In a Facebook post on Monday, Rama announced that 20 Albanian businesses were now in the guide. He said they had been chosen from across the country for the authenticity, identity and values of their cuisine, and hailed it as a step in promoting Albanian gastronomy to the world.
What actually happened is far more modest. The guide's website has added a page where travelers can book rooms in 20 Albanian hotels. None of them was chosen for its food.
Michelin has never rated an Albanian kitchen
Michelin publishes restaurant selections country by country, and Albania is not one of those countries. The guide's own list of national selections includes neighbors Greece, Croatia and Serbia, along with Slovenia and Türkiye, but not Albania.
No Michelin inspector has assessed an Albanian restaurant, so there is no Michelin verdict on Albanian cuisine for the government to celebrate. The Albania page on the guide's website does not list a single restaurant.
A hotel booking page
The Albania page is titled "Boutique and luxury hotels – Hotel booking by Michelin Guide". It lists 20 hotels, from Tirana and Durrës to Vlorë, Himarë, Sarandë, Gjirokastër, Berat and Korçë.
The hotel side of the guide is a separate business. Michelin built it on Tablet Hotels, a New York-based booking platform it acquired in 2018.
No Keys among the 20
Michelin does reward hotels, but with a distinction of its own: the Michelin Key, the hotel world's equivalent of the star. None of the 20 Albanian hotels holds one. On the same page, Key hotels in other countries carry the Key symbol; the Albanian entries carry none.
According to Michelin's 2026 Key announcement, the guide's global hotel list now covers more than 9,400 properties, of which 2,832 hold a Key. Ten countries received Keys for the first time this year. Albania was not among them.
Global chains, not local kitchens
Rama presented the 20 as expressions of Albanian identity and culinary tradition. Five of them belong to international groups: Marriott, Radisson, IHG's Crowne Plaza, Maritim and Accor's MGallery.
The listings also appear to be at an early stage. As of Monday, none of the Albanian hotels showed rates or availability; each asked visitors to contact customer service.
A small step, sold as a big one
Michelin describes its hotel list as a selection made by its inspectors, not a set of paid listings. Inclusion offers the hotels some international exposure, a modest gain for Albanian tourism.
That is not what the Prime Minister announced. His post turned hotels into restaurants, implied a distinction none of them has received, and credited international chains with carrying Albania's culinary heritage. Albanian cuisine has yet to be reviewed by Michelin.
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