Valley Hotels, Restaurants Earn Four Diamond Status

VALLEY LIVING SECTION

VALLEY HOTELS, RESTAURANTS EARN FOUR DIAMOND STATUS

November 2, 2007

Five Santa Ynez Valley hotels recently earned Four Diamond Awards from the Automobile Club of Southern California, an affiliate of the Automobile Association of America. The winners this year were the Ballard Inn, the Chumash Casino Resort, the Santa Ynez Inn, Fess Parker’s Wine Country Inn and Spa and the Petersen Village Inn. The Four Diamond Awards represent the top 4 percent of Southern California’s 2,600 hotels, motels and restaurants, according to the auto club. In Santa Barbara, the winners were Fess Parker’s Doubletree Resort, Harbor View Inn and the Inn on Summer Hill. Only two restaurants in the county, both in the valley, earned the AAA Four Diamond award. They were the Willows at the Chumash Casino Resort and the Ballard Inn Restaurant. Earlier this week, the Chumash hosted a luncheon for the county hotel owners and general managers whose properties were honored.

“This is truly an honor and reflects the level of dedication and hard work of our staff that each day meets the standard for excellence in hospitality and dining,” said Vincent Armenta, chairman of the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians. The Auto Club’s Charles Smith, manager of approved accommodations, presented each winner with a plaque. The winners were among the 62 Southern California hotels and 35 restaurants receiving the coveted honor.

EDITOR’S NOTE: A news roundup item in last week’s Valley Living did not make clear the outcome of the investigation by the California Department of Threat Assessment into comments directed at Assemblyman Pedro Nava by two Santa Ynez Valley men.

The men were reportedly upset over the recent naming of Highway 154 as the Chumash Highway. California Highway Patrol officers visited valley resident Trace Eubanks and called businessman Steven Siegel after comments that each made individually were deemed credible enough to investigate. Mr. Eubanks, in a call to Mr. Nava’s office, said that the assemblyman “would pay” for the way the renaming occurred. Mr. Siegel suggested to Mr. Nava’s staff that he would go “pay a visit” to Mr. Nava’s home. CHP officers spoke with the men and the matter was deemed closed, with no further action expected.