The historic Raphael Hotel by the Country Club Plaza has been listed as one of the 500 best hotels in the world for the second consecutive year by readers of Travel + Leisure magazine.

The 126-room hotel at 325 Ward Parkway also will be joining a new Marriott marketing program called the Autograph Collection in February. The Raphael will be among a small number of independent hotels in the program, which allows it to participate in the Marriott.com reservation service, which has 35 million customers.

“We’re very excited about that,” said Steve Miller, director of operations for Lighthouse Properties, the Salina, Kan., company that owns the Raphael.

The Raphael, which was built in 1927 and originally was a nine-story apartment building, will remain unchanged under the Marriott program, with the only noticeable difference being a small sign identifying it as part of the Autograph Collection.

“They want to keep the independent hotels with their own identity,” Miller said.

The listing by Travel + Leisure also puts the Raphael in exclusive company. Only two other hotels in Missouri are listed, the Four Seasons and Ritz-Carlton, both in St. Louis. There are none in Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, Oklahoma and Arkansas, and one in Minnesota, the Graves 601 in Minneapolis.

“Recognition by a magazine of Travel + Leisure’s stature validates our owner’s commitment to preserve the Raphael’s heritage and the outstanding efforts of a truly exceptional staff,” Miller said.

The hotel completed a $10 million renovation in 2009. The Raphael also was listed on the National Register of Historic Places last year.

To reach Kevin Collison, call 816-234-4289 or send e-mail to kcollison@kcstar.com.