Auto Club: Top Southern California Hotels and Restaurants Earn AAA Four Diamond Awards

LOS ANGELES, CA--(Marketwire - Jan 23, 2012) - Eighty-five Southern California hotels and 37 restaurants have earned the 2012 AAA Four Diamond Award®, the Automobile Club of Southern California announced today. Eighteen locations appear as newcomers on the list including the Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills, The Westin Monache Resort in Mammoth Lakes and La Bellasera Hotel & Suites Paso Robles.

The coveted AAA Four Diamond Award is presented to hotel and restaurant general managers and executive chefs to recognize the award-winning properties, which rank among the top 3.8 percent of 59,000 hotels and restaurants inspected by the AAA and the Auto Club, the nation's largest AAA affiliate.

"Four Diamond Rated hotels and restaurants are committed to providing every guest with a high level of personalized service in comfortable, luxurious surroundings," said the Auto Club's Approved Accommodations Supervisor Patricia Marenco. "We are proud to recognize Southern California's hotels and restaurants that earn the AAA Four Diamond rating. To maintain a very high standard of personalized service in their hotels and restaurants in order to continue pleasing their guests is a significant accomplishment."

The list of 2012 AAA Four Diamond hotels and restaurants throughout Southern California follows, along with the year rated:

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 décor, 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 59,000 lodgings and restaurants each year throughout the U.S., Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean. AAA Approved and Diamond Rated hotel and restaurant listings can be found in the AAA TourBook^® guides available at AAA and CAA branches across the continent. They can be accessed online at AAA.com/Travel and through downloadable eTourBook(SM) guides at AAA.com/ebooks. Smartphone users can locate Diamond Rated establishments using the free AAA TripTik^® Mobile app or AAA Mobile Web at AAA.com/mobile.