New York Takes 4 of 7 US Michelin Key Upgrades

Seven American hotels were promoted from One Michelin Key to Two in the 2026 selection. Four of them are in New York, and three of those four are in Manhattan. No other state took more than one. The MICHELIN Guide released the list on 18 September 2026; the American additions are published in full here.

Promotions are the scarcer currency in this announcement. The Guide added 65 American hotels to the Key list overall, but 50 of those simply entered at One Key and eight entered at Two. Only seven hotels already in the book moved up, which makes the upgrade list a better read on where inspectors think standards are actually rising.

Chart: U.S. hotels promoted One Key to Two Keys, 2026 selection. Source: MICHELIN Guide, 18 September 2026. Counted from the Guide's published list of 65 newly awarded and upgraded U.S. hotels.

The four New York promotions

Hotel	Neighbourhood	Moved to
The Ritz-Carlton New York, NoMad	NoMad	Two Keys
The Lowell	Upper East Side	Two Keys
The Surrey, A Corinthia Hotel	Upper East Side	Two Keys
Wildflower Farms, Auberge Collection	Gardiner, Hudson Valley	Two Keys

The Ritz-Carlton NoMad is a 50-storey tower near Madison Square Park that opened in 2022 with 250 rooms. Michelin's inspectors credit bespoke furnishings and floral detailing that nods to the historic flower district beneath it, and note that every dining room in the building runs under José Andrés.

The Lowell, family-owned and on the Upper East Side, is the opposite proposition: wood-burning fireplaces, landscaped terraces, a concierge the Guide calls famously well-connected, and rooms it describes as singular rather than consistent.

The Surrey dates to 1926 and reopened in recent years under Corinthia. Its four signature suites take their detailing from the bridges of Central Park, and its Art Deco facade has a guest list running from John F. Kennedy to Bette Davis.

Wildflower Farms is the outlier by geography. Ninety minutes north in Gardiner, it is a working farm with 65 cabins, a spa with indoor and outdoor pools, and staff-led art tours. Its promotion makes it the only Two-Key hotel in New York State outside New York City.

Manhattan also gained three hotels outright

Alongside the promotions, New York added five hotels to the Key list. Three are in Manhattan.

Hotel	Neighbourhood	Distinction
Waldorf Astoria New York	Park Avenue	Two Keys
Faena New York	Chelsea / High Line	One Key
W New York – Union Square	Union Square	One Key
Canoe Place Inn & Cottages	Hampton Bays	One Key
Faraway Sag Harbor	Sag Harbor	One Key

The Waldorf Astoria entering directly at Two Keys is the headline. After a seven-year restoration, the Park Avenue building returns with 375 rooms, and Michelin's inspectors reserve particular attention for the suites and their Park Avenue outlook. Entering at Two rather than climbing to it puts it in a group of eight nationally.

Faena New York gets the Guide's most theatrical write-up of any American entry: soaring ceilings, a cosmic mural and a gold-trimmed spiral staircase, all of which are in the lobby before a guest reaches the marble hammam in the Tierra Santa Healing House. W Union Square is the most conventional addition, an Art Deco and mid-century hybrid with coworking space that sells coffee by day and cocktails by night.

Counting promotions and new entries together, New York took nine of the 65 American additions, second only to California's twelve.

Why the upgrade count is the interesting number

The 2026 Key list grew fast and unevenly. Worldwide it went from 2,457 hotels to 2,832, a 15.3 percent rise in a year. But Three-Key hotels grew only 8.4 percent, from 143 to 155, and their share of the list fell from 5.82 percent to 5.47 percent. Michelin added a great deal of width and very little height.

The United States is the extreme version of that. It gained 65 Key hotels and no new Three-Key hotel at all. Every American movement in 2026 happened between One Key and Two. Against that backdrop, a state taking four of the country's seven promotions — 57 percent of all upward movement in the largest Key market in the world — is the clearest signal in the American release.

Tier	2025	2026	Change
Three Keys	143	155	+8.4%
Two Keys	572	657	+14.9%
One Key	1,742	2,020	+16.0%
All Key hotels	2,457	2,832	+15.3%

How New York's nine were classified

Michelin sorted the 65 American additions into six themes. New York's nine fall into four of them, and the concentration at the two ends — three city hotels and three historic properties — is the state's signature.

Hotel	Michelin's category
Faena New York	City standouts
The Ritz-Carlton New York, NoMad	City standouts
W New York – Union Square	City standouts
Waldorf Astoria New York	Historic homes, inns and storied hotels
The Lowell	Historic homes, inns and storied hotels
The Surrey, A Corinthia Hotel	Historic homes, inns and storied hotels
Canoe Place Inn & Cottages	Coastal and waterfront destinations
Faraway Sag Harbor	Coastal and waterfront destinations
Wildflower Farms, Auberge Collection	Countryside and farm stays

New York took three of the thirteen new city-standout Keys awarded nationally, more than any other state, and three of the fourteen in the historic category. It took none in mountain and nature retreats or spa and resort destinations — the two groupings that drove much of the American growth, and the two where Michelin said the year's momentum lay.

The Long Island pair is the quieter story. Canoe Place Inn at Hampton Bays occupies a 17th-century Native American portage site and runs 25 inn rooms, garden cottages and waterfront residences. Faraway Sag Harbor has 67 rooms across urban-style lofts and garden escapes, with tennis courts, a heated saltwater pool and bikes into town. Both entered at One Key, and both extend the state's Key footprint well beyond the five boroughs.

What the Key certifies

Michelin created the Key in 2024 as the hotel analogue of the restaurant Star. Inspectors judge architecture, interior design, service, character, consistency and value across a selection of more than 9,000 hotels in over 100 countries, and award One, Two or Three Keys. Price is not a criterion, which is how a Hudson Valley farm with cabins and a Park Avenue landmark with 375 rooms both arrive at Two Keys in the same announcement.

The United States now holds 359 Key hotels, more than any other country, ahead of Italy at 224 and France at 220. The full global selection is set out in the Guide's 2026 country-by-country release.