The Four Seasons Resort Orlando really is in a class all to itself. AAA rates hotels based on set criteria. Out of the 27,000 hotels they inspect, only 0.4 percent are award the AAA Five Diamond rating. In the United States, there are only 85 hotels/resorts that earned the AAA Five Diamond Rating in 2019. Of those, only 10 are in Florida. And, the Four Seasons Resort Orlando is the only Orlando-area property with that distinction.
AAA page showing their rating:
http://www.aaa.com/travelinfo/flori...lando-at-walt-disney-world-resort-223721.html
I once worked in a hotel that attempted to earn a AAA Five Diamond Rating. As such, I know A LOT about the review process. Although it's impossible to remove subjectivity completely, the reviewer uses very clear-cut items to rate all aspect of the hotel/resort. And all of those items are known to the property ahead of time, so there's no surprises.
It's been many years, but these are examples of how hotels are judged. All interactions are broken down into yes/no answers. For each area (Front Desk, Housekeeping, Concierge, etc), the property must get a pre-defined number of "yes" responses in order to earn the rating.
- Was the phone answered in X number of rings?
- Did the Front Desk Representative use the guest's name during check-in?
- Did the Front Desk Representative offer to assist the guest in making dining reservations during check-in?
- Did Housekeeping Staff acknowledge guests with a smile or greeting when passing them in hallways?
- Did the Concierge inquire about dietary restrictions prior to making a restaurant reservation?
As I noted, the Four Seasons Resort Orlando really is in a league of its own in terms of hotels/resorts in Orlando.
That said, AAA rated Four Diamond properties are also great. Only 6.3 percent of the over 27,000 properties inspected earn that designation. In the Disney World area, that list includes all of Disney's Deluxe Resorts as well as: Hilton Orlando Bonnet Creek, Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress, Orlando World Center Marriott, Waldorf Astoria Orlando, Walt Disney World Dolphin(*), Walt Disney World Swan, and the Wyndham Grand Orlando Resort Bonnet Creek.
For Reference:
AAA Five Diamond Hotels/Resorts for 2019 (pdf):
https://publicaffairsresources.aaa.biz/download/12991/
AAA Four Diamond Hotels/Resorts for 2019 (pdf):
https://publicaffairsresources.aaa.biz/download/12988/