Saturday Briefing

By Barry Wallace

Three Outrigger properties—Outrigger Waipouli Beach Resort & Spa, Outrigger Kiahuna Plantation, and Outrigger on the Lagoon - Fiji, have earned the distinguished honor of being ranked as top resorts out of nearly 1,000 worldwide properties included on Expedia’s Insiders’ Select list of the world’s best hotels for 2009.

Vicki Valenciano, Gregg Enright, Lisa Wolcott, and Helene Kahaunaele-Akiona with the prestigious Expedia’s Insiders’ Select 2009 Award that was presented to the Outrigger Waipouli Beach Resort & Spa

This is Outrigger Waipouli’s second year of recognition, while Outrigger Kiahuna Plantation and Outrigger Lagoon - Fiji are joining the prestigious list for the first time.

In addition, Outrigger Waipouli Beach Resort & Spa and Outrigger Kiahuna Plantation are two of only twenty resorts in Hawaii to be recognized on the list and are among the top ten Hawaii resorts identified.

The hotels on the exclusive Insiders’ Select list represent only the top one percent of the more than 70,000 hotels that Expedia.com offers.

To make the list, hotels and resorts are given a numerical score, and those with the highest scores make it onto the list. Three categories are taken into account, including traveler opinions, value, and Expedia Hotel Expert input.

Expedia.com boasts more traveler reviews than any other online travel agency. 2008 saw more than 275,000 new Traveler Opinions on hotels across the globe. To ensure authenticity, Expedia verifies each Traveler Opinion by confirming that the reviewer has stayed at the property within the past six months. To even qualify for the honor of inclusion to the list, a hotel has to have a minimum number of reviews for the 2009 year, proving that Outrigger properties are being positively talked about.

Value is then determined by systematically comparing hotels and resorts to similar properties to conclude the best value for the price.

The last component, Expedia Hotel Expert input, is established by an extensive network of hundreds of connoisseurs in top destinations worldwide who provide their insight and firsthand knowledge of their destination’s best hotels.

Congratulations to these Outrigger properties that have been chosen as top resorts for their extraordinary quality and overall great service!