5-Star hotels: This year’s Mobil Travel Guide List

A few weeks back we gave you the TripAdvisor’s list of the dirtiest hotels in the U.S. On the opposite end of the spectrum, The Mobil Travel Guide has recently unveiled its lists of Five-Star and Four-Star hotels. These are the cream of the finest of the fine–the places to drool over.

In all, there are 14 Five-Star hotels in the United States. California has over half of them. There are nine in all in The Golden State. Three are in Beverly Hills, one is in Los Angeles and three are in San Francisco. Another is in Oakhurst and one is in Dana Point.

New York State, with four hotels in Manhattan and one in Saranac Lake, has the next largest number of 5-Stars. The rest are scattered among Colorado (2), District of Columbia (1), Florida (3), Georgia (2), Hawaii (1), Illinois (3), Massachusetts (3), Nevada (1), North Carolina (1), South Carolina (2), Tennessee (1), Texas(1), Utah (1), Vermont (1), Virginia (2), and Wyoming (1).

This is the first time Utah and Wyoming have made the cut. Of course, I was interested to see how Ohio fared. Not one hotel made it on the Five-Star list, but two are Four Star–one in Cincinnati, Cincinnatian Hotel and one in Cleveland, The Ritz-Carlton, Cleveland. To see how your state fares in the hotel luxury department, keep reading.

Five-Star Hotels:
California – Beverly Hills:
California – Dana Point:
California – Los Angeles:
California – Oakhurst:
California – San Francisco:
Colorado – Aspen:
Colorado – Colorado Springs:
Connecticut – Washington:
District of Columbia – Washington:
Florida – Manalapan:
Florida – Naples:
Florida – Palm Beach:
Georgia – Atlanta:
Georgia – St. Simons Island:
Hawaii – Wailea:
Illinois – Chicago:
Massachusetts – Boston:
Massachusetts – Lenox:
Nevada – Las Vegas:
New York – New York:
New York – Saranac Lake:
North Carolina – Pittsboro:
South Carolina – Kiawah Island:
South Carolina – Summerville:
Tennessee – Nashville:
Texas – Dallas:
Utah – Park City:
Vermont – Barnard:
Virginia – Richmond:
Virginia – Washington:
Wyoming – Jackson:
Four Star Hotels
Arizona – Carefree:
Arizona – Phoenix:
Arizona – Scottsdale:
British Columbia – Malahat:
British Columbia – Salt Spring Island:
British Columbia – Tofino:
British Columbia – Vancouver:
British Columbia – Whistler:
California – Avalon (Catalina Island):
California – Beverly Hills:
California – Big Sur:
California – Calistoga:
California – Carlsbad:
California – Carmel Valley:
California – Dana Point:
California – Half Moon Bay:
California – La Jolla:
California – Laguna Beach:
California – Newport Beach:
California – Palo Alto:
California – Pebble Beach:
California – Rancho Santa Fe:
California – San Diego:
California – San Francisco:
California – San Martin:
California – Santa Barbara:
California – St. Helena:
California – Westlake Village:
Colorado – Aspen:
Colorado – Avon:
Colorado – Denver:
District of Columbia – Washington:
Florida – Amelia Island:
Florida – Aventura:
Florida – Fort Lauderdale:
Florida – Key Biscayne:
Florida – Miami:
Florida – Miami Beach:
Florida – Naples:
Florida – Orlando:
Florida – Palm Beach:
Florida – Sarasota:
Florida – Sunny Isles Beach:
Georgia – Atlanta:
Georgia – Greensboro:
Georgia – Sea Island:
Hawaii – Kailua-Kona and the Kona Coast:
Hawaii – Lana’i City:
Hawaii – Lanai (Island):
Hawaii – Maui (Island):
Hawaii – Oahu (Island):
Louisiana – New Orleans:
Maine – Kennebunkport:
Massachusetts – Boston:
Massachusetts – Edgartown:
Massachusetts – Nantucket:
Michigan – Birmingham:
Missouri – Clayton:
Nevada – Henderson:
Nevada – Las Vegas:
New Brunswick – St. Andrews:
New Mexico – Santa Fe:
New York – New York:
New York – Skaneateles:
North Carolina – Asheville:
North Carolina – Cary:
North Carolina – Charlotte:
North Carolina – Pinehurst:
Ohio – Cincinnati:
Ohio – Cleveland:
Ontario – Toronto:
Pennsylvania – Farmington:
Pennsylvania – Hershey:
Pennsylvania – Philadelphia:
Quebec – Montreal:
South Carolina – Bluffton:
South Carolina – Charleston:
Tennessee – Memphis:
Tennessee – Walland:
Texas – Austin:
Texas – Houston:
Texas – Irving:
Texas – San Antonio:
Utah – Salt Lake City:
Virginia – Arlington:
Virginia – McLean:
Virginia – Williamsburg:
Washington – Seattle:
West Virginia – White Sulphur Springs:
Wisconsin – Kohler:
Wisconsin – Rice Lake:
Wyoming – Jackson Hole:

