The Woodlands (Houston), Texas, February 2017 … BENCHMARK®, a global hospitality company, has announced that three of its luxury hotels and resorts have been named to the prestigious U.S. News & World Report “Best Hotels” list for 2017. Included were Villas of Grand Cypress, located in Orlando, Florida, and a member of Benchmark's Gemstone Collection brand, which placed in the Gold Badge Winners category as a Best Hotel in the United States. Also included were Mosaic Hotel, a Gemstone Collection-brand property located in Beverly Hills, California, that placed in the Silver Badge Category as a Best Hotel within its market, and Santa Barbara Beach & Golf Resort of the Caribbean island, Curacao, a member of the Benchmark Resorts & Hotels brand, which placed in the Silver Badge category as a Best Hotel within its region. Alex Cabañas, CEO, made the announcement.

“It is truly an honor to be included on this distinguished list by U.S News & World Report,” said Mr. Cabañas. “We are extremely proud of these properties, their leadership, and their remarkable employees, who make the difference and create memory-making experiences for our guests every day. This is well-deserved recognition for three very extraordinary teams!"

The seventh annual U.S. News & World Report Best Hotels rankings evaluated more than 3,000 luxury properties across the United States, the Caribbean, Canada and Mexico. The Best Hotels methodology accounts for both expert and guest sentiment, in addition to industry accolades a hotel receives, the combination of which helps determine each hotel's rank. Gold Badge Best Hotels in the USA winners represent the Top 10 percent of all ranked luxury hotels within the United States. Silver Badge winners represent the Top 30 percent of all ranked luxury hotels within a destination.

U.S. News & World Report established the Best Hotels list to identify the top properties across North America and the Caribbean. The U.S. News hotel ranking is updated annually. For the complete list of top hotels and resorts in the United States, visit http://travel.usnews.com/Hotels/USA/. For more information, please see the methodology.