MICHELIN Guide’s most anticipated hotel moment of 2025 arrived in Paris on October 8, as hoteliers and industry leaders gathered to celebrate the debut of the Guide’s four Special Category Awards. Chosen by MICHELIN Inspectors, the awards spotlight four distinct dimensions of hospitality: Architecture & Design, Wellness, Local Gateway, and Opening of the Year. The winners reveal how innovative spaces, transformative experiences, authentic local engagement, and bold new visions are reshaping the global hotel landscape.
MICHELIN Architecture & Design Award
Winner: Atlantis the Royal — Dubai, UAE
Architecture and interior design aren’t afterthoughts here; they are the experience. Atlantis the Royal reimagines the skyscraper concept with six interconnected towers whose cantilevered blocks form an indoor/outdoor neighborhood within Dubai’s skyline. The hotel blends architectural bravura with curated interiors, creating a living space where public areas, suites, and leisure facilities blur the line between resort and urban landmark. The judges praised how every facet—from light and materiality to spatial choreography—serves the guest journey, turning a stay into an immersive architectural voyage.
Explore the nominees in this category included Shebara Resort, Rosewood Sao Paulo, Benesse House, and Villa Nai 3.3, each contributing a distinctive vision of how architecture and design amplify guest delight and cultural narrative.
MICHELIN Wellness Award
Winner: Bürgenstock Resort — Bürgenstock, Switzerland
Wellness takes center stage when a property can transport guests through terrain, rituals, and facilities that redefine wellbeing. After more than a century of history and a decade of thoughtful restoration, Bürgenstock Resort offers a transformative wellness experience anchored by one of Europe’s most expansive spa volumes. The crisp Alpine air, serene settings, and meticulously designed spa journeys invite guests to reset, recharge, and reconnect. This award recognizes how a hotel can become a holistic wellbeing retreat, where therapy, fitness, cuisine, and nature harmonize for a lasting impact on health and happiness.
Other nominees in the Wellness category included Canyon Ranch Tucson, JOALI BEING, Lily of The Valley, and The Retreat at Blue Lagoon Iceland, each presenting an approach to wellness that goes beyond traditional spa offerings to influence guests’ long-term sense of balance.
MICHELIN Local Gateway Award
Winner: La Fiermontina Ocean — Larache, Morocco
Local Gateway honors hotels that act as a bridge to authentic experiences, linking guests with place, people, and culture. In Larache on Morocco’s northwest Atlantic coast, La Fiermontina Ocean partners with a local non-profit to weave community connections into the guest journey. This award highlights how hospitality can empower local ecosystems—supporting artisans, sharing culinary traditions, and enabling guests to participate in meaningful, place-based programs that extend beyond a single stay.
Nominees in this category—Longitude 131, Tierra Patagonia Hotel & Spa, Zannier Sonop, and Post Ranch Inn—demonstrate how hotels can serve as catalysts for genuine encounters with nature, heritage, and community, enriching travel with responsibility and soul.
MICHELIN Opening of the Year Award
Winner: The Burman Hotel — Tallinn, Estonia
New hotel openings must prove a singular voice from day one, and The Burman Hotel delivers with 17 intimate rooms that scale the feeling of a much larger property. Located in the heart of UNESCO-listed Old Town, the hotel becomes a hub for dining and entertainment while anchoring itself in historical charm and contemporary comfort. The Opening of the Year Award recognizes hotels that launch with confidence, offering a clear promise of distinctive style, memorable service, and a compelling guest proposition from their first season onward.
Other nominees included Aman Nai Lert Bangkok, Collegio alla Querce (Auberge Collection), Domaine Le Mouflon D’Or, and Cheval Blanc Seychelles, each presenting a fresh concept that signals new directions in luxury hospitality.
Across all four categories, the inaugural MICHELIN Special Category Awards emphasize more than just rooms or service; they spotlight the experiences, design, and community connections that define modern travel. As the MICHELIN Guide continues to expand its hotel coverage, these awards offer travelers a clearer map of where the most thoughtful, boundary-pushing hospitality is taking shape in 2025 and beyond.
