Guide
Forbes Five-Star vs. MICHELIN Keys: what hotel ratings mean
Forbes stars measure service above all, MICHELIN Keys reward character and a sense of place, and AAA Diamonds check every year that a hotel meets published standards. A hotel can hold all three, one or none. The stars you see on booking sites are something else again.
Forbes Travel Guide: service first
Forbes Travel Guide began as the Mobil Travel Guide in 1958 and created the Five-Star rating. Its inspectors travel anonymously, pay their own way and stay at least two nights, scoring a hotel against up to 900 standards. Service carries 70 percent of the result and the facility 30 percent. There are three levels: Five-Star, Four-Star and Recommended, and a rating cannot be bought. What a Forbes star tells you is how consistently a hotel looks after its guests; it says little about whether the place suits your trip.
Source: Forbes Travel Guide: About, Forbes Travel Guide: What makes a Five Star
MICHELIN Keys: character and a sense of place
The MICHELIN Key does for hotels what the MICHELIN Star does for restaurants. A hotel in the MICHELIN selection can earn One Key (a very special stay), Two Keys (an exceptional stay) or Three Keys (an extraordinary stay). Inspectors weigh five things: architecture and interior design, quality of service, personality and character, value for money, and the contribution to the local experience. That last pair is the difference with Forbes: a Key hotel is judged partly on whether it is worth what it costs and on how much of its place it gives you.
Source: MICHELIN Guide: All you need to know about the MICHELIN Key, MICHELIN Guide: One, Two and Three MICHELIN Keys
AAA Diamonds: standards checked every year
AAA inspects hotels across North America, the Caribbean and Costa Rica. Four Diamonds mark upscale hotels with distinctive dining; Five Diamonds sit at the top of the scale. Every Diamond hotel gets an unannounced, anonymous inspection each year against published guidelines, built around cleanliness, comfort, cuisine and consistency. Cleanliness is tested with the same surface-testing technology used in health care. A Diamond is the most rule-based of the three: it tells you a hotel keeps meeting a standard.
Source: AAA: Diamond rating definitions, AAA: Diamond program
Stars on booking sites are not the same thing
On booking platforms a star rating is often filled in by the property itself, and it follows no single inspection. That is why we never call a hotel five-star on that basis, and why a four-star listing can outclass a five-star one. A guest rating on those sites is useful in a different way: read it with its number of reviews, and treat anything below a few dozen reviews as a hint rather than a verdict.
How we use these ratings
We name a Forbes star, a MICHELIN Key or an AAA Diamond only when the awarding body or the hotel itself confirms it, with the year. Recognized distinctions are one part of the Luxury Score, next to guest satisfaction, facilities and our own editorial judgment. A hotel without any award can still earn its place on a list: many of the small inns we pick have never been inspected by anyone, and some are the better choice for the trip you are planning.
On our lists
Hotels with a confirmed distinction
Each confirmed by the awarding body or the hotel. Filter or sort any column.
Questions travelers ask
Is a MICHELIN Key better than a Forbes Five-Star rating?
Neither is better; they measure different things. Forbes weighs service most heavily, while MICHELIN also judges design, character, value for money and how much a hotel connects you to its location.
Can a hotel pay for a Forbes, MICHELIN or AAA rating?
No. All three use anonymous inspectors, and Forbes Travel Guide states that no one can buy a rating.
What does AAA Five Diamond mean?
It is the top level of AAA's scale, above Four Diamond. Every Diamond hotel is inspected unannounced each year against published guidelines on cleanliness, comfort, cuisine and consistency.
Are the star ratings on booking sites reliable?
Treat them with care. They are often set by the property itself and do not follow one inspection standard, so a guest rating with a solid review count usually tells you more.