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The Four Seasons Hualalai resort in Kohala on the Big Island
is known for its golf course, where the PGA's Senior Skins
match is played annually.

Hualalai called
nation’s best
5 other isle hotels
win top marks

A Zagat survey gives the highest
grade to Hualalai, Lodge at Koele
and Four Seasons Maui; AAA's
Five Diamond Award goes
to five Hawaii hotels

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By Russ Lynch
Star-Bulletin

Hawaii hotels share the best ratings in the nation in two major survey results issued this week.

The Zagat Survey, issued by the New York publishers of the Zagat tour guides, tallied questionnaires returned by 19,600 readers. Out of a possible score of 30, three Hawaii resorts got a score of 29, the highest awarded by Zagat this year.

They were:

The Four Seasons Hualalai, rated tops in the nation for "oversized rooms, private beach and open-air spa";

The Lodge at Koele on Lanai;

The Four Seasons Maui.

Zagat readers also gave a 28-point score to the Halekulani Hotel in Waikiki and slightly lower points to another eight Hawaii resorts.

The result was that 12 Hawaii hotels were among the top 25 resorts in the country.

In a separate report, the American Automobile Association gave its coveted Five Diamond award to five Hawaii resorts: Halekulani, which has won the award for 16 years; Four Seasons Maui, for the 10th year; Ritz-Carlton Kapalua, on Maui, for its fifth time; and the Kahala Mandarin Oriental Hawaii and the Four Seasons Hualalai, both for the third year in a row.

AAA doesn't rely on customer impressions, but uses professional evaluators. It lists some 40,000 lodging places and restaurants in its guides and says fewer than half of 1 percent win the top award.