Never get behind a car with a AAA sticker on its bumper, at least if you wanna get to where you're going sometime that week. That said, the AAA seal of approval's worth a little more when affixed elsewhere -- like, oh, to hotels and restaurants that get the Triple-A's "Four Diamond Award�" rating. Today, AAA released its latest list of establishments that offer "superior personal service, first-class amenities, and impressive surroundings" and came up with 98 of 'em in Texas -- 21 in Dallas, with a few scattered in Farmers Branch and other area suburbs where you are allowed to speak Spanish in public.
Among the hotels making the list: the Melrose Hotel (a first-timer, no less), Hotel St. Germain, Hotel ZaZa, The Adolphus (now a stop on the Borat-slept-here tour) and the Hilton Dallas Park Cities (another rookie on the list). And some of the eateries include The Pyramid Grill, the Old Warsaw, Ciudad D.F., Aurora Maison de Cuisine and Chaparral -- or, for the most part, places people who belong to AAA usually don't frequent. And, yes, I do include myself among the lot. --Robert Wilonsky