A (Fifth) Star Is Born

Richmond's Once-Moribund Jefferson Hotel Just Got Top Marks

Guest Arrival Phase: Doorman/Bellman obtains guest name from luggage tag and uses it, escorts guest to the front desk. . . . The guest's name is used more than once.

-- Mobil Hotel Rating Criteria

It starts with the name. Sometime between opening my car door for me and opening the lobby door, they get my name. And they use it. The bellman -- fishing bags out of the trunk -- hands us off to a doorman, who hands us off to another doorman (the head doorman?) hovering at the center of the Jefferson noble entrance court. He gets us to the door and passes us to a valet who whisks us inside and hands us to another valet who seems to be waiting for us in the lobby, and who in turn delivers us to the front desk clerk, who knows just who we are and greets us . . . by name. In the first three minutes I am called Mr. Hendrix by so many people I feel like a high school science teacher.

I'm not sure if it's because the Jefferson staff is still abuzz from last month's announcement that it is officially one of the country's very, very best hotels, or if this is their natural ebullience -- albeit one nurtured to the point of choreography. But these days, when you arrive at the Jefferson, you know you've arrived.

And that, apparently, is what makes the five-star difference, according to Mobil, the oil company that has been rating hotels and restaurants since early in the automobile age. Once a hotel has climbed through Mobil's constellation of rankings from one star ("provides a comfortable night's lodging . . . entrance is free of cigarette butts") to four stars ("has its own style and personality . . . is luxurious, creatively decorated, and superbly maintained"), it becomes much harder to specify exactly what boosts a few properties into the ultimate stratum ("among the best in the United States, superb in every respect and entirely memorable.") Like pornography, five-star quality is hard to define, but you know it when you see it.

Still, Mobil does give some detailed guidance to the well-dressed army of travel critics it sends out each year to review anonymously some 22,000 candidate properties. "They look at every experience from arrival to departure," says Mobil spokeswoman Sandy Duhe. "Everything from how their car is handled to how their reservation is handled to how their shoes are shined. And when a property is being added to the list or taken off the list, it is visited more than once, even more than twice."

Public Spaces: The exterior of property is immaculate. Signage is visible and free from chips and fading. The public areas overall present a level of elegance and exude excellence. Staff use service elevators only. The quality of furnishings and decor is high, custom designed, and congruent with the establishment overall.

There used to be alligators in the fountains of the Jefferson lobby. The first pair was abandoned by some early-century guests returning from Florida, and reptiles lounging around the Palm Court became a tradition that lasted almost 50 years. There aren't any gators here now -- nor any fountains, for that matter -- but the lobby is still striking enough to make you catch your step, no matter how briskly you're being escorted. It's a high, colored space under stained glass, a sort-of cathedral canopy over a towering full-size statue of Thomas Jefferson. Off to the left and down a plunging Niagara staircase, a lower lobby is even more resplendent, a grove of 40-foot columns surrounding a marble meadow of plush chairs, pianos and carved wood. It's a five-star space indeed that makes you feel so grand by so utterly dwarfing you.

In the public restrooms, the vanities are clean and dry. The toilet paper is pointed after servicing.

Toilet paper pointed -- check.

Guest Room and Bath: The room has a sense of elegance. The furniture is of high quality fabric and may be custom designed. 100 percent cotton high-quality linens and down pillows are standard. The dust ruffle is pressed properly, and touching the floor. The closet is illuminated and there is ample space for personal belongings. A minimum of 4 skirt and 6 suit and 4 padded hangers are present.

The desk clerk releases us (guest key and credit card are placed directly in guest's hand) and a valet escorts us up the elevators and down the soft halls to our room, asking how our trip was. Johnny the bellman is already there when we arrive, hanging our things in the closet (indeed illuminated, certainly roomy) on hangers numerous, yes, and padded. He points out the many phones, the thermostat, the mini-bar stocked with premium brands, the TV with video games. When Johnny comes back with a full ice bucket, I hold out my hand and he whips off his white glove with a seamless gesture before shaking it. Nice!