Five Star Hotels:
L'Ermitage Beverly Hills
Montage Beverly Hills
The Beverly Hills Hotel
The Peninsula Beverly Hills

St. Regis Resort, Monarch Beach

Hotel Bel-Air

Chateau du Sureau

Four Seasons Hotel San Francisco
The Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco
The St. Regis San Francisco

The Little Nell

The Broadmoor

The Mayflower Inn

Four Seasons Hotel Washington, D.C.

The Ritz-Carlton, Palm Beach

The Ritz-Carlton, Naples

Four Seasons Resort Palm Beach

Four Seasons Hotel Atlanta

The Cloister

The Lodge at Sea Island Golf Club

Four Seasons Resort Hualalai at Historic Ka'upulehu

Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea

Four Seasons Hotel Chicago
The Peninsula Chicago
Massachusetts - Boston:
Boston Harbor Hotel
Four Seasons Hotel Boston

Blantyre

Skylofts at MGM Grand
Tower Suites at Encore Las Vegas
Tower Suites at Wynn Las Vegas

Four Seasons Hotel New York
Mandarin Oriental, New York
The Peninsula New York
The Ritz-Carlton New York, Central Park
The St. Regis Hotel, New York
Trump International Hotel & Tower New York

The Point

The Umstead Hotel and Spa

The Fearrington House Country Inn

The Sanctuary at Kiawah Island

Woodlands Resort and Inn

The Hermitage Hotel

Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek

Stein Eriksen Lodge

Twin Farms

The Jefferson Hotel

The Inn at Little Washington

Four Seasons Resort Jackson Hole

Head to Head Four Seasons vs. The Ritz-Carlton, How do they stack up?

Mobil 4 Star Ritz Hotels
The Ritz-Carlton, Phoenix (AAA 4 Diamond)
The Ritz-Carlton, Laguna Niguel (AAA 5 Diamond)
The Ritz-Carlton, Half Moon Bay (AAA 5 Diamond)
The Ritz-Carlton, Bachelor Gulch (AAA 5 Diamond)
The Ritz-Carlton, Washington, D.C. (AAA 5 Diamond)
The Ritz-Carlton, Georgetown (AAA 5 Diamond)
The Ritz-Carlton, South Beach (AAA 4 Diamond)
The Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort, Naples (AAA 5 Diamond)
The Ritz-Carlton, Amelia Island (AAA 5 Diamond)
The Ritz-Carlton Orlando, Grande Lakes (AAA 4 Diamond)
The Ritz-Carlton, Sarasota (AAA 5 Diamond)
The Ritz-Carlton, Coconut Grove (AAA 5 Diamond)
The Ritz-Carlton, Key Biscayne (AAA 5 Diamond)
The Ritz-Carlton, Ft. Lauderdale (AAA 4 Diamond)
The Ritz-Carlton Lodge, Reynolds Plantation (AAA 5 Diamond)
The Ritz-Carlton, Buckhead (AAA 5 Diamond)
The Ritz-Carlton Kapalua (AAA 5 Diamond)
The Ritz-Carlton, Boston Common (AAA 4 Diamond)
The Ritz-Carlton, St. Louis (AAA 4 Diamond)
The Ritz-Carlton Lake Las Vegas (AAA 4 Diamond)
The Ritz-Carlton New York, Battery Park (AAA 5 Diamond)
The Ritz-Carlton, Cleveland (AAA 4 Diamond)
The Ritz-Carlton Dallas (AAA 4 Diamond)
The Ritz-Carlton, Pentagon City (AAA 4 Diamond)
The Ritz-Carlton, Tyson's Corner (AAA 4 Diamond)


Mobil 3 Star Winners
The Ritz-Carlton Marina Del Rey (AAA 5 Diamond)
The Ritz-Carlton Denver (AAA 4 Diamond)
The Ritz-Carlton Atlanta (Downtown) (AAA 5 Diamond)
The Ritz-Carlton New Orleans (AAA 4 Diamond)
The Ritz-Carlton Dearborn, Michigan (AAA 4 Diamond)
The Ritz-Carlton Philadelphia (AAA 5 Diamond)
The Ritz-Carlton Westchester (AAA 4 Diamond)
*After contacting Mobil Travel Guide on 2/15/2009, I have confirmed that indeed these Ritz-Carlton Hotels are rated as 3 stars and there is no error.*

Mobil 5 Star Winners
The Ritz-Carlton, Naples (AAA 5 Diamond)
The Ritz-Carlton, Palm Beach Manalapan (AAA 5 Diamond)
The Ritz-Carlton New York, Central Park (AAA 5 Diamond)
The Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco (AAA 5 Diamond)

