http://www.hotelchatter.com/ Hotel Reviews, Hotel Ratings, Hotel Openings en-us Copyright 2008 - SFO Media 2012-02-14T05:39:59Z HotelChatter HotelChatter http://www.hotelchatter.com/images/hcwhite.jpg http://www.hotelhotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/local/822 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2009/1/22/221443/282 <![CDATA[<p><img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/1425/mobile5starwynn.jpg" class="top"><p> <i>The Wynn wins a five-star rating.</i><p>The annual <a href="http://stars.mobilinternationalratings.com/stars/"><b>Mobil Five Star Awards</b></a> for 2009 have been dished out to 44 North American hotels, adding three new hotels to the prestigious list from last year.<a href="http://www.usatoday.com/travel/hotels/2009-01-22-mobil-five-star_N.htm">USA Today</a> reports:<blockquote><p> Headlining the pack are Georgia's Sea Island Resorts, which earned four five-star kudos &#151; for the <b>Lodge at Sea Island Golf Club</b> on St. Simons Island, its sister property, <b>The Cloister on Sea Island</b>, its restaurant, the Georgian Room, and its spa. Similarly, the Tower Suites at <b>Wynn Las Vegas</b>, its restaurant, Alex, and its spa received five stars. <b>The Trump International Hotel & Tower in New York</b> re-gained a fifth star five years after losing it. And the <b>Ritz-Carlton juliana 2009-01-23T09:29:20-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2007/1/16/164035/451 <![CDATA[<p><img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/admin/umstead_hotel.png" class="imgborder"/><p> A five-star hotel for $300 a night in Cary, North Carolina? Yes, that's a reality for this little-known Southern town with the new opening of the <a href="http://www.theumstead.com/"><b>Umstead Hotel and Spa,</b></a> which is marketing itself as a world-class luxury hotel. <blockquote><p> The Umstead is the first of four high-dollar hotels set to open in the Triangle over the next two years. The other hotels will be four-star efforts, but the Umstead is going for five-star honors.</blockquote></p><p>So what makes a five-star hotel? Apparently, Italian furniture, wood ceilings from South America and a staff outfitted with customized uniforms. Also, safety as Cary was named the ninth-safest city of 354 large cities in 2004, the only Southern city to make juliana 2007-01-16T16:40:35-05:00 35.8302355 -78.763466 Search HotelChatter string http://www.hotelchatter.com/search/