COURTESY AAA HAWAII
Recognizing the best of the best, Richard Velaquez, regional manger of AAA Hawaii, held one of the Five Diamond awards given to Hawaii's finest restaurants and resorts.
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AAA awards five diamonds for best dining and lodging
Hawaii's AAA Five Diamond-bearing lodgings and restaurant have added another year to their accolades, with all now on the list for a minimum of a decade.
The 2008 AAA Five Diamond list, released yesterday by AAA Hawaii, includes each properties' number of consecutive annual top ratings.
Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea, 17 years; the Ritz-Carlton Kapalua, 12 years; the Four Seasons Resort Hualalai, 10 years; and Hawaii's only five-diamond restaurant, La Mer at the Halekulani hotel, has met AAA's five-diamond standards for 18 years.
Halekulani was joined briefly by Seasons at the Four Seasons Resort Wailea for 2001, but it was replaced by Spago -- founded by celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck -- later that year. Spago had a 5-year run on the four-diamond list but did not make the ranking for 2008.
Among lodgings, Princeville Resort on Kauai had a 13-year run on the four diamond list but also is not on the 2008 list.
AAA Hawaii's four-diamond winners can be found in the Nov. 7 Honolulu Star-Bulletin.
As of yesterday afternoon, the AAA 2008 rankings had not yet been posted at its Web site, but the 2007 lists were still available.