Texas has 21 of the best hotels in the world, and six of those are in Dallas-Fort Worth, according to Michelin, the French company that announced its Michelin Key winners on Oct. 8, 2025.
The most exceptional North Texas hotel on the Michelin Keys list is Bowie House in Fort Worth, an Auberge Resorts Collection property. It received two Michelin Keys, which the company describes as “an exceptional stay” from a property that has “character, personality and charm.”
Hotels can receive a 1-, 2- or 3-Key rating. Bowie House was one of three Texas hotels with two Michelin Keys in 2025, alongside the Commodore Perry Estate in Austin and Hotel Emma in San Antonio.
No hotel in Texas received the highest honor, three Keys.
Texas’ 21 hotels total one more than in September 2024, when Michelin named 20 hotels in the Lone Star State among its Key recipients in the United States, Mexico and Canada.
One new Texas hotel was added in 2025: Hotel Saint Augustine in Houston, the 71-room property that opened in late 2024, making it ineligible for the fall 2024 Michelin Keys list. It received one Key.
Michelin is best known for giving stars to restaurants, as it has for nearly 100 years. The Michelin Keys list — which spans a whopping 2,457 hotels globally — is the company’s way to get deeper into critiquing travel destinations. It sends critics all over the world to find “the finest properties from across the globe,” said Gwendal Poullennec, international director of the Michelin Guide, in a statement about the Keys.
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Its hotel list includes “iconic resorts, historic city hotels, or hidden gems off the beaten path.”
Which Dallas-Fort Worth hotels received a Michelin Key?
The same list of North Texas hotels honored in 2024 retained their Michelin Key status in 2025. That’s great news for travelers and staycationers looking to revisit these top-ranked hotels.
As noted, the top-rated hotel in D-FW is Bowie House in Fort Worth, with two-Key status. “It just might be the most stylish building in Fort Worth,” Michelin said.
Five other hotels in Dallas-Fort Worth received one Michelin Key.
Casa Duro in East Dallas is the tiny property overlooking Greenville Avenue — certainly, the smallest on the list of D-FW Key recipients. Inspectors loved the “painstakingly collected” antiques and vintage decor. If you like what you’re hearing, visit any of the owners’ Dallas restaurants and you’ll find similar obsession with decor at Sister (which is downstairs from Casa Duro) as well as Mister Charles, The Charles and El Carlos Elegante.
Hotel Drover in Fort Worth is decidedly Texan, but upscale.
Courtesy Hotel Drover
Hotel Drover in Fort Worth is the Fort Worth Stockyards spot that’s “unmistakably Texan but without crossing too far into kitsch.” It was lauded for its backyard, pool and hot tub. Missing — but hopefully noted — is its close proximity to more cowboy fun, like the cattle drive out front and Billy Bob’s concert venue nearby.
Up, up, up is the Hotel Swexan’s pool.
Juan Figueroa / Staff Photographer
Hotel Swexan in Dallas’ Harwood District is the hotel many Dallasites are talking about right now. The hotel has “larger than life Texan swagger,” which is a compliment to the Swexan’s “commanding views” and “up-for-anything energy in the decor.” Michelin points guests to the top floor, where new restaurant Léonie is serving Italian food al fresco. It’s near the pool, also a stunner.
Hotel ZaZa is a sexy spot in Uptown Dallas.
Jerry McClure
Hotel ZaZa in Uptown Dallas is a great option for travelers, Michelin said. “Hotel ZaZa is, if you can believe it, a bit of the south of France, transplanted to the south-central United States. It’s a conceit that seems difficult to carry off, but in this case it certainly works,” the one-Key writeup boasts.
The Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek is as Dallas as Dallas gets.
Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek
Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek, one of Dallas’ oldest hotels, feels more like “an extravagant house” than a place to vacation. But it’s both: Its “old-fashioned opulence” comes from its start as a private residence in the 1920s, and today it plays double duty as a hotel and a private residence. You’ll feel like a millionaire here, even if you aren’t, Michelin said.
Interestingly, the blurb shouts out the Mansion restaurant as “one of the best in Dallas,” yet it wasn’t named among Michelin’s favorites in 2024. Should we expect Michelin to honor the Mansion in 2025 at the restaurant ceremony on Oct. 28, 2025?
Do hotels retain their Michelin Key?
No, hotels must earn Michelin Key status every year.
Interestingly, none of the hotels in Texas “lost” their key in 2025, meaning all maintained the quality and high standards Michelin requires.
Compared to the Michelin star system for restaurants, that’s rare: It’s tough for even the world’s best chefs to keep their restaurants running at the highest standards, year after year.
It seems — at least early on in Michelin’s travels through Texas — that our best hotels had no trouble with consistency.
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