AAA Announces Five Diamond Award Winners for 2013

Representing just 0.3 percent of the total 59,000 AAA/CAA approved and Diamond rated hotels and restaurants in North America, the 2013 Five Diamond list includes 125 hotels and 53 restaurants, including 13 new additions this year.

Of note among the new additions are the only AAA Five Diamond hotels in Puerto Rico and Nevis. New York and Florida each added three new Five Diamond establishments. New York added one hotel and two restaurants, while Florida added two hotels and one restaurant. Florida's additions include the only new Five Diamond pair -- The Ritz-Carlton, Amelia Island and its on-site restaurant, Salt.

New Five Diamond hotels include:

Trump SoHo New York, New York (pictured above)
Montage Laguna Beach, Laguna Beach, California
St. Regis Bal Harbour, Bal Harbour, Florida
The Ritz-Carlton, Amelia Island, Fernandina Beach, Florida
Shangri-La Hotel Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
The Ritz-Carlton Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Four Seasons Resort Nevis, West Indies, Charlestown, Nevis
St. Regis Bahia Beach Puerto Rico, Rio Grande, Puerto Rico
Capella Pedregal Resort and Spa, Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

New Five Diamond restaurants include:

Benu, San Francisco, California
Salt (in The Ritz-Carlton, Amelia Island)
Fernandina Beach, Florida
Eleven Madison Park, New York City
Le Bernardin, New York City

Visiting some 1,200 hotels and restaurants every week, AAA inspectors are in a position to identify emerging trends in the hospitality industry. Inspectors have observed hotels and restaurants using increasingly personalized approaches to enhance guest comfort and satisfaction.

Experienced, highly qualified staff are required to provide the custom service today's luxury hotel guest expects. Larger hotels, faced with the difficulties of responding to individual needs, often restructure their approach. Many use the immediacy of social media to augment the experience as luxury travelers research, purchase, engage in and reflect on their stay. Imagine tweeting your desire for a rare vintage wine and having it arrive moments later at your guestroom door.

Restaurants employ an artisanal touch to provide an individualized culinary experience in a non-obtrusive manner. Menu offerings, once complex and highly orchestrated, are now often simple concepts meticulously executed. Meals and beverages are handcrafted using seasonal, organic ingredients from local sources. Distilled or flavored ice may be one of several original effects added to an already enchanting homemade cocktail mix.

The path to a Five Diamond Rating is rigorous. Properties identified by AAA as potential candidates for the Five Diamond Rating undergo multiple unannounced evaluations by an AAA inspector and final decision by a panel of experts. In addition to the evaluation of physical attributes, prospective Five Diamond establishments are subject to thorough onsite assessments of all guest services from the initial reservation through check-out for hotels, and from seating to presentation for restaurants. Each area is evaluated based on level of competence, refinement and hospitality.

Among the noteworthy AAA rating news for 2013:

• The Lodge Torrey Pines has been awarded for an amazing 11 consecutive years and to celebrate they are inviting their Facebook friends to take advantage of a Facebook 15% discount. https://bit.ly/LodgeFacebook15

• The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, Colorado, is the only hotel that has maintained the Five Diamond Rating for 37 consecutive years -- since 1976 when AAA first introduced the Diamond Ratings for accommodations.

• The Inn at Little Washington Dining Room in Washington, Virginia, has the longest Five Diamond restaurant tenure -- 25 consecutive years, since 1988.

• With two restaurant additions, Eleven Madison Park and Le Bernardin, New York now ties with California for the most AAA Five Diamond Restaurants -- seven in each state.

• The only new AAA Five Diamond hotel and restaurant pair is The Ritz-Carlton, Amelia Island and its on-site restaurant Salt, in Fernandina Beach, Fla.

• The number of Five Diamond hotels in Canada doubled to four with the addition of the Shangri-La Hotel Vancouver and The Ritz-Carlton Montreal. The country is also home to five Five Diamond Restaurants, representing nearly 10 percent of the total.

More information: https://newsroom.aaa.com/2013/01/aaa-extends-five-diamond-honor-to-13-additional-hotels-and-restaurants-for-2013/

View full 5 Diamond list: https://www.aaa.biz/Travel_Information/Diamonds/Awards/2013/2013_5D_Hotels.pdf