The American Automobile Association has recognized the Seneca Nation’s casino and resort operations in Western New York for excellence in the hospitality industry.

On Friday, representatives from the Seneca Gaming Corp. announced that both Seneca Allegany Resort & Casino in Salamanca and the Seneca Niagara Resort & Casino in Niagara Falls received Four Diamond Awards from AAA, as reported by the Niagara Gazette.

According to the AAA, awards for excellence are offered to hotels that provide guests with accommodations that are upscale in all areas and progressively more stylish and refined. In total, only one restaurant and 16 hotels from an area in Upstate New York with 25 counties have earned Four Diamond status.

Since 2006, the 26-story, 604-room Seneca Niagara Casino & Hotel has received the award every year. The Four Diamond rating has been awarded to Seneca Allegany Resort & Casino each year since 2009. It features 413 luxurious hotel rooms complete with upscale amenities and picturesque mountain views and is the Southern Tier region’s only AAA Four Diamond Award-winning resort.

Carol DiOrio, AAA Western and Central New York vice president of travel said it’s not easy to achieve Four Diamond status, with less than six percent of the 58,000 AAA approved properties making the Four Diamond list.

Seneca Gaming Corporation has grown its business into one of the largest private sector employers in the region, as well as becoming the leading name in hospitality, since opening in 2002. Approximately 4,000 people are employed by the three Seneca Resorts & Casinos properties in Niagara Falls, Salamanca, and Buffalo. Together they welcome approximately 15 million guests annually.