Ruth, As Paul said, hotels do pay to be included in AAA's books. My husband is a GM for Hyatt (was GM of the Hyatt you stayed in in Savannah in fact, then we were transferred here, Tampa, 4 years ago). The system is interesting.

The hotels are reviewed each year with inspectors checking in as regular guests. Unless one of his staff happens to recognize an inspector from a previous visit, you never know you have one in your hotel until his stay is complete. Their checklist is extensive--rooms, service, food, with specific criteria to be met in order to obtain the diamond rating.

As an example of some of the details...our hotel is a 4 diamond hotel, and in this year's rating we were told that now all 4 diamond hotels must have 4 individual drawers for clothing. We have armoires with two huge drawers, but will have to change that system somehow to comply. Also mandatory: 25" TVs, crown molding of a certain depth, fine here, but almost cost us a diamond in the Savannah hotel, marble baths and on and on. Did the bellman forget to explain the hours of operation of your restaurants or point out the fire exits as he brought you to your room, or neglect to tell you where the pool or health club was, or not offer to bring you ice? Black mark if his spiel wasn't complete. (And you thought he was just angling for the best tip! gt;) And gawd help you if your inspector happens to be in a foul mood the day he comes in!

Of the 3 4 diamond hotels in the Tampa area when we moved here, we are the only one left with all diamonds intact this year and who knows what the next year holds! New drawers for us for sure. gt;

There are some wonderful elegant hotels that opt not to be included. Usually these are the grand dames who cannot or will not comply with some of the structural requirements to meet the 4 or 5 diamond level they truly otherwise deserve. One hotel I know of decided it wasn't cost efficient to provide 24 hr room service and rather than accept the loss of a diamond from 5 to 4, which they otherwise deserved, they opted to no longer be rated.

It sounds like a great job, doesn't it...providing you just get to rate the 4 and 5 diamond hotels!

Thank you, CMcDaniel, for such an informative post! We can always rely on you for the nitty-gritty details on the hotel industry!

I never knew that AAA rated all the things that you mentioned, for example, that the number of drawers could have anything to do with the rating. Now I understand why a lot of hotels, B&Bs, etc. just aren't in the book. Thanks a lot.

Ruth

AAA is definitely worth it. The hotel discounts, maps, and free travelers checks are great. The road service is wonderful (especially when my husband was driving a company car with about 150,000 miles on it!). And our AAA even offers discount movie tickets.

The road service is great. I have used it several times for dead batteries, stalled cars, and keys locked in the car. Sometimes it can be fairly slow, but someone has usually arrived within two hours. I have found the triptiks helpful, but that was before the Internet. Now, you can probably get similar information from Yahoo and other sources. I have used AAA for travelers checks on many occasions as well. Access to free maps is a tremendous benefit. I went in a couple of years ago and got about 20 maps to have a supply at home for places I was considering visiting and have used several since then. I can't compare AAA to similar services, since it is the only one I have actually used. If you live in a cold climate, drive a lot, or do a lot of traveling, it is especially well worth the money.

In a few words-Well worth it! I have booked several trips with AAA and always got a better deal than other places I checked. Tip-If you use the same agent every time they will find you the best rates. I make several phone calls shopping around and call AAA with the lowest price I have found and they always have beat it. No complaints here. Free Map's and great triptiks.