Exclusive Feature: Amid a perennially recurring discussion on the relevance of the Michelin star, it still hardly hurts to have one, as L'Assiette Champenoise, a family-run restaurant in the French Champagne region, can confirm, having won its third Michelin star in the unveiling of winners this week.

A refresher on what the stars mean:  one star denotes "a very good restaurant in its category", two stars mean "excellent cooking, worth a detour" and three stars mean "exceptional cuisine, worth a special journey."

Since traveling to stay in hotels is often all about detours and journeys, top-tier hotels often have to ensure they offer the best cuisine they possibly can. To them, the magic of a Michelin star is as coveted as ever – and some who have wished on a Michelin star, have found their wishes granted.

It all started with Alain Ducasse's Le Louis XV in Monte Carlo – the first hotel restaurant to win a Michelin star in 1990 - where such delights as gamberoni from San Remo, Mediterranean sea bass with fennel, and  Breast of squab from the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence region can be enjoyed.

Ducasse would go on to win many Michelin starts in other locations across the globe, but that first Michelin star would forever set the bar for excellence in hotel restaurants.

Michel Guérard's three-Michelin-star restaurant in the main house of his hotel-spa Les Prés d'Eugénie  has been running for 37 years, according to its website. Its culinary philosophy is tantamount to distilling French tradition, "combining history, nature and the thrilling adventure of culinary creation."

The menu includes slightly smoked roast lobster, soft pillow of morels and wild mushrooms, Gâteau Mollet du Marquis de Béchamel cake all cooked over the house fireplace, promoting the restaurants "naturalistic" methods.

While there are more Michelin restaurants in France, Asia has not exactly been flagging in the department of top-tier hotel-restaurants internationally. The Robuchon au Dome in the Grand Lisboa Hotel in Macau is more than just another feather in the cap of one of the most accomplished celebrity chefs in the world, Joel Robuchon.

The house specialty includes Robuchon's signature dish of Le Caviar -"surprise of caviar in fine coral jelly with aniseed cream" for a whopping $780.00 – but the man isn't award-winning for nothing. And there is the breathtaking view of the entire city of Macau.

A few hours away travel to Japan, and one might find himself in the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Tokyo. At its inhouse restaurant Hinokizaka,  the suggested dress code is "casual elegance", and it might as well describe the restaurant itself.  The restaurant allows you the pleasure of renting out the Kokushoan – an accurate reconstruction of a historical 200-year-old Japanese teahouse - for a group of up to six ï¿¥30,000.

The Hinokizaka, which is the only Japanese restaurant in a hotel to receive a Michelin  one star, features contemporary rendering of traditional Japanese specialities such as tempura, sushi and teppanyaki.

Wherever one in the world may be, and wherever one in the world decides to stay, the Michelin guide is more than helpful to those needing to narrow the list down to a few excellent choices from a culinary perspective.

Bon Appetit!

This is strictly an exclusive feature, reprints of this article in any shape or form without prior written approval from 4Hoteliers.com is not permitted.

Janelle Dumalaon is a correspondent based in Berlin, Germany. She has a Masters in Cultural Journalism from the University of Arts in Berlin and now works with journalists across the globe as part of international journalism organization, Associated Reporters Abroad (ARA). Janelle believes in traveling light, deviating from itineraries, and trying the street food.

Janelle writes a regular exclusive column for 4Hoteliers.com


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