArdmoreCastlemartyr Resort, CastlemartyrDylan, DublinWilder Townhouse, DublinThe Killarney Park, KillarneyThe Victoria, KillarneyNo. 1 Pery Square, LimerickDromoland Castle, Newmarket on Fergus

Scotland

Glenapp Castle, BallantraeDumfries House Lodge, CumnockLinks House at Royal Dornoch, Dornoch100 Princes Street, EdinburghGleneagles Townhouse, EdinburghPrestonfield Edinburgh, EdinburghFoyers Lodge Loch Ness, FoyersThe Grandtully Hotel by Ballintaggart, GrandtullyKinloch Lodge, Isle of SkyeCromlix Hotel, KinbuckNewhall Mains Dingwall, ResolisGlenmorangie House, Tain