Hotel at Kirkwood earns Four Diamond AAA rating

CEDAR RAPIDS - After just over one year in business, Hotel at Kirkwood Center, 7725 Kirkwood Boulevard, became the second Iowa hotel to receive a AAA Four Diamond Award rating for lodging on October 14.

Hotel at Kirkwood Center General manager Lee Belfield says that receiving such a high AAA rating not only shows that the hotel is a beautiful, modern facility, but also helps to attract new visitors to the location.

"The Four Diamond Rating shows that staying in this building is one of the highest quality experiences that anyone can have in a hotel," Belfield said. "It's another way to show that this is a great place."

According to AAA, a facility must be upscale in all areas with a refined style in order to receive a Four Diamond Rating.

A wide variety of amenities must also be combined with a high degree of hospitality, customer service and attention to detail must also be shown.

"It's one thing to have a beautiful hotel and another thing to see that it's clean and well served at all times," Belfield said. "It [this rating] is really to the credit of the staff, students and faculty."

The $31 million, 71-room hotel opened in July 2010 as a way to provide on-the-job experience for approximately 350 students seeking Associates Degrees through Kirkwood College's hospitality and culinary arts programs.

The Gazette's Dave DeWitte contributed to this story.