1999 Top Hotels for Service / Travel Leisure and Yankelovich Partners Inc / May 1999

Hotel Online Special Report 1999 Top Hotels for Service / Travel Leisure and Yankelovich Partners Inc NEW YORK – May 25, 1999–How far can one man push the nation’s most accommodating hotel? “Jack Spicer” is the alter ego of a perfectly nice travel writer let’s call him John. While John is meek and apologetic, “Jack” never feels guilty for asking, and he’s used to getting exactly what he wants. So TL sent Jack Spicer to the Mansion on Turtle Creek in Dallas, rated the nation’s top hotel for service in TL’s annual readers’ poll. Jack boldly put the Mansion to the test, subjecting the staff to demands realistic and ridiculous. Then, for the sake of comparison, he checked into a mammoth chain hotel.

Ten days before his arrival, our outrageous correspondent called with a list of demands: figs, unwaxed dental floss, a Brita jug, and, for his reading pleasure, volume two of Peter Guralnick’s Elvis bio. After checking in, Mr. Spicer requested the names of the bluegrass singers he’d just heard on a local radio station, ordered a little-known $6 Argentinean wine, and required multiple translations of a memo to his “executive producer in Berlin.”

The responses of the two hotels – and the vast differences between them – prove hilarious and informative.

Service matters most to experienced travelers, and who has more experience than the readers of Travel Leisure? Along with Jack Spicer’s report, the issue reveals the results of the magazine’s annual poll ranking hotels throughout the world on the quality of their service. Following are the Top Hotels for Service, excerpted from Travel Leisure’s World’s Best Service article in the June 1999 issue.

THE TOP 10 OVERALL WORLD’S BEST SERVICE

1. Hotel Ritz, Paris
2. Mansion on Turtle Creek, Dallas
3. Four Seasons Resort Bali at Jimbaran Bay
4. The Oriental, Bangkok
5. The Greenbrier, West Virginia
6. The Regent, Hong Kong
7. Ritz-Carlton, Kapalua, Maui
8. Ritz-Carlton, Naples, Florida
9. Four Seasons Resort, Nevis
10. Halekulani, Oahu

WORLD’S BEST SERVICE BY REGION Asia

1. Four Seasons Resort Bali at Jimbaran Bay
2. The Oriental, Bangkok
3. The Regent, Hong Kong
4. The Peninsula, Hong Kong
5. Raffles Hotel, Singapore

Europe

1. Hotel Ritz, Paris
2. Villa d’Este, Cernobbio, Italy
3. Hotel Cipriani Palazzo Vendramin, Venice
4. Four Seasons Hotel, London
5. Hotel Ritz, Madrid

Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific

1. The Ritz-Carlton, Sydney
2. The Regent, Sydney
3. Hotel Inter-Continental, Sydney
4. Hayman Island Resort, Great Barrier Reef, Australia
5. Sheraton on the Park, Sydney

Caribbean, Bermuda, and the Bahamas

1. Four Seasons Resort, Nevis
2. Little Dix Bay, Virgin Gorda, British Virgin Islands
3. Caneel Bay, St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands
4. Ritz-Carlton, St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands
5. Peter Island Resort, British Virgin Islands

Hawaii

1. Ritz-Carlton, Kapalua, Maui
2. Halekulani, Oahu
3. Lodge at Koele, Lanai
4. Manele Bay Hotel, Lanai
5. Four Seasons Resort Hualalai, Hawaii

Continental United States and Canada

1. Mansion on Turtle Creek, Dallas
2. The Greenbrier, West Virginia
3. Ritz-Carlton, Naples, Florida
4. Ventana Inn, Big Sur, California
5. Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco

Mexico and Cental South Anmerica

1. Ritz-Carlton, Cancun
2. Four Seasons Hotel, Mexico City
3. Las Brisas, Acapulco
4. Alvear Palace Hotel, Buenos Aires
5. Hotel Nikko Mexico, Mexico City

Africa and Middle East

1. MalaMala Game Reserve, South Africa
2. La Mamounia, Marrakesh
3. Mount Nelson Hotel, Cape Town
4. Londolozi Game Reserve, South Africa
5. Governors’ Camp, Masai Mara, Kenya

Methodology: The Travel Leisure Reader Profile Study was developed by the editors of Travel Leisure in association with Yankelovich Partners Inc.

Travel Leisure, Food Wine, Departures, Travel Leisure Golf, and Travel Leisure Family magazines are part of the American Express Publishing Corporation, a subsidiary of the American Express Company managed by Time, Inc. under the terms of an agreement signed in March 1993. The company, which also publishes SkyGuide and a variety of cooking, travel, wine, time management, and financial books and products, recently launched a custom publishing group.

THE TOP 10 OVERALL WORLD’S BEST SERVICE

1. Hotel Ritz, Paris
2. Mansion on Turtle Creek, Dallas
3. Four Seasons Resort Bali at Jimbaran Bay
4. The Oriental, Bangkok
5. The Greenbrier, West Virginia
6. The Regent, Hong Kong
7. Ritz-Carlton, Kapalua, Maui
8. Ritz-Carlton, Naples, Florida
9. Four Seasons Resort, Nevis
10. Halekulani, Oahu

WORLD’S BEST SERVICE BY REGIONAsia

1. Four Seasons Resort Bali at Jimbaran Bay
2. The Oriental, Bangkok
3. The Regent, Hong Kong
4. The Peninsula, Hong Kong
5. Raffles Hotel, Singapore

Europe

1. Hotel Ritz, Paris
2. Villa d’Este, Cernobbio, Italy
3. Hotel Cipriani Palazzo Vendramin, Venice
4. Four Seasons Hotel, London
5. Hotel Ritz, Madrid

Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific

1. The Ritz-Carlton, Sydney
2. The Regent, Sydney
3. Hotel Inter-Continental, Sydney
4. Hayman Island Resort, Great Barrier Reef, Australia
5. Sheraton on the Park, Sydney

Caribbean, Bermuda, and the Bahamas

1. Four Seasons Resort, Nevis
2. Little Dix Bay, Virgin Gorda, British Virgin Islands
3. Caneel Bay, St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands
4. Ritz-Carlton, St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands
5. Peter Island Resort, British Virgin Islands

Hawaii

1. Ritz-Carlton, Kapalua, Maui
2. Halekulani, Oahu
3. Lodge at Koele, Lanai
4. Manele Bay Hotel, Lanai
5. Four Seasons Resort Hualalai, Hawaii

Continental United States and Canada

1. Mansion on Turtle Creek, Dallas
2. The Greenbrier, West Virginia
3. Ritz-Carlton, Naples, Florida
4. Ventana Inn, Big Sur, California
5. Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco

Mexico and Cental South Anmerica

1. Ritz-Carlton, Cancun
2. Four Seasons Hotel, Mexico City
3. Las Brisas, Acapulco
4. Alvear Palace Hotel, Buenos Aires
5. Hotel Nikko Mexico, Mexico City

Africa and Middle East

1. MalaMala Game Reserve, South Africa
2. La Mamounia, Marrakesh
3. Mount Nelson Hotel, Cape Town
4. Londolozi Game Reserve, South Africa
5. Governors’ Camp, Masai Mara, Kenya

Contact: Travel Leisure Magazine, New York Elisa Shevitz, 212/382-5679 http://www.travelandleisure.com Also See: According to 1998 Road Warrior Technology Study the Wait for Hotel Check-In Averages 8.3 Minutes / Oct 1998