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, Gates-controlled Cascade Investment owns 71.25% and Alwaleed-controlled Kingdom Holding Company owns 23.75% of Four Seasons.[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 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 in the pipeline at the time, such as those in Bali and Istanbul, opened as Four Seasons, while the existing portfolio, such as the Beverly Wilshire, were allowed to temporarily retain the Regent brand until they met brand standards to become Four Seasons properties.[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 had 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, and Sharp owns the remainder.[5]
During the Great Recession, 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 a Business Philosophy. It contained a historical chronicle of the hotels since its inception.[25]
In 2020, COVID-19 lockdowns forced Four Seasons to temporarily close many of its hotels and resorts around the world. Through sheer serendipity, Four Seasons was the only hotel operator in the state of Hawaii willing to allow HBO to take over an entire resort—specifically, the Four Seasons Resort Maui—for 13 weeks to film a new television series with an unknown plot.[26] The first season of The White Lotus was so well received that Four Seasons chose to partner again with HBO for the second and third seasons, which were filmed at its resorts in Taormina, Italy, and Ko Samui, Thailand.[26]
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).[27]
In spring 2025, Four Seasons openly promoted its connection to The White Lotus for the first time during the show's third season.[26] This culminated in the temporary transformation of the Four Seasons Westlake Village into a White Lotus resort and a screening of the season finale with many cast members present.[28]
Business model
Four Seasons does not own any of its properties;[29] it operates them on behalf of real estate owners and developers. For example, 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 (Marrakesh, 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.[30]
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.[31]
Former properties
- Four Seasons Hotel Bangkok, Thailand: Opened in 1978 as The Peninsula Bangkok, it became Regent Bangkok in 1982, with Four Seasons retaining that name after it bought Regent from 1992 to 2003.[32] Four Seasons ended its management contract in 2015, and the hotel was rebranded under owner Minor Hotels' Anantara brand.[33]
- Four Seasons Hotel Berlin, Germany: Opened in 1996, management terminated in 2004. It was subsequently rebranded Regent Berlin.[34]
- Four Seasons Hotel Damascus, Syria: Opened in 2005 and financed by Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal (who is a joint stakeholder at the company) and Syrian businessman Samer Foz. The hotel remained affiliated with the hotel chain years after the start of the
Ships
In 2003, Four Seasons Explorer, a luxury three-deck catamaran with 11 rooms, began to sail in the Maldives. Visitors from the Maldives' two Four Seasons resorts, Kuda Huraa and Landaa Giraavaru, could either book rooms or charter the entire ship for trips that lasted from three to seven days.[52] After two decades, the ship left the Maldives in 2023 for Palau, where Four Seasons began offering tours at the end of that year.[53]
In September 2022, the Four Seasons announced it was launching Four Seasons Yachts. In June 2023, the company confirmed plans for a second ship due for delivery in 2026.[54]
The first ultra luxury super yacht "Four Seasons I" was floated in Fincantieri Shipyard, Italy in January, 2025. The cruise has 95 ultra luxury suites with large balconies and floor-to-ceiling ocean views. It is scheduled to enter service in January 2026 and will be captained by Captain Kate McCue.[55]
Jet
The Four Seasons jet is an Airbus A321 neo-LR with 48 first-class seats designed for Wellness tourism.[56][57]
Critical reception
Travel + Leisure magazine and Zagat Survey rank the hotel chain's properties among the top luxury hotels worldwide.[58][59] Readers of Conde Nast Traveler magazine have voted Four Seasons Tented Camp Golden Triangle in Chiang Rai, Thailand as among the top ten hotels in the world for three consecutive years.[60] The company has been named one of the "100 Best Companies to Work For" by Fortune every year since the survey's inception in 1998, ranking No. 47 in 2015,[61] and is lauded for having one of the lowest employee turnover rates in the hospitality industry.[61][62]