Mobil 4 Star Four Seasons Hotels

Four Seasons Resort Scottsdale at Troon North (AAA 5 Diamond)
Four Seasons Hotel Silicon Valley at East Palo Alto (AAA 4 Diamond)
Four Seasons Resort Aviara, North San Diego (AAA 5 Diamond)
Four Seasons Hotel Westlake Village (AAA 5 Diamond)
Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills (AAA 5 Diamond)
Beverly Wilshire, a Four Seasons Hotel (AAA 4 Diamond)
Four Seasons Resort The Biltmore Santa Barbara (AAA 5 Diamond)
Four Seasons Hotel Miami (AAA 5 Diamond)
Four Seasons Resort, The Lodge at Koele (AAA 4 Diamond)
Four Seasons Resort Lana'i at Manele Bay (AAA 4 Diamond)
Four Seasons Resort Hualalai at Historic Ka'upulehu (AAA 5 Diamond)
The Ritz-Carlton Chicago, A Four Seasons Hotel (AAA 5 Diamond)
Four Seasons St. Louis (AAA 5 Diamond)
Four Seasons Hotel Las Vegas (AAA 5 Diamond)
Four Seasons Hotel Philadelphia (AAA 5 Diamond)
Four Seasons Hotel Austin (AAA 4 Diamond)
Four Seasons Hotel Houston (AAA 5 Diamond)
Four Seasons Resort and Club Dallas at Las Colinas (AAA 5 Diamond)

There are zero 3 Star Four Seasons Hotels.

5 Star Four Seasons
Four Seasons Hotel San Francisco (AAA 4 Diamond)
Four Seasons Hotel Washington, D.C. (AAA 5 Diamond)
Four Seasons Resort Palm Beach (AAA 4 Diamond)
Four Seasons Hotel Atlanta (AAA 5 Diamond)
Four Seasons Hotel Chicago(AAA 5 Diamond)
Four Seasons Hotel Boston (AAA 5 Diamond)
Four Seasons Hotel New York (AAA 5 Diamond)
Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea (AAA 5 Diamond)
Four Seasons Resort Jackson Hole (AAA 5 Diamond)

Mobil 5 Star, AAA 5 Diamond Hotels for 2009

You have seen all the winners, but who are the true 5 star, 5 diamond hotels for 2009?


AAA and Mobil only agree on the following 33 Properties:

7 Four Seasons Properties are 5 Star, 5 Diamond
4 Ritz-Carlton Properties are 5 Star, 5 Diamond
2 Peninsula Properties are 5 Star, 5 Diamond

St. Regis Resort, Monarch Beach Dana Point
Raffles L'Ermitage Beverly Hills
Beverly Hills Hotel and Bungalows
The Peninsula, Beverly Hills*
Chateau du Sureau
The Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco
The Little Nell
The Broadmoor
The Mayflower Inn & Spa
Four Seasons, Washington D.C.
The Ritz-Carlton, Palm Beach
The Ritz-Carlton, Naples*
The Lodge at Sea Island
Four Seasons, Atlanta
Four Seasons, Maui at Wailea*
Four Seasons, Chicago
The Peninsula, Chicago*
Four Seasons, Boston
Skylofts at MGM Grand Hotel
Wynn Tower Suites, Las Vegas
Four Seasons, New York*
Mandarin Oriental, New York
The Ritz-Carlton, Central Park
The Ulmstead Hotel and Spa
The Fearrington House Inn
The Sanctuary at Kiawah Island
Woodlands Resort and Inn
The Hermitage Hotel, Nashville
Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek
Stein Eriksen Lodge
The Jefferson Hotel, Richmond
The Inn at Little Washington
Four Seasons, Jackson Hole

There are many combination properties with either 4 Star, 5 Diamond or 5 Star, 4 Diamond status but these listed here take center stage by winning both categories. Many these hotels have been on this list a long time, as they have perfected the art and delivery of their service and facilities.

* Additionally the readers of Travel and Leisure agree as well, with the following 5 star, 5 diamond properties making the overall winner list: HIGHEST OVERALL TOTAL SCORE in Travel and Leisure magazine.

Four Seasons, Maui - 95.9
The Peninsula, Chicago - 95.4
Four Seasons, New York, NY. - 93.9
The Peninsula, Beverly Hills, CA. - 93.6
The Ritz-Carlton, Naples - 93.5

Make it a grrrrrrrreat day!

