After The Restaurant, Michelin Will Assess The Hotel: Reject The Measurement Of Comfort To Architecture

Illustration. (Unsplash/iSAW Company)

JAKARTA - If nothing changes, Michelin Guide, which has assessed the best restaurants in the world, will conduct an assessment of hotels in the world, with the first award being awarded early next year.

If in assessing that Michelin restaurants provide stars, the hotel will get keys based on several criteria, including architecture, individuality, service, comfort and price.

A team has worked to make an initial selection of 5,300 hotels out of 120 countries in the world.

Gwendal Poulennec, international director of Michelin Guide, said she and her team wanted to create a "trusted reference" that helps tourists browse various hotels online.

"Users spend an average of 10 hours in front of the screen preparing for travel and consulting with more than 10 platforms. This is a challenge," he said.

Launched in 1900 by French tire maker Michelin Guide initially to provide practical input to people driving the country's first motorized vehicle.

In 1920, they charged a guidebook containing a list of hotels in Paris and restaurants that were divided into several categories.

Currently, Michelin Guide makes most of his money through referrals from its website, taking one euro per reservation.

The hotel will pay Michelin a commission of 10 to 15 percent for bookings through its website, Poulennec said, explaining editorial and sales teams will operate independently.

All of these hotels, whether they get a key or not, will be able to be booked via the Michelin Guide website.

Michelin has not specified whether a hotel can get more than one key. While in restaurant ranking, there are 1 to 3 stars, where the more stars the better.

Poulennec took over Michelin in 2018, the same year the group bought Tablet Hotels, an American site that offers boutique hotel lodging worldwide.

The hotel booking interface and database on this site, is now a portal on the Michelin Guide site where consumers can browse the choice of accommodation that has been curated mostly owning a Michelin-ranked restaurant and making reservations.

The move to determine hotel rankings is a long-planned effort, to capture more travel markets at a time when consumer spending and competition in the sector is at an all-time high.

Michelin said the hotel ranking, such as restaurants, would be strictly determined by the unnamed inspection team.

And, Michelin's team paid their restaurant bills, Poulennec said, so there was no "commercial bias".