Four Seasons remains the only AAA five diamond in Orlando

[AdamEfimoff]

but aaa five diamonds are silly

 

[MrKnight]

AAA makes it very difficult to achieve Five Diamond status, very few hotels receive this designation, it is actually very rare.. There are multiple luxury hotels in Orlando that meet the same standard as Four Seasons, just because they did not receive the designation of "Five Diamond" by AAA does not mean that they are not luxury hotels.. These hotels including the following:

Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa
The Waldorf Astoria Orlando
The Ritz Carlton Orlando Grande Lakes
The Grand Bohemian Hotel (Downtown Orlando)

IMHO these are all great hotels and they are all considered top tier luxury hotels..

 

[AdamEfimoff]

Many people on a luxury forum hate the five diamond and Forbes rating. Especially when there beloved and over hyped 'Aman Resorts' does not have one. I personally having been to Four Diamonds . Do not feel the service is right for me. Yes I have been spoiled. Big fan of the Four Seasons brand. But AAA five diamonds and Forbes do have some very weird selections of the Five Diamond and Five Stars over the years. IMHO No Disney hotel matches a four seasons unless you go club level :-(

 

[writerguyfl]

but aaa five diamonds are silly

To each his own, but as someone who once worked at a hotel that attempted to achieve AAA Five Diamond status, I strongly disagree that the award is silly. Unlike some awards systems, the criteria AAA uses is clearly defined and far less subjective than many people might believe. When service is being evaluated, it isn't just feelings.

Criteria are things like:

• Did the Front Desk representative use the guest's name during check-in?
• Did the hotel staff make eye contact with the guest during the conversation?
• Did the Front Desk representative hand the key to the guest? (Instead of just placing it on the desk in front of the guest.)
• Did the hotel Operator ask the guest if it was okay to place the guest on hold.
• Did the hotel Operator thank the guest for holding when the call was continued.

Those are just some of the random things I remember from going through that process. The criteria may have changed over the years. But, my point is that the expectations of hotels are clearly defined. What's minutiae to one person is important to another.

That said, I firmly agree with your statement that Four or Five Diamond service levels aren't ideal for every guest. You really do need to be in the right frame-of-mind to enjoy being fawned over.

 

[AdamEfimoff]

delete

 

[AdamEfimoff]

News for everyone Four Seasons is a luxury hotel

 

[AdamEfimoff]

I trust this site

 

[writerguyfl]

I trust this site

I'm a member of that site. Like any online forum, it's full of opinions of people with a wide variety of experiences. Whether those opinions are informed ones depends entirely on the person.

But, I think we all get it: You don't like AAA ratings.

 

[AdamEfimoff]

I'm a member of that site. Like any online forum, it's full of opinions of people with a wide variety of experiences. Whether those opinions are informed ones depends entirely on the person.

But, I think we all get it: You don't like AAA ratings.

you know they knew the four seasons is building a new spa in Paris before it was even announced.

 

[MrKnight]

To each his own, but as someone who once worked at a hotel that attempted to achieve AAA Five Diamond status, I strongly disagree that the award is silly. Unlike some awards systems, the criteria AAA uses is clearly defined and far less subjective than many people might believe. When service is being evaluated, it isn't just feelings.

Criteria are things like:

• Did the Front Desk representative use the guest's name during check-in?
• Did the hotel staff make eye contact with the guest during the conversation?
• Did the Front Desk representative hand the key to the guest? (Instead of just placing it on the desk in front of the guest.)
• Did the hotel Operator ask the guest if it was okay to place the guest on hold.
• Did the hotel Operator thank the guest for holding when the call was continued.

Those are just some of the random things I remember from going through that process. The criteria may have changed over the years. But, my point is that the expectations of hotels are clearly defined. What's minutiae to one person is important to another.

That said, I firmly agree with your statement that Four or Five Diamond service levels aren't ideal for every guest. You really do need to be in the right frame-of-mind to enjoy being fawned over.

The criteria that you listed in the bullet points above is basic criteria for achieving Four Diamond status.. Achieving Five Diamond status is significantly more demanding and more complex than just making eye contact or thanking a guest for their phone call, those are all actually very basic expectations for any guest service role at any branded hotel or hospitality business..

There are certain specific criteria (some of them physical or structural) that not all luxury hotels which can offer which automatically disqualifies them from being considered for Five Diamond status, this does not mean that the service-level is less or that the experience is "less luxurious" than any other luxury hotel, but it prevents them from achieving this highly coveted status.. This has created lots of controversy and upset hoteliers throughout the years..

A perfect example is the three big luxury hotels in Orlando; Four Seasons, Waldorf Astoria, and Ritz Carlton.. All three are considered luxury hotels, all three offer similar services and amenities, all three have a brand history filled with prestige, and all three are comparable in nature.. But yet, out of all three, only one has Five Diamond status and the other two have Four.. Why is that?

 

[writerguyfl]

you know they knew the four seasons is building a new spa in Paris before it was even announced.

I could go there and find a bunch of things that posters said would happen that never came to be. One example of insider knowledge doesn't mean everything posted there is also true.

The criteria that you listed in the bullet points above is basic criteria for achieving Four Diamond status.. Achieving Five Diamond status is significantly more demanding and more complex than just making eye contact or thanking a guest for their phone call, those are all actually very basic expectations for any guest service role at any branded hotel or hospitality business.

I was merely presenting examples of how the AAA evaluation works. Namely, it's not whether the reviewer feels like they had a 3, 4, or 5 Diamond experience...it's a list of specific criteria that tend to be pass or fail.