The Michelin Guide lists 45 restaurants in Luxembourg, nine of which have a Michelin star, and two of which have two stars. But since last year, Michelin has also been distinguishing hotels, with what the guide calls clefs, or keys.
In the first worldwide edition of its hotel guide, Michelin recommends 2,457 hotels on six continents by assigning them one, two or three keys. More than a thousand Michelin keys have been awarded to hotels in Europe, including 203 in France, 188 in Italy and 124 in the United Kingdom. Luxembourg makes the list, too, with one key thanks to the sumptuous Le Place d’Armes in the heart capital city.
The only hotel in Luxembourg to have been awarded a key by the Michelin Guide: Le Place d’Armes © Photo credit: Marc Wilwert
“Hotel Le Place d’Armes is built from a string of seven 18th-century buildings, joined together right in the historic centre of town,” the Michelin guide’s website says. “Its warrenlike interiors contain a mere 28 rooms and suites, where period architectural details like stone walls and timbered ceilings contrast with contemporary furnishings and fixtures.”
Among the hotel’s other assets highlighted by the inspectors is “the Michelin-starred Le Cristallerie” restaurant – though it should more accurately be La Cristallerie, a formerly-Michelin-starred restaurant. “This exceptional venue offers a refined culinary experience that will delight the most demanding palates.”
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Keys are rare in Benelux region
Across the three Benelux countries, only the De L’Europe Amsterdam hotel managed to bag three keys. Closer to Luxembourg, the five-star Domaine de la Klauss in Moselle was awarded one, while La Maison in Sarrelouis was awarded two keys.
Seven other hotels in Luxembourg are specifically recommended by the Michelin Guide without receiving keys: Le Clervaux Boutique Hôtel, Mama Shelter Luxembourg, Sofitel Luxembourg, Le Grand Ducal, Sofitel Luxembourg Europe, l’Écluse, Château d’Urspelt and Villa Pétrusse.
The Michelin Guide, first published in 1900, highlighted garages across France but began to recommend restaurants in 1923. The tyre company realised that enticing motorists out across the French countryside for leisure meant demand for tyres would increase. This quirk of marketing has arguably made the company even more associated with luxury today than with its core business of making tyres. Still printed every year, the Guide sells fewer and fewer copies, prompting Michelin to boost its online offering, starting with hotels and restaurants, and soon wines, too.
By moving focus online, the tyre manufacturer is able to enter the crowded hotel bookings marketplace as well as offering its reviews and guide. The market is dominated by industry giants such as Booking.com and HRS, which charge 10-15% commission on bookings. A huge market: Booking.com alone generated sales of around €22 billion last year.
(This article was originally published on the website of the Luxemburger Wort. Machine translated, with editing and adaptation by Alex Stevensson.)
