(LOS ANGELES, Oct. 13, 2008) - Sixty-five Southern California hotels and 36 restaurants have earned the 2009 AAA Four Diamond Award, the Automobile Club of Southern California announced today. Eight locations appear for the first time on the 2009 list, two in Los Angeles County: Renaissance Hollywood Hotel, and The London West Hollywood.

 

The coveted plaque featuring a design of four raised simulated diamonds and AAA Four Diamond Award logo are presented to hotel and restaurant general managers and executive chefs to recognize the award-winning properties, which rank among the top 4 percent of more than 2,600 Southern California hotels, motels, and restaurants inspected by the Auto Club, the nation's largest AAA affiliate.

 

"AAA's Diamond Rating System is the only ratings system that covers all of North America and one of only two that conduct physical, on-site evaluations," said the Auto Club's Approved Accommodations Supervisor Patricia Marenco. "Southern California's hospitality professionals work hard to offer high caliber service and hospitality to their guests in AAA Four Diamond accommodations that are attractive, safe and clean."

 

The list of 2009 AAA Four Diamond hotels and restaurants throughout Southern California follows, along with the consecutive years each property has earned the award:

 

Inyo/Mono County Hotel			Years
Death Valley	Furnace Creek Inn		22
Los Angeles County Hotels			Years
Beverly Hills	Beverly Wilshire Beverly Hills,		16
	A Four Seasons Hotel
Glendale	Hilton Los Angeles North/Glendale		9
	& Executive Meeting Center
Hollywood	Renaissance Hollywood		1
	Hotel & Spa
Los Angeles	Hotel Bel-Air		28
	Sofitel Los Angeles		16
	Omni Los Angeles Hotel		6
	InterContinental Los Angeles		21
	Century City
	Hyatt Regency Century Plaza		26
Pasadena	The Westin-Pasadena		4
Santa Monica	The Fairmont Miramar Hotel		7
	Santa Monica
	Le Merigot - A JW Marriott Hotel and Spa		7
	Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel		20
Universal City	Hilton Universal City & Towers		2
West Hollywood	The London West Hollywood		1
	Sunset Marquis Hotel & Villas		2
Los Angeles County Restaurants			Years
Beverly Hills	JAAN (in Raffles L'Emitage Beverly Hills)		5
	Spago Beverly Hills		5
Calabasas	Saddle Peak Lodge		12
Glendale	Gennaro's Ristorante		9
Long Beach	The Sky Room		5
Los Angeles	Gardens (Four Seasons Hotel		14
	Los Angeles at Beverly Hills)
	Patina		18
	The Restaurant (Hotel Bel-Air)		11
Marina del Rey	jer-ne restaurant + bar		8
	(The Ritz-Carlton Marina del Rey)
Pasadena	The Dining Room (The Ritz-Carlton, Huntington		6
	Hotel and Spa)
	The Raymond Restaurant		4
Santa Monica	Valentino Restaurant		14
Westlake Village	Hamptons		2
Orange County Hotels			Years
Anaheim	Disney's Grand Californian Hotel & Spa		8
Dana Point	Blue Lantern Inn		18
	Laguna Cliffs Marriott Resort & Spa		5
Huntington Beach	Hilton Waterfront Beach Resort		18
	Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach Resort & Spa		6
Irvine	Hyatt Regency Irvine		6
Laguna Beach	Surf & Sand Resort		18
Newport Beach	The Balboa Bay Club & Resort		5
	Fairmont Newport Beach		2
Orange County Restaurants			Years
Fullerton	The Cellar		19
Huntington Beach	The Californian (Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach		6
	Resort & Spa)
Laguna Beach	Studio (Montage Laguna Beach)		1
Newport Beach	Palm Terrace (The Island Hotel Newport Beach)		2
	The First Cabin At The Balboa		5
	Bay Club & Resort
	The Ritz Restaurant & Garden		16
Riverside County Hotels			Years
Cabazon	Morongo Casino Resort & Spa		4
Indian Wells	Hyatt Grand Champions Resort		22
	Miramonte Resort and Spa		1
	Renaissance Esmeralda Resort and Spa		6
