Four Seasons Hotels Limited

Trade name	Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts
Company type	Private
Industry	Hospitality
Founded	21 March 1961; 63 years ago (1961-03-21)
Founder	Isadore Sharp
Headquarters	Toronto, Ontario , Canada
Number of locations	129 properties in 44 countries
Key people	Isadore Sharp (Chairman) Alejandro Reynal (CEO)
Revenue	US$4.3 billion (2015)[1]
Owner	Cascade Investment Kingdom Holding Company Triples Holding
Number of employees	45,000 (2018)[2]
Website	www.fourseasons.com

Four Seasons Hotels Limited, trading as Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, is a Canadian luxury hotel and resort company^[3] headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.^[4] Four Seasons currently operates more than 100 hotels and resorts worldwide.^[5] Since 2007, Bill Gates (through Cascade Investment) and Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal (through Kingdom Holding Company) have been majority owners of the company.^[6] As of January 2022, Cascade Investment owns 71.25% and Kingdom Holding Company owns 23.75% of the hotel and resort company.^[7]

History

Canadian businessman Isadore Sharp founded Four Seasons in 1960. While a young architect working for his father, Sharp designed a motel for a family friend; its success motivated him to try creating his own hotel. He bought a large parcel of land in a run-down area of Toronto and planned a stopover for business travelers; the Four Seasons Motor Hotel opened in 1961 with initial investors, Murray Koffler, Fred Eisen, and Eddie Creed.^[8]

Four Seasons built more hotels, including the 1963 Inn on the Park, a $4 million two-story resort hotel in suburban Toronto that housed Canada's first discothèque.^[9][10]

Upscale luxury became part of the brand when the company expanded to London. When a developer approached Four Seasons about building a hotel in London, Sharp planned it to compete with the city's old-world, elite hotels, such as Claridge's and The Connaught.^[4] The Inn on the Park hotel in London opened in 1970.^[5]

The lead consultant was the architecture firm Aedas.^[11]

In 1974, cost overruns at the Four Seasons Hotel Vancouver nearly led the company into bankruptcy. As a result, the company began shifting to its current, management-only business model, eliminating costs associated with buying land and buildings. The company went public in 1986.^[5] In the 1990s, Four Seasons and Ritz-Carlton began direct competition, with Ritz-Carlton emphasizing a uniform look while Four Seasons emphasized local architecture and styles with uniform service; in the end Four Seasons gained market share.^[5]

Built in 1986,^[12][13] Four Seasons Hotel Austin is a nine-story hotel on 2.3 acres (0.93 ha) of land on the Lady Bird Lake's north shore.^[14] In 1997, Four Seasons Hotel Austin became the first hotel to have "a high-speed wireless Internet network" after Wayport, Inc. set it up there for testing wireless Internet networks.^[15] The hotel hosted Queen Elizabeth II in 1991 when she visited Texas.^[16] It was acquired by Anbang Insurance Group from the Blackstone Group for $359.7 million in 2016.^[14]

In 1992, Four Seasons acquired Regent Hotels & Resorts.^[17] Most Regent hotels that were in the pipeline at the time, such as the ones in Bali and Istanbul, were opened as a Four Seasons, while the existing portfolio, such as the Beverly Wilshire, were allowed to temporarily retain the Regent brand until they have achieved the criteria to become a Four Seasons.^[18] Carlson acquired the rights to develop new hotels under the Regent brand in 1998, and by the mid-2000s, most of the older Regent properties have rebranded into Four Seasons, with the notable exception of Regent Singapore. In the wake of Regent's purchase by IHG Hotels & Resorts in 2018, Four Seasons announced that it would cease its management of Regent Singapore, therefore ending the company's 26-year-long association with the name.^[19]

Economic downturns in the early and mid-2000s affected the company. When the September 11 attacks caused the collapse of the travel industry, Four Seasons refused to cut room prices in order to preserve the perceived value of the brand, which caused tension with property owners who were losing money.^[5] The company recovered, and in 2007 it agreed to a buyout by Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates and Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal of Saudi Arabia for $3.8 billion.^[20] The pair own 95 percent of the company, in equal shares, and Sharp owns the rest.^[5]

Challenges returned again during the financial crisis of 2007–2010. The company made the first corporate layoffs in its history, cutting 10% of its Toronto workforce.^[5] In April 2010, after a year-long dispute with Broadreach Capital Partners and Maritz, Wolff & Co., owners of the Aviara resort near San Diego, an arbitration panel ruled that, while both parties contributed to the demise of the business relationship, Four Seasons had not violated its management agreement. The arbitrators ordered Broadreach to pay Four Seasons to terminate the contract."^[21] The resort is no longer a Four Seasons.

