Michelin acquires Tablet

Michelin has bought Tablet, an online travel agency specializing in boutique and luxury hotels. Headquartered in New York, Tablet was founded in 2000 by Laurent Vernhes and Michael Davis to provide a high-quality selection of unique hotel experiences to millions of travellers, and an associated booking platform. The purchase of The Tablet follows Michelin’s earlier purchase of Bookatable.com in January 2016 and Restaurantes.com in December 2016.

Pascal Couasnon, director of gastronomic and tourist activities of the Michelin group, commented: “Travelers and foodies are now looking for experiences which tell a story, and which help them discover a universe where they can show their appreciation of the local cultures. Tablet is part of this new lifestyle that fully corresponds to the ethos of the Michelin guides. We want to offer our readers the best, by revealing places that offer this extra soul and express the fruit of the work of hoteliers and passionate chefs alike.”

Today, 52 per cent of Tablet customers are North American. The ambition of this alliance with Michelin is to conquer wider and more diverse audiences geographically, by extending existing offers and building new ones.

According to Michelin, Tablet hotels are visited and evaluated in a rigorous and anonymous way before being listed on the site. The Tablet selection currently has 3,500 hotels that stand out for the quality and uniqueness of the experience they deliver. In addition, the Tablet Plus Club offers its members exclusive benefits during their stay, such as an upgrade to a superior room category or free breakfast.

Laurent Vernhes and Michael Davis, co-founders of Tablet, commented: “Michelin and Tablet share an unbiased approach to curation. Our dedication to integrity has made us leaders in our respective fields, and now we’re combining forces for a ground-breaking union that will change the scale of Tablet and transform the Tablet Plus program. Likewise, hotel reservations driven by expert curation and exclusive privileges will be a significant addition to Michelin’s travel portfolio.”

The Tablet teams will continue to be based in New York.