Bellagio, Picasso, Renoir given elite status by AAA

Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2002 | 8:22 a.m.

For the second year in a row three Las Vegas venues have received Five Diamond Awards, the highest rating offered by AAA.

The venues include Bellagio and the restaurants Picasso at the Bellagio, and Renoir at The Mirage.

"It is an honor to be recognized for doing what you love to do," Renoir chef Alessandro Stratta said in a statement.

Chef Julian Serrano of Picasso said: "Awards are never the goal -- we set out to create special moments for our guests. moments they will remember always. The awards, like the Five Diamonds, tell us we have achieved that."

AAA is an automobile service organization that has been publishing travel guides since 1937. In 1963 it began to rate accommodations provided by those listed in the guide. In 1977 it introduced the Five Diamond rating.

Spokesman Atle Erlingsson says only 53 restaurants nationwide have been awarded Five Diamonds. Fewer than one-half a percent of the 40,000 lodgings in the AAA TourBook guides have received the highest rating.

Last year the Bellagio became the first Las Vegas hotel, and the largest resort in the world, to receive Five Diamonds.

"Bellagio guests are showered with first class service throughout their entire stay," Erlingsson said. "The AAA Five Diamond standard is evident from check-in to check-out, with gracious staff, sparkling rooms and impeccable service."