Four Seasons has continued to add more hotels and resorts to its portfolio, notably in China. It opened a new hotel in Hangzhou in 2010 and Guangzhou, Beijing, and a second property in Shanghai in 2012. In India, it has two hotels one in Mumbai and other one in Bangalore.^[22] In 2013, it opened its first hotel in Russia in the Lobanov-Rostovsky Palace in St. Petersburg, and later opened a second hotel in Moscow. In Indonesia, it has one hotel in Jakarta and another two in Bali. In October 2012, Four Seasons opened a new 259 room Toronto hotel in Yorkville, designed by internationally known design firm Yabu Pushelberg. The hotel includes an upscale restaurant led by celebrity chef Daniel Boulud. It was hailed by The Globe and Mail as "the renewal of an iconic Canadian brand in its hometown".^[23] The penthouse was bought by entrepreneur Robert Österlund (founder of Xacti, LLC and Inbox.com) for a Canadian record price of over $28 million.^[24]

In 2009, founder Sharp wrote a memoir titled Four Seasons: The Story of Business Philosophy. It contained a historical chronicle of the hotels since its inception.^[25]

In September 2021, Cascade announced it will increase its existing 47.5% stake to 71.25% by purchasing, for $2.21 billion in cash, half of the existing 47.5% stake owned by the Saudi Kingdom Holding Company (KHC).^[26]

Business model

Four Seasons does not own any of its properties;^[27] it operates them on behalf of real estate owners and developers. For example, its New York Downtown hotel/residence is owned by Silverstein Properties, and its Las Vegas hotel is part of the Mandalay Bay complex. The contracts between Four Seasons and property owners typically permit the company to participate in the design of the property and run it with nearly total control over every aspect of the operation.^[5]

Four Seasons generally earns three percent of the gross income and about five percent of profits from the properties it operates. Property owners are required to additionally contribute money for marketing, chain-wide sales, reservations systems and renovations. Four Seasons hotels have larger staffs than competing chains, and the company maintains separate reserve accounts for each hotel to cover upkeep costs. Profit margins are relatively low, but the brand attracts developers through the hotels' reputation as solid assets for loan collateral or resale.^[5]

Residential rentals

Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts began offering vacation rentals in June 2014. Titled Residential Rentals, the properties are available in: North America (Costa Rica, Houston, Jackson Hole, Nevis, Punta Mita, San Diego, Whistler, Vail). Africa (Marrakech, Mauritius, Seychelles, Sharm El Sheikh), Europe (Cap-Ferrat) and Asia (Bali at Jimbaran Bay, Jakarta, Chiang Mai, Koh Samui, Bangkok). The first stand alone Four Seasons Private Residences opened in London at 20 Grosvenor Square, Mayfair in July 2019. It will be the third Four Seasons venue in London.^[28]

Residential Rentals provide the same services as Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts in a residential setting. Customers are mainly multi-generational vacationers and small group travellers.^[29]

Locations

North America and the Caribbean

Four Seasons has a total of 52 hotels in North America and the Caribbean:

