Ritz-Carlton Wins Not 1 but 2 Prestigious Awards

There are some important new stars at the Ritz-Carlton hotel, but they have nothing to do with Hollywood.

The stars--five of them--will officially be awarded Jan. 12 when the luxury Laguna Niguel resort receives one of the travel industry’s highest honors--the Mobil Travel Guide Five-Star Award. Two days later, the 393-room Ritz-Carlton will receive the American Automobile Assn.’s Five Diamond Award.

With the two awards, the sprawling resort joins the elite of the hotel world. In California, that exclusive company of hotels now includes only one other: the Four Seasons Clift in San Francisco.

The sponsors of the awards send undercover “guests” each year to rate hotels for service, facilities and cleanliness. The Mobil award also considers quality of food.

Once a hotel ascends to the ranks of those that have both five stars and five diamonds, travelers know “it’s the most deluxe you can get . . . the classiest hotel in the world for that area,” said Margaret Jones, Southern California chapter president of the 23,000-member American Society of Travel Agents, a trade group.

How much both awards will help a hotel’s bookings is not clear. Jones, who runs Country Hills Travel in La Habra, estimates that hotels will experience up to a 30% increase in occupancy from well-heeled travelers. David Brudney, a hotel consultant with Palos Verdes’ David Brudney & Associates, places the probable upswing at 5%--including a 2.5% increase in new clientele and 2.5% greater retention of existing guests who might have switched to a competitor’s lodgings.

At the Ritz-Carlton, Henry E. Schielein, vice president and general manager, won’t predict how much of an impact he expects from the No. 1 ratings. “What does a Pulitzer do for a newspaper? It makes us one of the best resorts in the country,” he said in an interview last week.

Since its opening in August, 1984, occupancy at the Ritz-Carlton has climbed steadily from less than 50% in the opening weeks. This year, room occupancy is expected to average nearly 80%, second in Orange County only to the Disneyland Hotel, which fills an average of 90% of its rooms nightly.

Schielein said he expects more than 80% occupancy next year, and revenues of more than $40 million. That compares to this year’s expected revenues of more than $38 million--a figure that industry experts say is remarkable for a hotel that is less than three years old.

The awards didn’t come easily. Nor were they won by accident.

When it comes to service and amenities, the 393-room hotel spares few expenses.

The Ritz-Carlton has 70 cooks--more than any other hotel in Orange County. It has one employee whose sole job, Ritz-Carlton executives said, is to fluff pillows on the hotel’s couches and another who spends her day stamping the Ritz-Carlton lion on sand in the lobby ashtrays.

Outside, the hotel’s landscaping crew tends more than 300,000 flowers and shrubs which are replaced often so that pampered guests gazing across the 18 acres always see only flowers that are in bloom.

Nonetheless, last year the Ritz-Carlton won only Four Stars--losing out to the Marriott’s Rancho Las Palmas in Palm Springs, which until 1987 was Southern California’s only Five-Star hotel. The hotel made an all-out push to capture the top award via recommendations of an independent consultant who herself once worked for the Mobil guide.

Some changes weren’t so subtle. Robert Davenport, director of travel services for the Automobile Club of Southern California, recalls how two years ago, the Ritz-Carlton was less anxious to please. “They used to not serve eggs after 11 a.m.,” he recalled. “Now, if you want an anchovy pizza at 7 a.m., you’ll get it. They have a philosophy of no no’s,” he said.

Of course, all this opulence does not come cheap.

The average dinner for two in the Dining Room runs about $80, exclusive of drinks and wine. The nightly cost for a room for two starts at $165. Oceanfront rooms start at $300. At the top of the line, suites range from $550 up to $1,500 nightly for the presidential suite.

But wealthy guests won’t be dipping deeper into their billfolds because of the prestigious ratings, Schielein said. Instead, he hopes to boost revenue by increasing occupancy.

The Ritz-Carlton plans to call attention to the new top-notch ratings with a 20,000-piece mail campaign for the group conference business that now makes up 55% of the resort’s trade.