Texas Establishments Receive Coveted AAA Four Diamond Rating.

Business Editors/Travel Writers

HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 15, 2003

Thirty-five hotels and 20 restaurants in Texas have been chosen to receive AAA's prestigious Four Diamond Award for 2003, according to AAA Texas. (See table for list of recipients.)

Five Houston restaurants, and three Houston-area hotels, received AAA Four Diamond honors. Of the local honored restaurants, three dining establishments received their first AAA Four Diamond Award: The Remington Restaurant, Tony's and Brennan's of Houston. Other restaurants that also received the AAA Four Diamond rating were Quattro (14) and La Reserve (14). The Renaissance Houston Hotel received its first AAA Four Diamond Award.

"The AAA Four Diamond Award is one of the lodging and restaurant industry's most prestigious honors. It recognizes establishments that have shown an ongoing commitment to superior service and exceptional standards of excellence during rigorous, unannounced inspections," said Susanne Maher, area manager for AAA Texas, Houston. "These winners consistently deliver incomparable service, complete with first class amenities and impressive surroundings."

These establishments join a select group of Four Diamond winners. Only 2.84 percent of the estimated 30,000 AAA-rated lodgings and 3.87 percent of the estimated 14,000 AAA-rated restaurants receive Four Diamond designations each year.

The Four Diamond rating will be included in each hotel's and restaurant's listing in the 2003 AAA Texas TourBook(R) guide. AAA's nearly 46 million members depend on TourBook(R) guides to assist them with their travel-related plans. An establishment's diamond rating is often the deciding factor when members choose a lodging or restaurant.

Each year, more than 60 AAA/CAA tourism editors visit nearly 70,000 lodgings, campgrounds, restaurants and attractions each year throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean. Tourism editors conduct unannounced evaluations of lodgings and restaurants, scrutinizing such areas as cleanliness, ambiance, amenities and service. Upon completion of a rigorous and thorough AAA inspection, the establishment is assigned a rating of one to five diamonds. AAA began rating properties in 1963 and adopted the diamond rating system in 1977.

AAA Texas, LLC, an affiliate of the AAA, has been serving Texans since 1902. Today, more than a million AAA Texas members benefit from the organization's roadside assistance, travel agency, insurance, financial products, automotive products, trip planning services and traffic safety programs. Information about these products and services is available on AAA Texas' Web site at www.aaa-texas.com.