Matt

Mobil 5 Star Winners for 2009!

Only 44 Hotels made the Mobil 5 star rating this year, compared to 90 AAA 5 Diamond Hotels this year.

Mobil has been rating Hotels for over 50 years and inspectors make it a point to first visit a Hotel facility to score it's overall amenities and design elements. Then they secretly book and visit the 5 Star hotel nominees for a 3 night stay, to exprience the hotel service first hand. Everything is timed from the moment of arrival, this way the inspectors have a measurement gauge to understanding if the hotel is operating at top levels of service.

Mobil is unique in the fact that they actually give service a 75% lion share of the overall mathematical rating criteria. So, every transaction is weighed when it comes to service, Hotel staff have to be on their top game at every moment. At the end of the stay, the General Manager will recieve a very comprehensive review of the inspectors visit and will be told whether or not a follow up visit will be necessary to evaluate the property.

Mobil 5 Star properties run day in and day out at top levels, with very few service errors. These Hotels are the best of the best and have the ultimate in luxury interiors and amenities. The Mobil Travel guide says Mobil Five-Star Hotels: An exceptionally distinctive luxury environment offering expanded amenities and consistently superlative service make these hotels and inns the best in the U.S. and Canada. Attention to detail and the anticipation of guests' every need are evident throughout this exclusive group of hotels.

Most of these hotels on the list are no strangers to the 5 Star designation. This year: The Cloister in Sea Island and Trump International Hotel (New York) return after a multi-year absence.

The Ritz-Carlton, Chicago (A Four Seasons Property) did not return to the list after last year's win. The Skylofts at MGM Grand Vegas & Ulmstead Hotel and Spa (NC.) are new to the list this year.

Overall for 2009:

Four Seasons Hotels is king with 9 Properties noted 5 Star status.

Ritz-Carlton Hotels comes in with 4 Properties noted 5 Star status.

St. Regis Hotels boasts 3 Properties noted 5 Star status.

Peninsula Hotels has 2 Properties noted 5 Star status.

Mandarin Oriental scores 1 Property noted 5 Star status.

FIVE STAR HOTELS




California
Hotel Bel-Air Los Angeles
St. Regis Resort, Monarch Beach Dana Point
The Peninsula Beverly Hills Beverly Hills
The Beverly Hills Hotel Beverly Hills
Raffles L'Ermitage Beverly Hills Beverly Hills
The Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco San Francisco
St. Regis Hotel, San Francisco San Francisco
Four Seasons Hotel San Francisco San Francisco
Chateau du Sureau Oakhurst

Colorado
The Broadmoor Colorado Springs
The Little Nell Aspen

Connecticut
The Mayflower Inn Washington

District of Columbia
Four Seasons Hotel Washington, D.C. Washington

Florida
Four Seasons Resort Palm Beach Palm Beach
The Ritz-Carlton, Naples Naples
The Ritz-Carlton, Palm Beach Manalapan

Georgia
The Cloister Sea Island
Four Seasons Hotel Atlanta Atlanta
The Lodge at Sea Island Golf Club St. Simons Island

Hawaii
Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea Wailea

Illinois
The Peninsula Chicago Chicago
Four Seasons Hotel Chicago Chicago

Massachusetts
Blantyre Lenox
Four Seasons Hotel Boston Boston
Boston Harbor Hotel Boston

Nevada
The Tower Suites at Wynn Las Vegas Las Vegas
Skylofts at MGM Grand Las Vegas

New York
Mandarin Oriental, New York New York
Four Seasons Hotel New York New York
The Point Saranac Lake
The St. Regis Hotel, New York New York
Trump International Hotel and Tower New York New York
The Ritz-Carlton New York, Central Park New York

North Carolina
The Fearrington House Country Inn Pittsboro
The Umstead Hotel and Spa Cary

South Carolina
The Sanctuary on Kiawah Island Kiawah Island
Woodlands Resort and Inn Summerville

Tennessee
The Hermitage Hotel Nashville

Texas
Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek Dallas

Utah
Stein Eriksen Lodge Park City

Vermont
Twin Farms Barnard

Virginia
The Inn at Little Washington Washington
The Jefferson Hotel Richmond

Wyoming
Four Seasons Resort Jackson Hole Jackson Hole

AAA 5 Diamond Hotel Winners For 2009!

2009 Winners

My favorite time of the new year is when the U.S. "five diamond" Hotels are released as rated by AAA. The five diamond award has been awarded to 90 Hotels in the U.S. this year and over 60,000 Hotels were inspected.

