Four San Diego County hotels score AAA five-diamond awards
The Lodge at Torrey Pines in La Jolla is one of four San Diego County hotels that are on this year's list of AAA Five-Diamond luxury properties.
(Darren Edwards / Evans Hotels)
By Lori Weisberg
Jan. 31, 2018 12 PM PT
Just four San Diego county hotels made it onto AAA's newest Five-Diamond list of luxury properties, released on Wednesday.
They all retained their place in the prestigious ranking, which in San Diego has changed little over the last few years.
Five-diamond honorees are: the Fairmont Grand Del Mar, Lodge at Torrey Pines, Rancho Valencia and Park Hyatt Aviara. They are among just 13 hotels in all of Southern California that were accorded the top ranking.
In order to receive five diamonds, hotels are subject to in-person inspections, anonymous overnight stays and lastly, a review by a panel of experts. Fewer than half of 1 percent of the more than 27,000 AAA inspected hotels receive the five-diamond rating.
Michael Petrone, director of AAA Inspections & Diamond Ratings, said that hotels that aspire to the highest rating "must stay far ahead of the curve to differentiate themselves through advanced design concepts, highest quality furnishings and scrupulous attention to guests' expectations."
An additional 24 San Diego County hotels were awarded four-diamond rankings.
lori.weisberg@sduniontribune.com
Twitter: @loriweisberg
Lori Weisberg
Lori Weisberg covers the tourism and hospitality industry, writing extensively about San Diego County hotels; restaurants; cruise ships; visitor attractions; air travel; and the convention center. A Southern California native and graduate of UCLA, she joined The San Diego Union-Tribune in 1980 and over the years has been awarded a number of fellowships in specialty reporting, multimedia and social media. She has regularly produced multimedia packages for the paper's website and is able to shoot and edit video. Before joining the newspaper, she worked at the Vista Press and the Orange County Register.
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