The AAA Five Diamond Award is the most coveted symbol of excellence for lodgings and restaurants and is presented only to those establishments that consistently offer world-class facilities, services and amenities. Highlighting this year's awards is the first property to receive three Five Diamond Awards. The Ritz-Carlton, Cancun won its fourth Five Diamond Award for lodging excellence and its two restaurants -- The Club Grill and Fantino -- earned first-time honors.

Other first-time restaurant winners are: Lespinasse in The Carlton hotel, Washington, D.C.; The Oakroom in The Seelbach Hilton Hotel, Louisville, Ky.; The Rose Garden in the Bar Harbor Hotel-Bluenose Inn, Bar Harbor, Maine; and Jean Georges Restaurant in the Trump International Hotel Tower, New York City. Hotels and resorts newly added to the Five Diamond Award list include: Kahala Mandarin Oriental Hawaii, Honolulu; Four Seasons Resort Hualalai at Historic Ka'upulehu, Ka'upulehu, Hawaii; and The Pan Pacific Hotel Vancouver, Vancouver, British Columbia.

Five lodgings have received the Five Diamond Award annually since it was introduced in 1977. They are: Marriott's Camelback Inn Resort, Golf Club Spa, Scottsdale, Ariz.; The Broadmoor, Colorado Springs, Colo.; C Lazy U Ranch, Granby, Colo.; The Greenbrier, White Sulphur Springs, W.Va.; and the Four Seasons Hotel Vancouver, Vancouver, British Columbia.

Hawaii has the largest number of Five Diamond lodgings with eight, while California has seven properties. New York City leads in the number of top restaurants with six.

Fewer than one-half of 1 percent of the more than 36,000 lodgings and restaurants inspected and listed annually in the 23 TourBook(R) guides and three TravelBook(R) guides for North America earn AAA's highest honor.

All AAA-approved lodgings and restaurants undergo a thorough annual inspection by a team of 60 full-time professionals. Five Diamond establishments go through a more extensive review. AAA initially began including accommodation information in its travel publications in the early 1900s. The first field inspectors were hired to inspect hotels, motels and restaurants in 1937. AAA started rating lodgings as good, very good, excellent and outstanding in 1963. The diamond rating system was introduced in 1977 during AAA's 75th anniversary.