19 Four Seasons Properties were awarded the 5 Diamond status.

20 Ritz-Carlton Properties were awarded the 5 Diamond status.

Please click on any of the hotel names to go directly to their respective hotel websites. Happy Travels in 2009!

ARIZONA

JW Marriott Camelback Inn

Fairmont Scottsdale

Four Seasons, Troon North

The Phoenician

CALIFORNIA

Raffles L'Ermitage

Beverly Hills Hotel and Bungalows

The Peninsula, Beverly Hills

Four Seasons, Aviara

St. Regis, Monarch Beach

The Ritz-Carlton, Laguna Niguel

The Ritz-Carlton, Half Moon Bay

The Lodge at Torrey Pines

Montage, Laguna Beach

Four Seasons, Beverly Hills

The Ritz-Carlton, Marina Del Rey

The Island Hotel, Newport Beach

Chateau du Sureau

Ojai Valley Inn & Spa

The Langham Huntington Hotel & Spa *Prev. Ritz-Carlton*

The Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco

Four Seasons Biltmore, Santa Barbara

Simpson House Inn

Four Seasons Hotel, Westlake Village

COLORADO

The Little Nell

The Ritz-Carlton, Bachelor Gulch

The Broadmoor

CONNECTICUT

The Mayflower Inn & Spa

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Four Seasons, Washington D.C.

The Ritz-Carlton, Georgetown

The Ritz-Carlton, Washington D.C.

FLORIDA

The Ritz-Carlton, Amelia Island

The Ritz-Carlton, Key Biscayne

The Ritz-Carlton, Palm Beach

The Breakers, Palm Beach

The Ritz-Carlton, Naples

The Ritz-Carlton, Naples Golf Resort

Ponte Vedra Inn and Club

The Ritz-Carlton, Sarasota

GEORGIA

Four Seasons, Atlanta

InterContinental, Atlanta

The Ritz-Carlton, Atlanta

The Ritz-Carlton, Buckhead

The Ritz-Carlton, Reynolds Plantation

The Lodge at Sea Island

HAWAII

The Ritz-Carlton, Kapalua

Four Seasons, Hualalai

Four Seasons, Maui at Wailea

ILLINOIS

Four Seasons, Chicago

The Peninsula, Chicago

MASSACHUSETTS

Four Seasons, Boston

MISSOURI

Four Seasons, St. Louis

NEVADA

Bellagio

Four Seasons, Las Vegas

Skylofts at MGM Grand Hotel

The Venetian

Wynn, Las Vegas

NEW YORK

Four Seasons, New York

Mandarin Oriental, New York

The Peninsula, New York

The Ritz-Carlton, Battery Park

The Ritz-Carlton, Central Park

NORTH CAROLINA

The Ulmstead Hotel and Spa

The Fearrington House Inn

OHIO

Inn Walden, Aurora

PENNSYLVANIA

Falling Rock at Nemacolin Woodlands Resort

Four Seasons, Philadelphia

The Rittenhouse Hotel

The Ritz-Carlton, Philadelphia

SOUTH CAROLINA

Wentworth Mansion

The Sanctuary at Kiawah Island

Woodlands Resort and Inn

TENNESSEE

The Hermitage Hotel, Nashville

TEXAS

Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek

Four Seasons, Houston

The St. Regis, Houston

Four Seasons, Dallas

UTAH

Stein Eriksen Lodge

The Grand America Hotel

VIRGINIA

The Jefferson Hotel, Richmond

The Inn at Little Washington

WASHINGTON

The Fairmont Olympic Hotel

WEST VIRGINIA

The Greenbrier

WISCONSIN

The American Club, Kohler

WYOMING

Four Seasons, Jackson Hole

Marriott Hotels Go Green in 2009

A Green movement is sweeping the hotel world, causing a chain reaction that will help the planet and the bottom line when it comes to costs.

This move shows that hotels are truly concerned about their green footprint and are making changes in the right direction. When hotels talk about conserving the environment and the genuine care and comfort of their guests, they can back it up with new green practices.

As hoteliers, the question will now be, how can you "engage" the customer with a personalized green experience that creates a memorable hotel visit that guest can feel good about?

How is your hotel going green? For an example we will look to Marriott who is leading the way in 2009...

