New Mobil Five Star properties unveiled

— -- Forty-four North American hotels, 20 restaurants and eight spas have garnered Mobil Five Star Awards for 2009, the guidebook publisher announced Thursday. That's 11 more than last year, when 41 hotels, 17 eateries and only three spas received top honors.

Headlining the pack are Georgia's Sea Island Resorts, which earned four five-star kudos — for the Lodge at Sea Island Golf Club on St. Simons Island, its sister property, The Cloister on Sea Island, its restaurant, the Georgian Room, and its spa. Similarly, the Tower Suites at Wynn Las Vegas, its restaurant, Alex, and its spa received five stars. The Trump International Hotel & Tower in New York re-gained a fifth star five years after losing it. And the Ritz-Carlton Chicago (a Four Seasons Hotel) dropped to four stars after a six-year five-star run.

Other new five-star hotels: The Umstead Hotel and Spa in Cary, N.C., and Skylofts at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. New five-star restaurants are Kai in Chandler, Ariz.; Lautrec in Farmington, Pa.; Studio in Laguna Beach, Calif.; and Addison in San Diego. Other new spas on the list are Spa Gaucin at the St. Regis Monarch Beach, Dana Point, Calif.; The Spa at Mandarin Oriental, Miami; and The Mayflower Spa at The Mayflower Inn, Washington, Conn.