For the 10th year, the Palace Casino Resort in Biloxi has been given the Four Diamond Award by the American Automobile Association (AAA).

Keith Crosby, general manager of the polished casino located less than a block from Gulf Marine State Park, said “This prestigious award recognizes our staff’s commitment to providing superior guest service and maintaining clean, high quality hotel accommodations,” according to the Sun Herald.

The only restaurant and hotel rating system that covers Canada and the entire United States in addition to top destinations in the Caribbean and Mexico, the AAA Diamond Rating designation is an achievement accomplished by only 5.7 percent of the more than 28,500 hotels.

The first phase of an energy-efficiency upgrade was recently completed at the Palace Casino, converting 236 of its hotel rooms to LED lighting. Since October, more than 3,000 light fixtures have undergone the conversion, with and annual savings of 157,000 kilowatt hours of electricity. Adding to the energy savings, this year occupancy sensors will be installed in the casino’s hotel rooms. Crosby said, “We’ve already seen a legitimate impact to our bottom line because of this lighting conversion,” adding, “We’re reducing our cost of business, which in turn allows us to direct those resources to attracting more visitors to the Mississippi Gulf Coast.” Mississippi Power’s Energy Efficiency Program, which provides incentives for commercial, industrial and residential customers to promote energy savings, was utilized by the Palace.

In addition to the luxury hotel, the Biloxi, Mississippi casino resort has 38,000 square feet of casino gambling floor space featuring more than 1,000 slot machines, 28 table games, and an 18-hole golf course. It is the Gulf Coasts’ first and only smoke-free casino.