Jump to content

Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Tommy0876 (talk | contribs) at 14:21, 22 May 2007. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Four Seasons Hotels Inc.
Company typePrivate foundation = 1960
Industryhospitality, tourism
HeadquartersToronto, Canada
Key people
Isadore Sharp, Founder, Chairman & CEO
Kathleen P. Taylor, President & COO
James FitzGibbon, President Hotel Operations
John Davison, Executive Vice President & CFO
Randolph Weisz, Executive Vice President & General Counsel
Nicholas Mutton, Executive Vice President Human Resources & Administration
Barbara M. Talbott, Executive Vice President Marketing
Websitewww.fourseasons.com
Four Seasons Hotel Atlanta underneath the GLG Grand.

Four Seasons Hotels, Inc. is a Canadian-based international luxury hotel chain consisting of 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 21 AAA [3] five diamond properties.

History

  • 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 first introduced a full-service spa in 1986, at Four Seasons Resort and Club Dallas at Las Colinas.
  • The hotel chain now considers spa 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 publicly traded 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. Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates has a substantial holding in the company along with Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal of Saudi Arabia. On November 6, 2006, Bill Gates, through his holding company Cascades Investment LLC, and Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal made an offer to take the company private for US$3.4 billion (excluding debt).[4][5] On February 12, 2007, the deal was finalized, Gates and Al-Waleed paying $82 USD per share. On April 27, 2007, it was announced that all details of plan for the take over had been completed. [6]

Operation

Four Seasons Hotels operates a residential program called the Residence Club that involves the sale of villas, penthouses and the like within select Four Seasons properties as private properties. The company currently operates 74 properties in 31 countries and has another 25 locations under development.

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.[7] 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.[8][9][10][11][12]

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. ^ Elizabeth Church (2006-11-06). "Four Seasons strikes deal to go private". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2006-11-06. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  5. ^ William Spain (2006-11-06). "Four Seasons gets $3.7 billion takeover offer: Team of investors includes Four Seasons chief, Saudi prince, Bill Gates". MarketWatch, Inc. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  6. ^ David Litterick (2007-02-13). "Bill Gates and Prince Alwaleed bin Talal in Four Seasons deal". Telegraph Media Group Limited.
  7. ^ John Waples (2006-10-01). "British duo build new millionaires' playground in Barbados and Grenada". The Sunday Times.
  8. ^ "Government of Grenada to sell off National Park for Four Seasons resort" (Press release). BirdLife International. 2006-12-19. Retrieved 2007-02-19.
  9. ^ "Grenada update: No 'peace on earth' for rare dove" (Press release). BirdLife International. 2006-12-22. Retrieved 2007-02-19.
  10. ^ "Grenada update: Grenada government defiant as dove sanctuary protest grows" (Press release). BirdLife International. 2007-02-16. Retrieved 2007-02-20.
  11. ^ "Four Season resort spells doom for Grenada's national bird" (Press release). American Bird Conservancy. 2007-01-08. Retrieved 2007-02-20.
  12. ^ Margaret Atwood. "Protect the Granada Dove". Retrieved 2007-02-20. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)


See also

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Four_Seasons_Hotels_and_Resorts&oldid=132684712"