Top Southern California Properties Receive AAA Five Diamond Award
15 November 1999
Top Southern California Properties Receive AAA Five Diamond Award; Six of Eight Award-Winning California Hotels are in Southern California
LOS ANGELES--Nov. 15, 1999--Six Southern California hotels and two restaurants have won the AAA Five Diamond Award for 2000, according to the Automobile Club of Southern California.One hotel in San Diego County received its first Five Diamond Award.
Of the more than 41,000 lodgings and restaurants listed in the year 2000 AAA TourBook(R) guides, fewer than one-half percent received the Five Diamond Award.
The Southern California hotels receiving the AAA Five Diamond Award are:
| -- | The Peninsula Beverly Hills, Beverly Hills, 7 years |
| -- | Four Seasons Aviara, Carlsbad, 1 year |
| -- | The Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel, Dana Point, 14 years |
| -- | The Ritz-Carlton, Marina del Rey, 8 years |
| -- | Four Seasons Hotel Newport Beach, Newport Beach, 8 years |
| -- | Simpson House Inn, Santa Barbara, 3 years |
The restaurants receiving the AAA Five Diamond Award are:
| -- | The Belvedere in The Peninsula Beverly Hills, 5 years |
| -- | L'Orangerie, Los Angeles, 8 years |
"These Five Diamond Award winners are in a very select class of properties that represent the ultimate in world-class service and facilities," said Clarence Garlough, manager of the Auto Club's Approved Accommodations. "The Auto Club salutes Southern California's Five Diamond establishments for consistently delivering the very best in guest experiences."
The Southern California properties are among 58 lodgings and 44 restaurants in the United States, Canada and Mexico to receive the AAA Five Diamond Award. The year 2000 lineup of AAA Five Diamond Awards has eight new recipients, including the first Las Vegas property to be honored with this award.
The eight-month-old Four Seasons Hotel Las Vegas is one of three Four Seasons establishments to receive the honor for the first time. The Four Seasons Resort Aviara in Carlsbad, Calif., the Four Seasons Hotel Atlanta and The Peninsula New York in New York City are the other new lodgings.
The four restaurants to receive first-time honors are L'Espalier in Boston; Mary Elaine's in the Phoenician Hotel in Scottsdale, Ariz.; Restaurant Daniel in New York City; and The Dining Room in the Ritz-Carlton Naples in Naples, Fla.
Five properties have maintained AAA Five Diamond Status since the program's inception since 1977. They are: Marriott's Camelback Inn, Scottsdale, Ariz.; The Broadmoor, Colorado Springs, Colo.; C Lazy U Ranch, Granby, Colo.; The Greenbrier, White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia; and Four Seasons Hotel Vancouver, Vancouver, British Columbia.
To be considered for AAA approval and rating, lodgings and restaurants must undergo a thorough inspection by one of AAA's 60 full-time professional evaluators. The Auto Club's own staff reviews all Southern California establishments. Five Diamond establishments go through a more extensive review.
AAA first started listing accommodation information in its travel publications in the early 1900s. In 1937, the first field inspectors were hired to inspect hotels, motels and restaurants. In 1963, AAA began to rate all accommodations as good, very good, excellent and outstanding. The current one to five diamond rating system was introduced in 1977 during AAA's 75th anniversary.
The Automobile Club of Southern California, the largest affiliate of the AAA, has been serving members since 1900. Today, the Auto Club's members benefit by the organization's emergency road service, insurance services, travel agency, financial products, automotive pricing, buying and financing programs, automotive testing and analysis, trip planning services, highway and transportation safety programs and legislative advocacy. Information about these products and services is available on the Auto Club's Web site at www.aaa-calif.com.