Marriott Finds the 'Key' to a Greener Planet

Introducing Marriott's Recycled Key Card and Four Other Ways the Company is Greening its $10 Billion Supply Chain

Marriott International (NYSE: MAR) has found the 'key' to a greener planet. Effective immediately, the company will begin replacing the 24 million plastic key cards that it purchases annually in the U.S. with those made of 50 percent recycled material, thereby saving 66 tons of plastic from being dumped in a landfill.The new key card is just one of many advances the company has made to 'green' its $10 billion supply chain and reduce its global environmental footprint. As hotels deplete their inventory of existing supplies, they'll be replaced with new, greener products, preferably developed by the company's current vendors for the same or lower price. Other examples include:Eco-Smart(TM) pillows. Guests can sleep easy knowing that their pillows are'fighting' to save the planet. The company will begin replacing the 100,000 synthetic pillows that it purchases annually with those filled with polyester micro fiber made from 100 percent recycled PET bottles.

Coreless toilet paper. By the end of next year, 500 hotels will offer 'coreless' toilet paper, thereby eliminating 2 million cores a year, saving about 119 trees, nearly 3 million gallons of water, and 21 tons of packaging waste annually. The new tissue is made of 20-40 percent recycled fiber and now holds 800 sheets per roll, up from 500. Recycled paper products. Most of the paper products in the hotel, from the notepads on the desk to the 'folio' that holds your key card or your bill, are made of recycled paper. Additionally, in the Middle East and Europe, more than 100 Marriott, Renaissance and Courtyard hotels purchase 43 tons of oxo-biodegradable plastic laundry bags annually which will disintegrate in two to five years, if not recycled and reused first.

These new greener products join a growing list of others announced earlier this year. In April, the company began rolling out the annual purchase of 47 million BIC Ecolutions(TM) pens made from pre-consumer recycled plastic, more than 1 million gallons of low VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds) paint, and 1 million 'room-ready' towels (which save 6 million gallons of water annually by eliminating the initial wash cycle).

Greening the supply chain is one of five key points in Marriott's environmental strategy, which also includes carbon offsets through the protection of the Juma rainforest reserve in the State of Amazonas in Brazil, further reducing fuel and water consumption by 25 percent per available room over the next 10 years, and installing solar power at up to 40 hotels by 2017, creating green construction standards for our hotel developers to achieve LEED certification from the U.S. Green Building Council, and educating and inspiring employees and guests to support the environment.

Stay tuned for more ways guests can go green with Marriott by visiting www.marriott.com/spirittopreserve.

Source: http://www.hotelnewsresource.com/article36183-Marriott_Finds_the__Key__to_a_Greener_Planet.html

Conde' Nast Traveler Jan. 09' Gold List Winners

710 Gold List Hotels, Resorts, and Cruise Lines around the globe were selected by Conde Nast travelers. After a little research, here are North America's top winners for 2009. Click on any hotel link to see that hotel specifically.

BY DESIGN

Kenwood Inn & SPA, CA. - 100

RHEET HOUSE INN, IL. - 100

Inn at Little Washington, VA. - 98.1

Hotel Contessa, TX. - 97.2

Four Seasons, Lodge at Koele, HI. - 96.8

BY FOOD

Inn at Little Washington, VA. - 98.2

La Posada Hotel, AZ. - 96.9

Manka's Inverness Lodge, CA. - 96.9

Four Seasons, Maui - 95.9

BY ROOMS

The Ritz-Carlton, Dallas - 100

Four Seasons, Silicon Valley - 100

Elizabeth Pointe Lodge, FL. - 100

Inn at Thorn Hill & Spa, NH. - 97.4

Four Seasons, Hawaii - 97.2

Charleston Marriott Town Center, Charleston, SC. - 97.1

Chateau Du Sureau, Oakhurst, CA. - 96.9

BY SERVICE

Grand Del Mar - CA. - 100

Kenwood Inn and Spa, Napa, CA. - 100

Tu Tu' Tun Lodge, OR. - 97.4
The Inn at Little Washington, VA. - 96.3

The Swag Country Inn, Smokey Mountains, NC. - 96.3

The Ritz-Carlton, Chicago - 95.6

Bay Point Marriott, Panama City, FL. - 95.1

Four Seasons, Jackson Hole, WY. - 95.1

HIGHEST OVERALL TOTAL SCORE

Four Seasons, Maui - 95.9

The Peninsula, Chicago - 95.4

Stephanie Inn, OR. - 94.7

Four Seasons, Hawaii - 94.5

Four Seasons, New York, NY. - 93.9

The Ritz-Carlton, Chicago - 93.9

The Peninsula, Beverly Hills, CA. - 93.6

The Ritz-Carlton, Naples - 93.5

Have a Great New Year!

-- Matt Steves