Forbes Travel Guide Announces 2010 Five Star Award Winners

The new Four and Five star award winners for the 2010 Forbes Travel Guide were unveiled today, the first edition of the former Mobil Travel Guide awards since the brand transfer from Mobil to Forbes was announced this fall. The list has defined the industry's highest standard for excellence in hospitality for over 50 years. The Broadmoor, located in Colorado Springs, CO, continues to make history, achieving this elite level of excellence for the 50th consecutive year. Its restaurant, The Penrose Room, and spa, The Spa at The Broadmoor, also earned Five Star status for the first time this year. In 2010 there are five Five Star hotels, two Five Star Restaurants and seven Five Star Spas added to this prestigious list. The complete list of Forbes Travel Guide Star award winners and updated comprehensive reviews written by Forbes Travel Guide's experts are available at www.forbestravelguide.com.

Forbes Travel Guide's ratings, the most comprehensive in the industry, are based on objective evaluations of more than 500 attributes. New to the Forbes Travel Guide Five-Star hotel list are five exceptional properties situated in destinations around the world. This year's additions bring the total number of Forbes Five-Star hotels to 54. New Forbes Five-Star Hotels include: Altira Macau, Macau, China; Montage Beverly Hills, Beverly Hills, CA; Four Seasons Resort Hualalai, Kailua-Kona, HI; Tower Suites at Encore, Las Vegas, NV; The Peninsula New York, New York, NY. New York City's latest addition brings its total number of Five Star hotels to six, maintaining the city's title as the leading Forbes Five-Star hotel city in the world.

Two new restaurants have been added to the Forbes Travel Guide Five-Star restaurant list, bringing the total number of Forbes Five-Star restaurants in the United States and Canada to 21. New Forbes Five-Star restaurants include: The Penrose Room, Colorado Springs, CO and Fountain Restaurant, Philadelphia, PA.

Forbes' first Star announcement features an expansion of the Mobil Five Star spa list, increasing the number of Award winners from 11 to 18 around the globe. New Forbes Five-Star spas include: Altira Spa, Macau, China; The Oriental Spa at Landmark Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong, China; Spa at Pelican Hill, Newport Coast, CA; Spa at The Broadmoor, Colorado Springs, CO; Spa at Mandarin Oriental Boston, Boston, MA; Spa at Encore, Las Vegas, NV; and ESPA at Peninsula New York, New York, NY.

Forbes Travel Guide, formerly Mobil Travel Guide, originator of the prestigious Mobil Star ratings and certifications, has provided the most comprehensive ratings and reviews of hotels, restaurants and spas since 1958. In October 2009, Mobil Travel Guide announced a strategic partnership with Forbes Media LLC. This exclusive licensing agreement between two industry leaders with more than 140 years of combined experience transfers the hospitality industry's premier star rating and travel guide brand from ExxonMobil to Forbes. Forbes Travel Guide has a team of expert inspectors who anonymously evaluate properties against rigorous and objective proprietary standards, providing consumers the insight to make better-informed travel and leisure decisions.