TripAdvisor(R), the world's largest travel community, today announced the winners of its 2006 Travelers' Choice(TM) awards. 345 hotels were honored in the fifth year of the competition. Hotels received awards in the following categories: Best Luxury, Best Hidden Gems, Best Inns and B&Bs, Best Bargains, Best Pool, Best for Families, Best for Romance and Best Service. Four Seasons emerged as Best Brand, a new category in the Travelers' Choice competition.

Unlike any other hotel awards programs that survey perhaps thousands of people, the TripAdvisor(R) Travelers' Choice winners are uniquely "selected" by the millions of travelers from around the world who provide their real and unbiased reviews or opinions about hotels on tripadvisor.com(TM) and across the web.

"The 2006 Travelers' Choice winners are once again singled out for their spectacular service and extraordinary value," said Michele Perry, director of communications for TripAdvisor. "Most hotel awards programs honor the most luxurious and opulent hotels, but because Travelers' Choice awards are determined by millions of real travelers from around the world, the winners tend to be outstanding properties that are within reach for the average traveler." The average rate per night for all 345 winners is $328, which includes 230 four and five star hotels. Hidden Gems average less than $160 per night; the average nightly rate for Inns and B&Bs is $130 a night; and Best Bargains average $117 per night.

  Select 2006 Winners:

  Best Luxury (4&5 star hotels) in the World -- Hilton Maldives Resort & Spa
  Rangali Island, Rangali Island, Maldives

  Best Luxury in the U.S. -- Sofitel New York, New York, N.Y.

  Best Luxury in Europe -- The Ritz-Carlton Berlin, Berlin, Germany

  Best Hidden Gem in the World -- La Villa Marbella -- Charming Hotel,
  Marbella, Spain

  Best Hidden Gem in the U.S. -- Desert Pearl Inn, Springdale, Utah

  Best Bargain in the World -- Residenza Il Villino, Florence, Italy

  Best Bargain in the U.S. -- SeaCoast Inn, Hyannis, Mass.

  Best for Families in the U.S. -- Disney's Pop Century Resort, Orlando,
  Fla.

  Best for Families in Europe -- H10 Mediterranean Village, Salou, Spain

  Best for Romance in the World -- Four Seasons Resort Maui, Maui, Hawaii

  Best Pool in Latin America/Caribbean -- Majestic Colonial Punta Cana,
  Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

  Best Service in the World -- Four Seasons Hotel George V, Paris, France

  Best Brand in the World -- Four Seasons

For the complete 2006 Travelers' Choice list, go to http://www.tripadvisor.com/travelerschoice.

Remaining faithful to its promise to provide the whole truth about travel, the good, the bad and the ugly, TripAdvisor also identified, for the second year in a row, the 10 "dirtiest" hotels in the U.S. and Europe based on traveler ratings for cleanliness.

  10 Dirtiest Hotels in the U.S.

  1.  Tropicana Resort Hotel, Virginia Beach, Vir.
  2.  Hotel Carter, New York, N.Y.
  3.  Days Inn Downtown/Port, Miami, Fla.
  4.  Budget Inn, Knoxville, Tenn.
  5.  Red Carpet Inn, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
  6.  New York Inn, New York, N.Y.
  7.  Poindexter Ocean Front Resort, Myrtle Beach, S.C.
  8.  Days Inn, Lancaster, Penn.
  9.  Ramada Inn Miami Airport North, Miami, Fla.
  10. Sea Club Resort, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

"Last year, five of the dirtiest hotels were in New York City but this year, the Miami/Fort Lauderdale region leads the country in filthy hotels, with four properties on the top 10 list," said Perry. The title of the most recent review posted on TripAdvisor for the dirtiest hotel in the U.S., Virginia Beach's Tropicana Resort and Spa, was, "VA Beach's most vile place- ever!!!!!!!!!!!"

Award Selection

The TripAdvisor(R) Travelers' Choice award winners for 2006 were determined by a combination of TripAdvisor(R) Popularity Index and traveler ratings of specific property attributes. The TripAdvisor(R) Popularity Index is a proprietary algorithm that determines traveler satisfaction based on a variety of sources, including TripAdvisor hotel reviews and travel articles and opinions from across the web. TripAdvisor allows travelers to "grade" hotels based on a variety of attributes, including cleanliness, value and suitability for specific types of travelers.

About TripAdvisor LLC

Tripadvisor.com(TM) is the largest travel community in the world, with more than 5 million unbiased reviews and opinions, covering 220,000+ hotels and attractions. With more than 20 million unique monthly visitors worldwide (source: comScore Media Metrix, July 2006), TripAdvisor(R) features real advice from real travelers and easy access to major online travel sites, including Expedia.com(R), Orbitz, Hotels.com(R), British Airways and American Airlines, for great deals. TripAdvisor(R), which operates sites in the U.S. (http://www.tripadvisor.com/) and in the U.K. (http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/) provides travel suppliers a graphical advertising and cost-per-click marketing platform. Winner of dozens of awards, including PC Magazine's Top 100 Web Sites and Forbes Best of the Web, TripAdvisor(R) is an operating company of Expedia, Inc. .

TripAdvisor, Travelers' Choice and TripAdvisor.com are either trademarks or registered trademarks in the U.S. and/or other countries of TripAdvisor LLC. Other logos or product and company names mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

SOURCE: TripAdvisor