Rosselli AX Privilege has an unusual collection of MICHELIN awards. There is a Key for the hotel at 167 Merchants Street, a Star for Under Grain below street level, and a Bib Gourmand for Grain Street at the front door. MICHELIN judges each separately: a brilliant dinner cannot earn a hotel its Key. Rosselli and The TownHouse Mykonos have both kept theirs in the 2026 selection. This year, Cinco Quintas Hotel Boutique in Cartagena joins them with its first One Key.
MICHELIN describes One Key as “a very special stay”. Its inspectors consider design, consistent service, character, value and a hotel’s contribution to its setting. The three Elegant hotels have striking buildings and enviable addresses. The award concerns what they do with them.
Merchants Street, Valletta
Rosselli’s building, Casa Rosselli-Massa, dates from the 17th century. Its Baroque exterior belongs to Merchants Street; inside, Forward Architects gave the rooms six design schemes. Some draw on Deco, others on geometric modernism. Each takes its name from someone connected to the building’s past. The result gives guests a choice of rooms within one palazzo, without asking the place to remain in the 1600s.
At street level, Grain Street serves a more informal menu. Under Grain, reached below, is the hotel’s starred restaurant. Those dining awards make Rosselli a strong choice for a food-focused stay in Valletta. They also raise expectations of everything around dinner. MICHELIN’s hotel criteria put consistent service beside design and value; the Key has to hold across the stay, including the hours outside the restaurants.
Manto Square, Mykonos
The TownHouse stands in an 18th-century manor on Manto Square. The listed building took three years to restore and expand. It now operates as an adults-only hotel, with rooms that retain historic features alongside whitewashed interiors and handmade textures. Mykonos Town’s restaurants and clubs are close by. Guests who want to spend their evenings in town can return without treating the hotel as a separate destination.
The hotel has a social life of its own. Its 54 Cocktail Bar & Sunset Lounge gives guests a place to start an evening; the old town offers plenty of ways to continue it. Keeping a Key through another season asks something of both sides of that experience, from the condition of a room to the service in a busy bar. The manor took years to restore. The welcome has to be ready for each arrival.
Inside Cartagena’s walls
Cinco Quintas is the newcomer to this group. MICHELIN named the Cartagena hotel among Colombia’s new 2026 Key recipients, awarding it One Key. Its restored residence sits within the walled Old City, arranged around a courtyard and interior tropical garden. Above them, a rooftop terrace looks across Cartagena. MICHELIN also singles out the option for a group to reserve a whole floor, or the entire hotel. That flexibility gives the old house a different appeal from a conventional city hotel.
Apogeo brings Mediterranean and Latin influences to dinner, while the suites offer room to settle in. Outside is the Old City; inside are spaces designed for time together or a little privacy. Cinco Quintas earned its first Key with that particular combination. Rosselli and The TownHouse have shown they can keep theirs.
The three listings make for enjoyable travel planning. Rosselli puts a starred dinner downstairs in Valletta. The TownHouse Mykonos opens onto Manto Square. At Cinco Quintas, you could take over a floor with friends and look out across Cartagena from the roof. MICHELIN has made the case for the stays. Choosing the city is the pleasurable part.
