Westin Book Cadillac Hotel Joins List of 2011 AAA Four Diamond Award® Honorees

DEARBORN, Mich., March 21, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The Westin Book Cadillac Hotel is the latest Detroit property to be awarded AAA's prestigious Four-Diamond rating for hospitality industry excellence. It joins the MotorCity Casino Hotel and its restaurant, Iridescence, and MGM Grand and its restaurant, Saltwater, to make a total of five AAA Four-Diamond properties in the city.

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Michigan's second-largest city gets credit for having the one and only Five-Diamond award winner – The 1913 Room in Grand Rapids has earned AAA's highest honor for a ninth consecutive year and is one of only 55 restaurants nationwide to earn the distinction.  During a special luncheon ceremony at The Radisson Plaza Hotel & Suites in Kalamazoo today (March 21) The 1913 Room received its five-diamond plaque, along with 22 Michigan properties that earned the AAA Four Diamond Award®.  

The awards presentation was conducted during the Pure Michigan Governor's Conference on Tourism 2011 at the Radisson Plaza Hotel & Suites in Kalamazoo and was sponsored by AAA Michigan and AAA Living magazine.  More than 600 participated in the conference – a record high for the annual state gathering.  The Radisson Plaza Hotel & Suites is among 15 lodging establishments and seven restaurants in Michigan which now carry the prestigious four-diamond rating.

The AAA Four Diamond rating is assigned to lodgings that feature upscale accommodations and offer an extensive array of amenities combined with a high degree of hospitality, service and attention to detail.  Restaurants at this level offer a distinctive fine-dining experience marked by high-quality ingredients, creative presentation and attentive service.

AAA inspectors evaluate and rate more properties than any other rating entity.  AAA is the only rating system that covers the United States, Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean.  It is one of only two that conduct physical, on-site evaluations.

In 2011, a total of 1,349 hotels and 756 restaurants throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean received the AAA Four Diamond Award.   AAA Four Diamond hotels and restaurants represent just 3.6 percent of the 59,000 AAA/CAA Approved and Diamond rated properties. AAA's more than 51 million members rely on diamond ratings in the AAA TourBook® guide to assist them when traveling.

AAA members and non-members alike can access the diamond ratings for free on AAA's Internet TripTik® Travel Planner, available at AAA.com/TripTik.

Michigan establishments receiving 2011 Five Diamond awards include:

• The 1913 Room (Grand Rapids, nine consecutive years), located in the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel.

Michigan establishments receiving 2011 Four Diamond awards include:

HOTELS

• Amway Grand Plaza Hotel  (Grand Rapids, 26 consecutive years)
• The Townsend Hotel (Birmingham, 23 years)
• The Henry Hotel Autograph Collection of Dearborn (Dearborn, 22 years)
• Radisson Plaza Hotel & Suites (Kalamazoo, 18 years)
• Grand Hotel (Mackinac Island, 17 years)
• Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort (Mount Pleasant, 13 years)
• Hyatt Regency Dearborn (Dearborn, 9 years)
• Westin Hotel Southfield (Southfield, 9 years)
• Westin Detroit Metro Airport (Romulus, 8 years)
• The Dearborn Inn (Dearborn, 8 years)
• Royal Park Hotel (Rochester, 5 years)
• JW Marriott Hotel (Grand Rapids, 4 years)
• MGM Grand (Detroit, 3 years)
• MotorCity Casino Hotel (Detroit, 2 years)
• Westin Book Cadillac  (Detroit, 1 year)

RESTAURANTS

• The Lark Restaurant (West Bloomfield, 21 consecutive years)
• Iridescence (Detroit, 10 years)
• Rugby Grille (Birmingham, 10 years)
• The Gallery at The Henry Hotel Autograph Collection (Dearborn, 9 years)
• Cafe Cortina (Farmington Hills, 8 years)
• Cygnus 27 (Grand Rapids, 7 years)
• Saltwater (Detroit, 3 years)

Diamond ratings will be included for each lodging and restaurant listed in the 2011 AAA Michigan/Wisconsin TourBook® -- one of a series of popular travel guides published for AAA members in the U.S. and Canada.  AAA Michigan members can access the Auto Club's online TourBook® at AAA.com/TripTik.

AAA has included lodging information in its travel publications since the early 1900s.  The association began a formal rating of lodging properties in 1963 and adopted the diamond designation in 1977.  Restaurant evaluations began in 1986.  For more information on the AAA Diamond rating process, visit: AAA.com/Diamonds.

SOURCE AAA Michigan