BoardWalk earns AAA Four Diamond Award

[DVCNews]

The American Automobile Association (AAA) has published its list of Four Diamond Award lodgings for 2010.* New to the list is Disney's BoardWalk Inn, which joins three other resorts which host Disney Vacation Club accommodations.

Original Article (http://dvcnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1199&Itemid=1)

[DisneyGeek]

Very cool! I can't wait to stay there, hopefully it will be sooner rather than later. :D

Once thing though- I thought Grand Cal. was a 5-star; has it never been that high or did it peak at 5 and drop down to 4? :confused24:

[TimK]

Once thing though- I thought Grand Cal. was a 5-star; has it never been that high or did it peak at 5 and drop down to 4? :confused24:

Don't know--dwelty would probably know for certain.

There are some pretty lofty minimum requirements necessary to even be considered for the Five Diamond award. Hotels need to have things like robes and slippers, fresh flowers in all rooms on a daily basis, separate tub and shower facilities and a very, VERY high level of personal service.

I was able to find THIS DOCUMENT (http://www.aaanewsroom.net/Assets/Files/OldFiles/diamondservice.doc) (it's a Word doc) that highlights the differences between four and five diamond establishments. If you look at the five diamond criteria, you'll see a lot of instances where every hotel employee is required to address guests by name, repeatedly offer added assistance, be very polished and professional, etc. I just don't see Disney ever getting to that point.

There are less than 100 hotels in the US which get the Five Diamond each year, and most have the Four Seasons or Waldorf-Astoria name.

I once read that Eisner wanted the Grand Floridian to be a Five Diamond. If they ever did achieve that level, it was only for a year or two and then it slipped to Four Diamond because Disney couldn't justify the expense involved in just meeting the minimum requirements. No idea if the Grand Cal ever got to that point.

[KNWVIKING 2.0]

Don't know--dwelty would probably know for certain.

There are some pretty lofty minimum requirements necessary to even be considered for the Five Diamond award. Hotels need to have things like robes and slippers, fresh flowers in all rooms on a daily basis, separate tub and shower facilities and a very, VERY high level of personal service.

I was able to find THIS DOCUMENT (http://www.aaanewsroom.net/Assets/Files/OldFiles/diamondservice.doc) (it's a Word doc) that highlights the differences between four and five diamond establishments. If you look at the five diamond criteria, you'll see a lot of instances where every hotel employee is required to address guests by name, repeatedly offer added assistance, be very polished and professional, etc. I just don't see Disney ever getting to that point.

There are less than 100 hotels in the US which get the Five Diamond each year, and most have the Four Seasons or Waldorf-Astoria name.

I once read that Eisner wanted the Grand Floridian to be a Five Diamond. If they ever did achieve that level, it was only for a year or two and then it slipped to Four Diamond because Disney couldn't justify the expense involved in just meeting the minimum requirements. No idea if the Grand Cal ever got to that point.

GF and GC are way too large for 5 diamond status with too much guest turnover.

Most 5 Diamonds fall into the boutique type catagory with many of the guests being repeat visitors with a long history of resort association.

[DizDays]

While it's mostly true that the 5 Diamond resorts are smaller boutique hotels, the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs has 745 rooms. It's one of the high end exchanges we have access to through DVC. http://www.broadmoor.com/luxury-resort-facts.php

[DisneyGeek]

I was able to find THIS DOCUMENT (http://www.aaanewsroom.net/Assets/Files/OldFiles/diamondservice.doc) (it's a Word doc) that highlights the differences between four and five diamond establishments. If you look at the five diamond criteria, you'll see a lot of instances where every hotel employee is required to address guests by name, repeatedly offer added assistance, be very polished and professional, etc. I just don't see Disney ever getting to that point.

Yikes, after reading the first half of that I'm not sure I'd want all that personalized attention @ Disney; let me get to my room and hit the parks! :silly: now DW may appreciate a lot of it, but I think I may withdraw my question.

Maybe it was that Nappa Rose was a 5 star restaurant? :confused24:

[worldfanatic]

I'm glad the Boardwalk finally got it's 4 star rating.
I always thought it was odd that it didn't have the same AAA rating as other comparable Deluxes.

[robertdangelo]

I wonder if Wilderness Lodge or AKL will make it someday. I'm surprised it took this long for BW to make the list.

Bob