Eight US Hotels Enter the MICHELIN Guide at Two Keys in 2026
On September 18, 2026, the MICHELIN Guide updated its Key selection, its distinction for outstanding hotels, and added 65 new Keys and upgrades in the United States. Most of that list is One-Key additions or hotels moving up a level. Eight hotels went further: none of them held a Key in the 2025 selection, and each entered directly at Two Keys.
They run from a new ski resort in Montana to a restored Park Avenue landmark, with two mountaintop retreats in North Carolina, a private estate in the Blue Ridge Mountains, a Palm Beach hotel, a Napa Valley spa resort and a Beverly Hills institution in between. Seven more US hotels reached Two Keys this year by moving up from One, and they are not included here. Two Keys was as high as any US hotel climbed in 2026: none was newly awarded Three Keys, the guide's highest distinction.
One&Only Moonlight Basin, Big Sky, Montana
One&Only's first resort in the United States, and the brand's first alpine resort, began welcoming guests in November 2025. It sits on 240 acres inside the Moonlight Basin community in Big Sky, which spans more than 8,000 acres, a short drive from Yellowstone National Park. Standalone cabins, suites and rooms are scattered among the evergreens, and the heated One&Only Gondola gives guests direct access to the Madison Base area of Big Sky Resort. Chef Akira Back lends his name to the signature restaurant, which reworks Japanese dishes for the mountain setting, and the One&Only Spa has a pool and a heated hot tub with a view. The MICHELIN Guide also named the resort a nominee for its 2026 Opening of the Year Award.
Cataloochee Ranch, Maggie Valley, North Carolina
The Alexander family founded Cataloochee Ranch in 1933, and it has drawn generations of mountain travelers since. The ranch spreads across hundreds of acres along the southeastern border of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, high enough for open balds and long-range views. It is a Relais & Châteaux property with newly restored rooms and cabins. Days are built around hiking and horseback riding, and Chef Jeb Aldrich cooks a refined take on ranch food: steaks, chops and fish.
The Swag, Waynesville, North Carolina
Cataloochee Ranch's sister property sits almost a mile above sea level on a 250-acre summit in the Great Smoky Mountains, about 40 minutes west of Asheville. Guests stay in private cabins or in rooms in the main lodge, no two alike, and spend the days on guided hikes along the surrounding trails before meals built on produce from local farms. The Swag has been welcoming guests for more than 40 years.
The Lodge at Primland, Auberge Collection, Virginia
The Lodge at Primland sits on its own 12,000-acre private mountain estate in Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains. Beyond the main lodge and its Highland Course golf course are cabins and tree houses perched above the Dan River Gorge. Guests walk the banks of trout streams, ride horses across the property and end the night at the estate's observatory. Sage, Wellbeing by Auberge runs the spa, with hikes, yoga and an indoor pool and hot tub that look out over the grounds.
The Vineta Hotel, Palm Beach, Florida
Two blocks from Worth Avenue, The Vineta is a Mediterranean Revival landmark with a history going back about a century, and the first hotel in the United States for Oetker Hotels, the group behind Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc and The Lanesborough. London-based designer Tino Zervudachi renovated it from top to bottom, and its 41 rooms and suites take their light palette from Palm Beach's island climate. Coco, the restaurant, serves Mediterranean food in the courtyard behind the historic facade, with The Bar and the Pool House alongside.
Solage, Auberge Collection, Calistoga, California
Calistoga has drawn visitors to its natural hot springs for more than a century, and Solage is built around that tradition. Its 20,000-square-foot spa centers on mineral-rich mud and geothermal water, and the Bathhouse runs a circuit of thermal pools that moves from cold to deeply warm. Guests stay in studios and suites, and spend the rest of the day on wine tastings and bike rides along Napa Valley's country roads.
Beverly Wilshire, Beverly Hills (A Four Seasons Hotel), California
Beverly Wilshire has stood at the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Rodeo Drive since 1928, and it reaches its centennial in 2028. The MICHELIN Guide placed it among its historic and deeply storied hotels. It has 395 refreshed rooms and suites and is home to the flagship of Wolfgang Puck's steakhouse CUT, which celebrated its 20th anniversary this year. This year, The Spa at Beverly Wilshire also received a Forbes Travel Guide Five-Star rating for the tenth year in a row.
Waldorf Astoria New York, New York
The Park Avenue landmark reopened in July 2025 after a restoration that turned a 1,400-room hotel into 375 guest rooms and 372 residences. Hilton says the rooms and suites are among the largest in Manhattan, and describes the project as a return to the building's original 1931 Art Deco grandeur. Skidmore, Owings & Merrill led the architecture, with hotel interiors by Pierre-Yves Rochon and residential interiors by Jean-Louis Deniot. Chef Michael Anthony runs the brasserie Lex Yard, Peacock Alley is back as the hotel's lounge, Yoshoku serves Japanese food, and the Grand Ballroom has returned with the rest of the event rooms. Conrad Hilton once called the hotel the greatest of them all.
