What the MICHELIN Guide hotel selection means
The MICHELIN Guide is best known for its restaurants. Its hotel selection applies the same idea to places to stay: a curated selection of hotels around the world, chosen against the same criteria wherever they are, for travelers who care about where they sleep as much as where they eat.
In the Guide’s own words, the selection recognizes the quality of the experience a hotel offers its guests and the daily dedication of its whole team. Like every MICHELIN Guide selection, it carries its year: Makanda is selected in the MICHELIN Guide 2026.
A selection is not the same as a MICHELIN Key. Keys are the Guide’s distinction for the most outstanding stays within the selection, awarded as One, Two or Three Keys.
Makanda by the Sea · Manuel Antonio Five criteria, one standard
Every hotel in the Guide is chosen against the same five criteria. In our words, this is how Makanda answers them.
Connection to the destination
Makanda sits on a rainforest bluff above the Pacific, a few minutes from Manuel Antonio National Park. The forest comes right up to the terraces, and the day follows the light over the water.
Architecture and design
Thirty-three suites and villas built into the hillside above the ocean. Mosaic runs through the pools and garden paths, and the forest is part of every view.
Quality of service
A small team looks after thirty-three keys. Reception arranges the details before you arrive, from airport transfers to a table above the water, and guests tend to remember the staff by name.
Authenticity and character
Adults only, eighteen and over, throughout the property, all year. Breakfast above the Pacific, dinner at Árbol in the treetops, and evenings on a terrace facing the sunset.
Value for money
Two infinity pools, the trail down to the beach and the quiet of an adults-only hotel are part of every stay, not extras layered on top.
Makanda in the MICHELIN Guide
The Guide publishes its own description of every hotel in the selection, written by its team. You can read ours on the MICHELIN Guide website.
Read our MICHELIN Guide listing (opens in a new tab)MICHELIN and MICHELIN Guide are trademarks of Michelin, used with permission.
Thirty-three suites and villas above the Pacific, minutes from Manuel Antonio National Park.
Questions? Write to reception@makanda.com