Internationally known for its restaurant selections and star ratings, the Michelin Guide has in recent years built an independent global hotel selection featuring over 7,000 properties located in over 125 countries. Just like the stars indicate the best culinary experiences, their Michelin Keys highlight the most outstanding stays within the guide’s hotel selection.
The Michelin Guide is all set to make an addition to its list of awards as it unveils its first global Michelin Key Selection, set to be revealed on October 8. Following the rollout of key distinctions in 15 top travel destinations throughout 2024 and early 2025, this marks the debut of a worldwide selection celebrating the most outstanding hotels across the globe, to help travellers discover the best hotel experiences around the world.
All hotel recommendations are carefully evaluated by The Michelin Guide Inspectors following five universal criteria to establish a new global standard. Glasgow hotels were among the first to be recommended on the launch of the guide in the UK and Ireland. Introducing their selections, the guide said: “These are places that significantly add to your experience as a traveller, each vetted by our hotel experts and judged excellent in five categories: architecture and interior design; quality and consistency of service; overall personality and character; value for the price; and a significant contribution to the guest experience in a particular setting.” You can find the hotel guide here.
Currently, two hotels near Glasgow hold the One Michelin Key distinction, defined as “a very special stay” - Andy Murray’s Cromlix in Dunblane and Dumfries House Lodges: “This is for a hotel with its own character and personality. It may break the mould, offer something different, or simply be one of the best of its type. The service always goes the extra mile and provides significantly more than similarly priced establishments.”
You can see what the Michelin inspectors have to say about hotels in and around Glasgow below.
5. Kimpton Blythswood Hotel
“For a Glasgow address you could do a whole lot worse than Blythswood Square itself — this gorgeous green space, just to the west of the city center, drips with Georgian charm. So too, for its part, does the Kimpton Blythswood Square Hotel, a hundred-room luxury boutique which stands behind one of the four identical listed façades that face onto the square. Needless to say, for a Glasgow address, you could do much, much worse than the Blythswood Square Hotel — every city, as far as we’re concerned, needs one absolutely essential classic-meets-contemporary luxury boutique, and this, for Glasgow, just might be the one.” | Kimpton Blythswood Hotel
6. CitizenM Glasgow
“Clean modern lines mix with modern utility as rooms and common spaces are laid out logically and cheerfully, all filled with abundant natural light, modern conveniences, and a vaguely Nordic practicality. Visitors will detect this straight away, for even the lobby is cleverly divided into a series of living and working areas, each outfitted with Vitra and Eames furnishings, iMacs, and flat-screen televisions. It’s meant to look like anything but a traditional hotel lobby. Even the queues and waylays of the traditional hotel check-in are vanquished in favor of a digital self-service, whereby rooms are customized per guest’s selections and delivered electronically onto the room keycard.” | CitizenM
7. Voco Grand Central Glasgow
"Voco Grand Central Glasgow is indeed both grand and central, occupying as it does a landmark Victorian building adjacent to Glasgow Central Station. Inside, though, you’ll find little in the way of 19th-century ornament — this is a thoroughly modern boutique-style hotel, right down to the mid-century inspiration visible in the chic and colorful guest rooms. Champagne Central is rather more than a champagne bar, also serving a hearty Scottish breakfast and a suitably serious afternoon tea." | Voco Grand Central Photo: Submitted
8. Crossbasket Castle - 25 minutes from Glasgow
"Mere minutes outside of Glasgow lies Crossbasket Castle, a country house hotel that’s remarkably true to its 17th-century inspiration. Behind these crenellated walls you’ll find none of the cheekiness or irreverence that marks some other modern examples of the form. From the castle rooms and suites to the freestanding lodges, the experience is a thoroughly elegant one, and that’s equally true in the public spaces, from the castle’s common rooms to the restaurant by Michel Roux Jr." | Contributed Photo: Contributed