Heath Ledger died today and I’m thinking of Brokeback Mountain and Wyoming

Wow! I am truly in shock. I was writing up another post and swung over to The New York Times on line when I saw Heath Ledger was found dead today. How awful and how odd. I just saw him this weekend in the movie “I’m Not There” and earlier today, before I heard he had died, I thought, you know, when I think of Heath Ledger, he’s Ennis Del Mar working on a ranch in Wyoming. What is he doing playing an incarnation of Bob Dylan? Yes, yes, I know it’s acting, but there are some roles and some landscape vistas that go together so well that they play over and over in ones head as if there is a movie camera in there.

The summer after I saw “Brokeback Mountain” we drove through Wyoming on our way from Colorado to Montana and back through Wyoming again. I thought of Ennis and wondered how he was doing without Jack. Again, yes, yes, I know Ennis is a fictitious character created by Annie Proulx, but still, her short story and the movie captured a certain quality of Wyoming so perfectly. (Yes, I know that it was shot in Canada, but it looked like Wyoming.)

As I recently posted, John Ur is writing about movies that capture a sense of place. “Brokeback Mountain” is one that certainly does that. And without Heath Ledger, “Brokeback Mountain” wouldn’t have been the same kind of movie that made people look at Wyoming in a new, different way.

Raising a pet coyote in Wyoming (with adorable pics)

I think any reasonable person would be against capturing and taming wild animals, so I bristled a bit when I first came across this website, which tells the story of a woman who raises a coyote out of a one-room log cabin in Wyoming.

But you learn that she found the coyote as a pup, orphaned after both of his parents were killed. Plus, the cuuuute pictures won me over. The woman herself also intrigued me. She’s 30, lives in a town of 300, and on a whim moved to Wyoming (when she was suppose to to New York City from San Francisco).

She’s apparently also an amateur photographer, with a separate site with photos from her solo trip across the states on a Vespa.

More reasons to head to South Dakota: The Black Hills

Catherine’s already told us about South Dakota having the geographical center of the United States. I thought of this last night when a friend was telling me about her road trip by herself to Montana from Ohio. There are many reasons to head here. My friend mentioned the Black Hills and the Badlands as high points. I’ve been through this part of the U.S. a few times myself and can say, it is truly spectacular and worth a trip or two. Both my friend and I said that this is a part of the U.S. to visit more than once. You can’t possibly take in all that’s fantastic in one sweep.

There’s a new blog to help travelers plan out their trip to the Black Hills of South Dakota and Wyoming. It’s easy to remember the name of it. The Black Hills Travel Blog is one of those that shines. Here you’ll find info about the attractions, tips, traveler’s tale and features.

I remember after we left Mt. Rushmore (I recommend it. There’s a reason why it’s a National Park), I thought that the area around it would be a fine place to park for a few days of exploring. Nice to know there’s another resource to help plan a trip. This is a slick, well done Web site with lush photos and videos.

Photo of the Day (8/22/07)

Ywlstonegirl’s shot of Castle Geyser in Yellowstone National Park reminds me of the Glass Eye Studio globes that I saw the day before yesterday at the Ohio Craft Museum. But, the difference is, instead of looking into the marble from the outside, the angle here gives the impression of being pulled towards the center of the scene. I missed this geyer when we went to Yellowstone two years ago. Maybe the timing was off. It only errupts every 10 to 12 hours. We did see Old Faithful do her thing. I have to say, as touristy as it is to do the thing that everybody else does, it’s worth hanging around to see that geyser shoot up to 8,400 gallons of water into the air. (Old Faithful does a show every 65 to 91 minutes.)

***To have your photo considered for the Gadling Photo of the Day, head to the Gadling Flickr site and post it.***