Mobil Travel Guide Introduces America's Best Hotel & Resort Spas; America's Trusted Travel Advisor Offers a New Way to Vacation - One Spa at a Time!

January 30, 2004 at 10:24 AM EST

IRVING, Texas, Jan 30, 2004 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- For 45 years travelers have come to know and trust Mobil's One- to Five- Star ratings for hotels and restaurants. Now, Mobil Travel Guide, America's trusted travel advisor, is offering a whole new way to travel, with America's Best Hotel & Resort Spas. Mobil Travel Guide, an ExxonMobil Travel Publication, unveiled the 128-page publication on January 29 in New York City.

America's Best Hotel & Resort Spas takes the guesswork out of spa-going, showcasing the top 48 hotel and resort spas in the United States and Canada. Each of the featured destinations underwent a rigorous inspection process, similar to the process Mobil Travel Guide has been applying to lodgings and restaurants for more than four decades.

"Until now, travelers did not have a reliable source of unbiased information when searching for the best spa experience," notes Larry Dustin, president of Mobil Travel Guide. "America's Best Hotel & Resort Spas fills that void, offering options in virtually every corner of the U.S. and Canada."

The hotel and resort spa industry is booming, with consumers spending more than $2 billion annually, according to a 2002 Spa Industry Survey conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers for the International Spa Association. Until now, hotel and resort spas have not been formally rated or inspected by any organization.

America's Best Hotel & Resort Spas includes stunning photography from each property, along with a detailed description the spa's focus and services. Each section also includes a description of the hotel or resort where the spa is located, including general property information, location, and accessibility. The publication is available in bookstores, or on the Web at www.mobiltravelguide.com.

Over an 18-month period, inspectors traveled from spa to spa, using objective, quantifiable standards created to mirror the average traveler's needs and expectations. All of the inspections were done secretly. From making reservations to selecting treatments, inspectors used the same set of standards for each spa, evaluating 450 different attributes of their experience.

Each spa featured in America's Best Hotel & Resort Spas received either a Mobil Three-or Mobil Four-Star Award. "We expected to find a Mobil Five-Star spa, but so far we have only identified Mobil Three- or Four-Star spas," Dustin adds. "We look forward to bestowing a Mobil Five-Star Award in the future." In all, the publication features 20 Mobil Three-Star rated spas and 28 Mobil Four-Star rated spas.

America's Best Hotel Resort & Spas joins a growing list of Mobil travel publications, including: 

    --  Sixteen all new Regional Travel Planners, introduced in
        October 2003

    --  A new series of ten City Guides, available in February 2004,
        focusing on America's most popular destination cities,
        including New York City, Orlando, Las Vegas and their
        surrounding areas.

    --  A series of four new Dining Guides debuting in the summer of
        2004.

    --  America's Byways, a new publication series produced in
        partnership with the U.S. Department of Transportation's
        America's Byways program, showcasing America's most scenic
        drives, including in-depth archeological, cultural, historic,
        natural and recreational information. The first four America's
        Byways will be introduced in February 2004.

    --  Lodging & Restaurants for Less, a 520-page book listing more
        than 1,200 economical places to stay and eat, all for $60 or
        less per night

    --  On the Road with Your Pet, which provides in-depth content
        about more than 4,000 Mobil-rated lodgings in North America
        for travelers with pets.

About Mobil Travel Guide

Since its founding in 1958, Mobil Travel Guide, www.mobiltravelguide.com, has served as an advocate for travelers looking for information about hotels, restaurants, and travel destinations. With an objective criteria and selection process, recommendations are passed on to consumers, enhancing the quality and value of their travel experiences. In 2004, 30 hotels and 13 restaurants were awarded the coveted Mobil Five-Star rating. In addition, 138 hotels and 167 restaurants in the United States and Canada received the Mobil Four-Star rating. Mobil Four-Star Award winners are among the top of 2% hotels and restaurants listed by Mobil Travel Guide, and Mobil Five-Star Award winners comprise less than 1% of properties listed by the publication.

In addition to the wide variety of travel publications, Mobil Travel Guide publishes a popular Road Atlas series in large format, large print, mid-size format and digest sizes, as well as a wide range of travel services, like MobilCompanion, a comprehensive online travel service with a personalized program of benefits and services. 

 2004 Mobil Travel Guide Four-Star Hotel and Resort Spa Award Winners
               28 Mobil Four-Star Hotel and Resort Spas

    ARIZONA
    Alvadora, Spa at Royal Palms Resort & Spa, Phoenix
    Spa at Four Seasons Resort Scottsdale at Troon North, Scottsdale
    The Spa at Omni Tucson National, Tucson

    CALIFORNIA
    Bernardus Lodge Spa at Bernardus Lodge, Carmel Valley
    Spa at Four Seasons Resort Aviara, Carlsbad
    Spa Montage at Montage Resort & Spa, Carlsbad
    The Four Seasons Spa, Los Angeles at Beverly Hills
    The Peninsula Spa at The Peninsula, Beverly Hills
    The St. Regis Spa at The St. Regis, Los Angeles

    COLORADO
    The Bachelor Gulch Spa at The Ritz-Carlton, Avon

    FLORIDA
    Canyon Ranch Spa Club at Gaylord Palms Resort, Kissimmee
    Spa Palazzo at Boca Raton Resort and Club, Boca Raton
    SpaTerre at Little Palm Island, Little Torch Key
    The Spa at Turnberry Isle, Aventura
    The Spa Mandarin Oriental, Miami

    GEORGIA
    The Spa at The Ritz-Carlton Lodge, Reynolds Plantation, Greensboro

    HAWAII
    Hualalai Sports Club and Spa at Four Seasons Resort Hualalai,
     Ka'upulehu-Kona
    Spa Grande at Grand Wailea Resort, Wailea, Maui
    SpaHalekulani at Halekulani, Honolulu
    Spa Suites at Kahala Mandarin Oriental, Honolulu
    The Spa at Four Seasons Resort, Wailea, Maui

    ILLINOIS
    The Spa at Four Seasons Hotel, Chicago

    NEVADA
    Canyon Ranch SpaClub at The Venetian, Las Vegas
    Spa Bellagio at Bellagio, Las Vegas
    The Spa at Four Seasons Hotel, Las Vegas

    PENNSYLVANIA
    Woodlands Spa at Nemacolin Woodlands Resort, Farmington

    TEXAS
    Trellis, The Spa at The Houstonian, Houston


    CANADA

    ONTARIO
    Stillwater Spa at Park Hyatt, Toronto

SOURCE: Exxon Mobil Corporation 

Mobil Travel Guide
Arthur Shapiro, 212-590-2492
ashapiro@mobiltravelguide.com
or
YPB&R
Kelley Teague, 407-838-1810
Kelley_Teague@YPBR.com

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