writerguyfl

I readily admit that I'm biased towards AAA as a standard, so I'm not sure I can adequately answer your questions, arlflyer. I, too, grew up in a household that used those AAA materials. Fast forward to my first hotel job. I was a Front Desk Supervisor when our hotel attempted to move up from AAA 4 to 5-Diamond rating status. Everyone in management studied the lists of requirements for months. Unfortunately, the attempt to move up wasn't successful, mostly because we hadn't increased staffing levels adequately. (Lots of 5-Diamond service requirements involve anticipating guest needs. That type of service tends to be labor intensive.) The final reviewer told our General Manager that she'd had given us 4.5-Diamonds, if half Diamonds were a thing.

That's a long way of explaining why I tend to value AAA as a ratings scale. It's also a reason why I might be biased into thinking AAA ratings are more important than they are.

Still, I do think that AAA 5-Diamond status does resonate with the people that seek out top tier hotels. It's a fairly elite club. But, if a hotel has that rating at AAA, chances are good that they will be similarly rated with other services.

With the internet, I do think that AAA's importance has diminished. I'm sure many hotel executives believe that, too. I' don't think that's a good thing, though. From experience, I know that AAA ratings are based on explicit criteria and it's often objective. Instead of feelings, it's things like: Did the Front Desk Representative address the guest by name during check-in? Additionally, inspections are done by trained people. I'll take training over the "everyone's an expert" mentality that is pervasive on Trip Advisor.