Shinola Hotel only hotel in Michigan to be named to "It List"

The Shinola Hotel | Photo by Wild Wind Studios

Earlier today, Travel + Leisure magazine announced its 15th annual “It List”. This is an editor-curated list of the best hotels in the world with only 72 new or recently renovated destinations in the entire world making the cut.

Only one of those 72 hotels to make the “It List” happens to be in Michigan. The Shinola Hotel in downtown Detroit has the distinction of representing not only the Motor City but all of Michigan.

“The beauty of staying at a hotel is that you can drop both your physical and emotional baggage and be the best version of yourself,” explained Jacqueline Gifford, editor in chief of Travel + Leisure in a prepared statement. “With over 70 honorees — including a Loire Valley château and a series of lodges in Bhutan — our annual It List is packed with hotels that make you feel spoiled, nurtured, and seamlessly connected to the outside world.”

The Travel + Leisure 2020 It List includes 19 hotels across the United States including four in California, three in New York, and two in Hawaii, as well as in places such as Asbury Park, Detroit, Miami, New Orleans, and Philadelphia.

Guest room in the Shinola Hotel | Photo by Nicole Franzen

The Shinola Hotel, which is a boutique property that opened in downtown Detroit in early 2019 from local companies with a love for the city, Shinola and Bedrock. It has become a meaningful gathering place for visitors and locals alike. With 129 rooms and suites, a thoughtfully curated art collection by Library Street Collective, and six restaurants and bars from award-winning Andrew Carmellini of NoHo Hospitality.

There are a lot of Detroiters who have worked incredibly hard and taken some big risks to make the Shinola Hotel a premiere destination.

The other 11 American properties that made Travel + Leisure’s It List this year are Asbury Ocean Club in Asbury Park, New Jersey as well as:

• Four Seasons Hotel Lanai at Koele, a Sensei Retreat in Lanai, Hawaii;
• Mauna Lani, Auberge Resorts Collection on the Big Island, Hawaii;
• Soho Warehouse in Los Angeles, California;
• Palihouse Miami Beach in Miami, Florida;
• Maison de la Luz in New Orleans, Louisiana;
• Equinox Hotel in New York, New York;
• The Times Square EDITION in New York, New York;
• Four Seasons Hotel Philadelphia at Comcast Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania;
• TWA Hotel in Queens, New York;
• Santa Monica Proper Hotel in Santa Monica, California;
• MacArthur Place Hotel & Spa in Sonoma, California;
• Willow House in Terlingua, Texas;
• Posada by the Joshua Tree House in Tucson, Arizona;
• Blackberry Mountain in Walland, Tennessee;
• The Lodge at Blue Sky, Auberge Resorts Collection in Wanship, Utah;
• Captain Whidbey Inn in Whidbey Island, Washington; and
• Canyon Ranch Woodside in Woodside, California.

The list of wonderful things in Detroit keeps growing. Each new development means more jobs and more tax revenue for a city that, quite frankly, is still in dire need of both things. The fact that a major media outlet like Travel + Leisure notices their work is always worth celebrating.

I congratulate each and every person who played a part in this accomplishment. I look forward to seeing even more great things in the near future.