TORONTO—Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts is kicking off 2018 with a list of openings planned in new markets, including the company’s first standalone residential project. To support the company’s growing residential business, Paul White has been appointed to president, Residential at Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts. Reporting to the president of Portfolio Management and Owner Relations, Michael A. Crawford, this newly created global role is focused exclusively on the company’s existing residential properties and the more than 30 projects currently in advanced stages of development, including working with owner partners to develop, design, and market residential projects.
“Our singular focus is on luxury lifestyle, encompassing Four Seasons hotels and resorts, and increasingly, Four Seasons Private Residences,” says J. Allen Smith, president and CEO, Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts. “For decades, Four Seasons has been synonymous with the highest standards of quality and service for luxury travellers, many of whom have now chosen to ultimately live at Four Seasons. We are now committing even greater resources to this priority.”
“Paul and his team oversee what we project will be $10 billion in Four Seasons residential sales over the next five years,” continues Crawford. “Four Seasons is distinct in the market as we also manage our residential properties, thus ensuring world-class service for our homeowners. We are also the only brand with a dedicated residential team, a team that under Paul’s leadership will continue to evolve our offerings and provide owners with a luxury lifestyle experience that can only be found through Four Seasons.”
The company’s portfolio of Four Seasons Private Residences, as well as its villa and residence rentals program, has grown to include 38 properties in 17 countries, and is set to double in the next five years. Twenty Grosvenor Square, a Four Seasons Residence in London, opening this year, will be the first standalone Four Seasons residential property, while approximately 80 percent of current hotel and resort development projects include a residential component.
Four Seasons’ 2017 Growth Highlights
Four Seasons opened seven hotels and resorts last year, including a second location in London at Ten Trinity Square after the historic landmark’s restoration. The company also expanded in China, where it opened its ninth location in the port city of Tianjin. The company also opened its first hotel in Kuwait and the first Four Seasons in Tunisia on a prime beachfront location just minutes from both urban attractions and major archaeological sites. In another Four Seasons first, the company expanded its mountain portfolio to Europe in collaboration with the Rothschild family with a new hotel in Megève.
In Surfside, Fla., architect Richard Meier’s and designer Joseph Dirand’s vision for reviving the historic Surf Club came to life as a Four Seasons hotel and residences. Late in the year, just one month after announcing plans to convert, Paradise Island’s legendary Ocean Club in the Bahamas debuted as a Four Seasons experience.
In 2017, the company also announced plans to open Four Seasons hotels, resorts, and residences in Korea at Jeju Island; the Chinese port city of Dalian; a second location in Saudi Arabia at Makkah; and a second property in Vietnam in the heart of Hanoi.
Looking Ahead at 2018
In addition to Twenty Grosvenor Square, a Four Seasons Residence, Four Seasons has several anticipated hotel and resort openings in 2018, with most featuring Private Residences, including a new hotel next to the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur.
The company will open its second hotel in India along with Private Residences in Bengaluru, one of India’s fastest growing cities, as well as its second resort in Seychelles on the secluded Desroches Island.
Four Seasons will return to Philadelphia with a new hotel in what will be the city’s tallest building. In partnership with Comcast, the hotel will have enhanced technology for luxury travellers. Four Seasons will also debut in Brazil with a new hotel and residences in São Paulo and in Greece with the conversion of a longstanding favourite on the Athenian Riviera, the Astir Palace.