Palm Desert	Desert Springs, JW Marriott Resort & Spa		22
Palm Springs	The Willows Historic Palm Springs Inn		12
Temecula	Pechanga Resort and Casino		7
Riverside County Restaurants			Years
Rancho Mirage	Wally's Desert Turtle		16
Palm Springs	Europa Restaurant at the Villa		4
	Royale Inn
	Le Vallauris		16
Riverside	Duane's Prime Steaks		14
	& Seafood (in Mission Inn)
San Bernardino County Hotels			Years
Big Bear Lake	Alpenhorn Bed & Breakfast		9
San Diego County Hotels			Years
Borrego Springs	Borrego Ranch Resort & Spa		16
Coronado	Hotel del Coronado		4
	Loews Coronado Bay Resort		17
Del Mar	L'Auberge Del Mar		7
Julian	Orchard Hill Country Inn		13
La Jolla	Estancia La Jolla Hotel & Spa		4
	Hilton La Jolla/Torrey Pines		19
	Hyatt Regency La Jolla		19
	La Valencia Hotel		20
	The Grande Colonial		1
Pala	Pala Casino Spa and Resort		5
Rancho Bernardo	Rancho Bernardo Inn		32
Rancho Santa Fe	Rancho Valencia Resort & Spa		19
San Diego	Hard Rock Hotel San Diego		1
	Manchester Grand Hyatt San Diego		16
	Omni San Diego Hotel		4
	Pacific Terrace Hotel		2
	San Diego Marriott Hotel & Marina		25
	The Grand Del Mar		1
	The US Grant		2
	The Westgate Hotel		2
	The Westin San Diego		15
San Diego County Restaurants			Years
Carlsbad	Vivace (Four Seasons Resort		10
	Aviara)
La Jolla	A.R. Valentien (The Lodge at Torrey Pines)		5
	George's California Modern		9
	Sky Room (La Valencia Hotel)		18
Rancho Bernardo	El Bizcocho Restaurant		19
	(Rancho Bernardo Inn)
Rancho Santa Fe	Mille Fleurs		18
San Diego	Baci's		5
	Bertrand at Mister A's		15
	Grant Grill (The US Grant)		2
	Molly's (San Diego Marriott		5
	Hotel & Marina)
San Luis Obispo County Hotels			Years
Cambria	Pelican Cove Inn		1
	Blue Whale Inn Bed & Breakfast		18
Cayucos	Cayucos Sunset Inn		7
Santa Barbara County Hotels			Years
Los Olivos	Fess Parker's DoubleTree Resort		3
Santa Barbara	Harbor View Inn		12
	Inn on Summer Hill		19
Santa Ynez	Chumash Casino Resort & Spa		5
	Santa Ynez Inn		7
Solvang	The Ballard Inn		16
	Peterson Village Inn		25
Santa Barbara County Restaurants			Years
Santa Ynez	The Willows (Chumash Casino Resort & Spa)		4
Solvang	The Ballard Inn Restaurant		4
	(The Ballard Inn)
Ventura County Restaurants			Years
Ojai	Maravilla Restaurant		3
	(Ojai Valley Inn & Spa)

 

AAA's Diamond rating program is the only hotel and restaurant review system in the nation that uses specially trained full-time field representatives. As part of AAA's national network, the Auto Club's own staff reviews establishments in Southern California without prior notification using objective and detailed rating procedures.

 

Lodging inspections include at least one unannounced inspection each year. Inspectors review and rate exterior, grounds and public areas, room d�cor, ambiance and amenities, guest room, bathrooms, housekeeping and maintenance, management and staff and guest services. Once the inspection process is complete, properties that meet all requirements receive a rating of one to five Diamonds.

 

AAA approves and rates more than 32,000 lodgings and 28,000 restaurants each year throughout the U.S., Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean. A wide range of property listings are included in regional TourBook� guides, with a yearly distribution of nearly 20 million, and on AAA.com, where many travel planning and information services - including the well-known TripTik� Travel Planner, TourBook listings and Diamond Ratings - are now available to non-members as well. The AAA Four Diamond rating is exclusive in that less than 4% of all AAA approved properties achieve this rating. The 2009 AAA Five Diamond Award lodging and restaurant recipients will be announced in November.