Heathrow, Fla.-A few months into its implementation, the American Automobile  Assn.'s new hotel inspection guidelines are winning generally favorable reviews  from one of the main camps that called for it-the Lodging Industry Ratings  Advisory Council. 

Buggsi Patel, vice chairman of the LIRAC, said the AAA has been extremely  responsive and is headed in the right direction, but that there are still some  issues that need to be resolved in regard to hotel-ratings inspections. 

Patel said LIRAC approached AAA in December 1996 and requested several changes  that would make the organization's hotel inspection process more efficient.  Steps undertaken by the AAA include the establishment of consistent evaluation  guidelines across all regions and decreasing inspector oversight from the  central office. The group also now provides properties with clearer and quicker feedback about any changes that needed to be made. 

"After we had completed our inspection in the past, the property had to wait  four to six weeks to get any communications from our office as to what had  transpired," said Michael Petrone, director of AAA industry evaluations. "Now  our inspectors can leave behind a summary - a checklist - with the general manager." 

Patel commended the move to supply checklists immediately. 

AAA also initiated a streamlined, formal appeals process. It seems to be working  great, since the number of appeals is down, Petrone said. He largely credited  this to the new policy by AAA inspectors of leaving summary evaluations behind,  along with notes as to what needs to be improved the next time the inspectors  come around. 

"Next time," according to Petrone, means more often, with more-efficient  feedback.  "Not only do we now have six regions as opposed to four, but we've taken the  territories and made them contiguous," he said. "Before, they were randomly  selected. Appointing one manager in charge of each area gives the inspectors a  regionality feel about the common nuances or issues." 

Petrone said these nuances include  varying state codes for wares such as smoke  detectors and window locks. 

To increase the skill level of field inspectors, the AAA has initiated more consistent training programs. This, Petrone  claimed, makes the group more able  to hold more-informative meetings about the latest operational, regulatory and  design trends in lodging that his inspectors need to know. 

Patel, head of property management company Buggsi Management LLC in Lake Oswego,  Ore., said that although several positive changes are noticeable, there are  still some less - than - perfect procedures. 

"We're not sure if the program has been implemented in all states yet," Patel  said. "They changed a few things. It has been getting better, but there's still  a little bit of confusion." 

Patel said one element in the evaluation process yet to be sorted out involves  the procedure for defining which exact rate quote - guaranteed or not guaranteed - will be listed in the AAA directory. 

The LIRAC vice chairman would like to see the evaluations process be streamlined  still further, into a password - protected, Internet - platform feedback loop. He  also wants this network to handle commission processing. 

"We would like to see the AAA join some sort of consortium that deals with  travel - agent commissions," Patel said. 

The AAA isn't hooked up nationally yet, so there are a bunch of little checks  that individual properties have to write to the AAA travel agency. If AAA joined  a consortium like that, it would get a much better response from hoteliers,  Patel said. 

"Right now, some hoteliers misidentify mail from AAA and throw it in the trash,"  he said. "You have to send in confirmation, then send another mail with the  commission payment." 

Patel also wants the AAA to offer a publicly accessible World Wide Web site for  on-line booking. The AAA is working on rolling out a comprehensive Web site  early next year.