Michelin Guide Italia 2007. Alberghi & Ristoranti.

Francia, 2003, cm. 19,5 x 11,5 leg. editoriale rossa, pp. 1170

The Michelin Guide’s Commitments

Designed specifically for its readers, the Michelin Guide features a selection of the best hotels and restaurants in all comfort and price categories. Michelin supports its selection with five commitments that are presented at the beginning of the Guide to draw them to the reader’s attention. These commitments have been applied by the Guide and its inspectors for more than a century, since the first Michelin Guide France was published in August 1900:

• Anonymous inspections: Inspectors make regular and anonymous visits to hotels and restaurants to gauge the quality of products and services offered to an ordinary customer. They settle their own bill and may then introduce themselves and ask for more information about the establishment. The approximately 45,000 letters received from readers every year are also a valuable source of information, which can then be followed up with another visit.

• Independence: The choice of establishments is a completely independent one, made for the benefit of the readers alone. The decisions to be taken are discussed around the table by the inspectors and the Editor. Inclusion in the Guide is completely free of charge. Michelin alone decides which establishments are selected and included in the Guide.

• The selection: The Guide offers a selection of the best hotels and restaurants in all comfort and price categories. In making their selection, inspectors rigorously apply the same methodology everywhere.

• Annual updates: Practical information, ratings and distinctions are reviewed and updated every year to ensure their accuracy. With each new edition of the Guide, hundreds of thousands of items are checked, modified, enhanced or changed.

• Consistency: The criteria for the classifications are the same for the 21 countries covered by the Guide, taking into account the different characteristics of each country.

• …For more than a century, the Guide’s one and only objective has been to use its extensive resources to provide readers with a pleasurable experience whenever they travel or dine out. This goal is fully in line with Michelin’s stated mission of contributing to a better mobility.