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'Four Seasons Hotels, Inc.' is a Canadian-based international five-star luxury hotel chain consisting of AAA five diamond hotels and resorts aimed at the higher end of the accommodation market. It is considered among the best luxury hotel chains worldwide, according to ''Travel + Leisure''^[1] magazine and Zagat Survey^[2], and operates 55 AAA ^[3] five diamond properties.

Contents

History

Business

Operation

Controversies

Footnotes

See also

External links

History

★ Isadore Sharp founded Four Seasons Hotels, Inc. in 1960.

★ The first Four Seasons Hotel opened in 1961 in Toronto, Ontario as a motor hotel in the downtown area.

★ In 1970, Four Seasons Hotels opened their first European hotel in London, England – Four Seasons Hotel London.

★ Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Four Seasons grew and opened more hotels throughout North America. During this time, Four Seasons Hotels developed and incorporated its now standard use of luxury items within guest rooms. These include terry-cloth robes, 2-line telephones in the guest room and bath, European-style concierge services, room service 24 hours a day, twice-daily housekeeping service, one-hour pressing, and round-the-clock laundry and dry cleaning service.

★ Four Seasons Hotels opened its first Hawaiian resort in the early 1990’s - Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea

★ Four Seasons first introduced a full-service spa in 1986, at Four Seasons Resort and Club Dallas at Las Colinas.

★ The hotels now consider spas as an integral part of the luxury hotel experience. Since 2001, every Four Seasons resort includes a distinctive spa experience and every property worldwide offers on-site spa services.

Business

Four Seasons is a private corporation headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. Isadore (“Issy”) Sharp founded the company in 1960 and opened the first Four Seasons Hotel on Jarvis Street in downtown Toronto in 1960. The company currently manages 70 hotels in 31 countries, and more than 20 properties under development. Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates has a substantial holding in the company along with Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abduaziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia.

The Four Seasons name was introduced to the Middle East by Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abduaziz Al Saud, who owns some of the properties that carry the brand in the region as well as a substantial stake in the Canadian parent company, including Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia^[4].

Operation

Four Seasons Hotels operates an exclusive residential program called the Residence Club that involves the sale of villas, penthouses, timeshares and the like within five select Four Seasons properties as private properties. Along with its exclusive rental opportunties, Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts has recently been ranked #2 on a list of the countries best companies for customer service^[5] according to Business Week.
On June 19, 2002 the Canadian Opera Company announced Four Seasons Hotels as the naming donor for the COC's new Opera House, the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, located in Toronto, Canada.

Controversies

In late 2006, it was announced that the Robin Paterson (former CEO of Hamptons International) and Mike Pemberton (West Indies Hotel Developer) were planning to build a new high-end Four Seasons Resort on the Mount Hartman Estate on the Caribbean island of Grenada.
This has been subject to much debate, as it is an important site for the critically endangered Grenada Dove. The Grenada Government has issued statements saying the resort can be built on the site without significantly affecting the dove. This has been questioned by BirdLife International, which, together with other organizations (such as American Bird Conservancy) and private individuals (such as Graeme Gibson and Margaret Atwood), have started a campaign against the plans.

Footnotes

1. World's Best 2006, Travel+Leisure.com
2. Zagat Survey Rates, Hotel-online.com
3. AAA Five-Diamond Hotels, Honeymoon.about.com
4. Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, Zawya.com
5. Customer Service Elite List, Timeshareowersblog.sellmytimesharenow.com

See also

★ Hotel George V, Paris

External links

★ Four Seasons Hotels official site