Hour Detroit Opens Nomination Period for Best of 2026 Awards

Hour Detroit launched nominations for the Best of Detroit 2026 honors on Dec. 1. Submissions close at 11:59 p.m. on Jan. 9, 2026. There are some rules you need to know if you want to send in a nomination.

Nominees must operate in metro Detroit unless stated otherwise. Some categories accept statewide entries, like Michigan beer and Michigan winery. National chains won't qualify. Best Hotel is the exception, but only if that location has something unique compared to other branches.

Ballot stuffing is not allowed. Mass submissions from the same IP addresses get tossed out, and duplicates aren't counted. Hour Detroit can reject anything that doesn't fit the contest's intent.

Businesses can't bribe customers with discounts or free items for nominations or votes.

Eight categories appear on the ballot: Food, Drink, Retail, Community, Sports & Recreation, Arts & Entertainment, Services, and Health & Beauty. Each one includes a section where voters explain why they picked what they did, and standout responses might get printed in the Best of Detroit issue.

Once nominations wrap up on Jan. 9, the finalist ballot goes live on Feb. 9 and stays open until March 9, giving voters a month to choose winners from the top picks.

Winners and runners-up appear in the June issue and a party will happen on June 5.

Since the ballot went live, plenty of submissions have rolled in. Anyone who hasn't voted yet still has time before the January cutoff.

The ballot can be found at HourDetroit.com/Best-of-Detroit-Online-Ballot/. Write-in options work for every category during this phase.