Zdroj:https://en.wikipedia.org?pojem=Four_Seasons_Hotel
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No.	Name	Location	Country	Opening Year	Ref(s)
1	Beverly Wilshire, a Four Seasons Hotel	Beverly Hills	United States	1992[a]	[31]
2	Four Seasons Hotel and Residences Fort Lauderdale	Fort Lauderdale	United States	2022	[32]
3	Four Seasons Hotel at The Surf Club	Surfside	United States	2017	[33]
4	Four Seasons Hotel Atlanta	Atlanta	United States	1997	[34]
5	Four Seasons Hotel Austin	Austin	United States	1986	[35]
6	Four Seasons Hotel Baltimore	Baltimore	United States	2011	[36]
7	Four Seasons Hotel Boston	Boston	United States	1985	[37]
8	Four Seasons Hotel Chicago	Chicago	United States	1989	[38]
9	Four Seasons Hotel Denver	Denver	United States	2010	[39]
10	Four Seasons Hotel Houston	Houston	United States	1982	[40]
11	Four Seasons Hotel Las Vegas	Las Vegas	United States	1999	[41]
12	Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills	Los Angeles	United States	1987	[42]
13	Four Seasons Hotel Mexico City	Mexico City	Mexico	1994	[43]
14	Four Seasons Hotel Miami	Miami	United States	2003	[44]
15	Four Seasons Hotel Minneapolis	Minneapolis	United States	2022	[45]
16	Four Seasons Hotel Montreal	Montreal	Canada	2019	[46]
17	Four Seasons Hotel Nashville	Nashville	United States	2022	[47]
18	Four Seasons Hotel New Orleans	New Orleans	United States	2021	[48]
19	Four Seasons Hotel New York	New York City	United States	1993	[49]
20	Four Seasons Hotel New York Downtown	New York City	United States	2016	[50]
21	Four Seasons Hotel One Dalton Street, Boston	Boston	United States	2019	[51]
22	Four Seasons Hotel Philadelphia at Comcast Center	Philadelphia	United States	2019	[52]
23	Four Seasons Hotel San Francisco	San Francisco	United States	2001	[53]
24	Four Seasons Hotel San Francisco at Embarcadero	San Francisco	United States	2020	[54]
25	Four Seasons Hotel Seattle	Seattle	United States	2008	[55]
26	Four Seasons Hotel Silicon Valley at East Palo Alto	East Palo Alto	United States	2006	[56]
27	Four Seasons Hotel St. Louis	St. Louis	United States	2008	[57]
28	Four Seasons Hotel Toronto	Toronto	Canada	2012	[58]
29	Four Seasons Hotel Washington, D.C.	Washington, DC	United States	1979	[59]
30	Four Seasons Hotel Westlake Village	Westlake Village	United States	2006	[60]
31	Four Seasons Residence Club San Diego, Aviara	Carlsbad	United States	1998	[61]
32	Four Seasons Resort and Residences Anguilla	Anguilla	United Kingdom	2016	[62]
33	Four Seasons Resort and Residences Jackson Hole	Jackson Hole	United States	2003	[63]
34	Four Seasons Resort and Residences Napa Valley	Calistoga	United States	2021	[64]
35	Four Seasons Resort and Residences Vail	Vail	United States	2010	[65]
36	Four Seasons Resort and Residences Whistler	Whistler	Canada	2004	[66]
37	Four Seasons Resort Hualālai	Hualālai	United States	1996	[67]
38	Four Seasons Resort Lanai	Lānaʻi	United States	2005	[68]
39	Four Seasons Resort Los Cabos at Costa Palmas	Los Cabos	Mexico	2019	[69]
40	Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea	Wailea	United States	1990	[70]
41	Four Seasons Resort Nevis	Nevis	Saint Kitts and Nevis	1991	[71]
42	Four Seasons Resort Oahu at Ko Olina	Ko Olina	United States	2016	[72]
43	Four Seasons Resort Orlando at Walt Disney World® Resort	Orlando	United States	2014	[73]
44	Four Seasons Resort Palm Beach	Palm Beach	United States	1994	[74]
45	Four Seasons Resort Punta Mita	Punta Mita	Mexico	1999	[75]
46	Four Seasons Resort Rancho Encantado	Santa Fe	United States	2012	[76]
47	Four Seasons Resort Scottsdale at Troon North	Scottsdale	United States	1999	[77]
48	Four Seasons Resort Tamarindo Mexico	Jalisco	Mexico	2022	[78]
49	Four Seasons Resort The Biltmore Santa Barbara	Santa Barbara	United States	1987	[79]
50	Naviva®, a Four Seasons Resort	Punta Mita	Mexico	2022	[80]
51	Sensei Lanai, a Four Seasons Resort	Lānaʻi	United States	2019	[81]
52