Las Vegas: AAA gives 5 diamonds to Venetian

Sin City’s gamble on class is really paying off. The Venetian Resort Hotel Casino just got promoted from four to five diamonds, the top ranking, in AAA’s 2008 list of top hotels and restaurants. Two years ago, Las Vegas had only two five-diamond hotels. Now it has five: the Venetian, Bellagio, Four Seasons Hotel Las Vegas, Skylofts at the MGM Grand Hotel and Wynn Las Vegas. And it still has four top-rated restaurants: Alex, Joël Robuchon, Le Cirque and Picasso.

Meanwhile, the Golden State continues to be, well, golden. With 16 five-diamond lodgings, California trounced No. 2, Florida, which had just nine. (Arizona and New York, with six each, tied for third place.) The St. Regis Resort, Monarch Beach, in Dana Point, topped off California’s total by earning its fifth diamond.

The best state for five-diamond food? That may surprise you. AAA says

it’s Illinois, thanks to Chicago’s Alinea, Arun’s, Avenues, Charlie Trotter’s, Everest, Seasons Restaurant and Tru. It’s enough to make a California foodie bundle up and board a jet for O’Hare — almost. California was second and Florida was third in the restaurant rankings. Sorry, New York: With just three eateries awarded five diamonds, you didn’t even make the Top 3.

Also disappointed, no doubt, was the Ritz-Carlton, Lake Las Vegas, in Henderson, Nev., which was demoted from five to four diamonds. An AAA spokeswoman said the organization will post its full 2008 Five Diamond list, with 100 hotels and 60 restaurants, on its news website.

And here’s a head’s up: Mobil Travel Guide, which usually picks its top hotels, spas and restaurants this month, is delaying its announcement until January, said Shane O’Flaherty, the guide’s vice president and general manager. That’s so Mobil can time the announcement for the 50th anniversary of the ratings program in 2008, O’Flaherty told me this week.
Related links:

Off a beaten Strip: an insiders’ guide to Las Vegas
Town Square a new mega-mall in Las Vegas

— Jane Engle Los Angeles Times Assistant Travel Editor

[Photo: Allen J. Schaben, Los Angeles Times]

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This entry was posted on Friday, November 9, 2007 at 7:50 am by Jane Engle and is filed under Weekend Getaways. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.