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.

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.