Blumie

I feel incredibly disloyal posting this thread, but ...

I'm sitting here in a lovely room at the Four Seasons Chicago thinking about how I wish I had been able to get into the Peninsula.

Don't get me wrong: the Four Seasons organization is absolutely first class. What I love about their properties is a guarantee of a very nice and comfortable room and outstanding service.

Yet, while I have no complaints at all about their service, their properties don't impress me the way they once did.

Here at the FS Chicago, I have a very nice executive suite ... that my grandmother would have loved. It's decorated like the Waldorf Towers: very old world. I thought this was great once upon a time, but I find that I now much prefer the more contemporary look of properties like the Peninsula. The bathroom is dated, too. At least it has a separate shower; so many of FS's properties don't.

As others have expressed in the past, I've now come around to the view that it's time for FS to substantially remake many of their properties to bring them into the 21st century. A FS hotel still is a guarantee of great, great service, but with others catching up in the service department, they're going to need to offer more to maintain their edge.

plagioia

I find many of the older FS properties in the US to be very dated and decorated in that horrible style (of course, most of the RC properties both old and new have that same style). Many newer FS properties have a much more contemporary look (Miami, Costa Rica, Jackson Hole, Exuma, Whistler, Silicon Valley) which I prefer too.

fredsxb

I couldn't agree more with you Blumie... I really don't feel like staying in very nice but classic hotels anymore and must say I do enjoy contemporary ones. Unfortunately, there aren't that many options when it comes to contemporary hotels particularly in any specific city...

trvlr70

I agree here. Ten years ago, any city's FS was the top hotel, but that is not necessarily the case anymore. For example, take Chicago where you are now. It has been the FS and RC(managed by FS) for a long time. But now, there is the Peninsula and Park Hyatt, with Trump International, Shangri-La, and Mandarin Oriental on the way. The top hotel category is going to get a lot more crowded and FS definitely needs to step up and keep renovations coming to stay competative.

TRAVELSIG

I would say the consistency of the Four Seasons service is why I stay there. I do wish they would update the decor at some properties...
and I must say that the dropping out of the FHR program for the Prague hotel has forced me to look elsewhere in PRG for most trips

crowe

Not very knowledgeable on the US properties, but I've just returned from four nights at the FS Gresham Palace Budapest, and can safely say that FS still have some of the best properties going.

Superb service in particular, on a par with the Peninsulas in BKK and HKG, which is very hard to achieve in Europe.

ABG

FS PRG is still in the Virtuoso program..... Rates are better than the corp published and offer the breakfast and upgrade if available.

doc

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Perhaps you are just a bit older, wiser, and more experienced?

Don't forget the food is great too!

You make, naturally, some valid points, and your personal taste and preferences are just that - yours.

But, I personally, to be frank, wish I could be staying at the FS more often!

Mark

aa4ever

It's nice to have someone share my viewpoint on Four Seasons, for once. While I agree that service is nice, I find many of them quite dated (take PHL and SIN for example). I think they do need to be refreshed and the rooms need to be modernized. However, I have been very satisfied with their resorts (Chiang Mai especially); I have found their architecture interesting as opposed to the "blah" architecture of many of their hotels.

bearbrick

great food ??...hmm

i have never been impressed with the 4 seasons group generally ..... in the americas in the 90s ..maybe a 4 seasons is something out of the ordinary but when you see such luxury hotels like regent and new park hyatts etc the 4 seasons dontcome across well.and most certainly dont impress..... the desecration of regent by 4 seasons was IMO nothing short of slow torture .

why all the fuss over 4seasons chiangmai? [ a former regent ] most definately overrated .

the george V was such a desecration of a classic that i think we ought to sentence 4seasons to life without parole !!!

service ..blah blah ...lets face it ..unless its really bad or incompetent..it isnt such a BIG deal....i find 4 seasons service eg SPore to be mechanical and almost forced / contrived !

for sure 4seasons never impressed me in the first place and for some reason came charging into the limelight .[ c/o the HRH ] more through hype i suspect...i think in this category the new generation park hyatts will appeal more.

th 4 seasons HK was...ok .generous yes but ok..NOT OK ! ..something clinical about 4 seasons luxury

will be visiting geneva soon ...will check out de bergues...and if they did what they did to george V then i might seek instant justice !!!

luxury

You could sentence me to the FS George V to life without parole and I would gladly accept. I would accept that hotel as a "jail" with the public paying for the "cell" and three meals daily from Le Cinq...... so torturous!!

number_6

Four Seasons spends about USD 1 million per year for flowers at the George V -- such sacrilege! How can they allow standards to fall to such a level, and merely have one of the finest hotels in the world (and merely one of the best restaurants in the world). Surely they should have 10 of the top 10? Yes, shoddy work indeed by Four Seasons, settling for mere excellence.

4Seasons has come far from its origins -- it started as a motel (the original Inn on the Park), and consequently has a mixture of properties at all price points though it has tried to divest itself of the less luxurious properties over the years, and has acquired some remarkable properties. This does make the physical plant significantly different in some cities, however pricing is also lower to compensate. Overall it has been the best managed hotel chain that I've come across, and it has resisted the industry trend to segmentation (for better or worse). The ex-Regent properties that I've stayed at were much better as a 4Seasons (and much worse as an IC, by way of comparison, though that has finally been fixed at the HKG ex-Regent in the past 2 years).

bearbrick

[QUOTE=number_6]Four Seasons spends about USD 1 million per year for flowers at the George V -- such sacrilege! How can they allow standards to fall to such a level, and merely have one of the finest hotels in the world (and merely one of the best restaurants in the world). Surely they should have 10 of the top 10? Yes, shoddy work indeed by Four Seasons, settling for mere excellence.

a USD1million may be spent by george V annually [ horray for christan tortu or whoever supplies the fleurs ] but then.....i would check into the plaza athenee if the meurice is full or if the plaza is full then its off tothe lancaster....but if thats full its off to alaia's marais pad or if thats not available then its a toss betwn bristol or park hyatt....only then and ONLY then its george V ...wait wait the ritz first .......

DrivingRain

Uh-oh...I smell a friendly Paris debate brewing.

Back to the original topic. I agree with Blumie. Four Seasons physical plant has fallen far behind, especially in the US. Regulars in this forum may have noticed that I have been writing about this for quite some time. I and others I know have never been able to figure out why this forum seemed to be so pro-FS. We love FS too, but we thought that if someone read this forum they would think FS is the dominate luxury chain, when that is just not the case. In the US, Ritz Carlton and Mandarin Oriental generally have newer, shinier hotels with better physical features and close to equal...if not equal service. Of course the lack of Club lounges at FS is also a big differentiating factor that works against FS and for RC.

All that being said, FS still has a great product. The physical plant is only one of many factors in determining how strong a hotel is. They have taken notice of the facility problem. But I do not necessarily like the solution. I wish they would build new more often as RC did when their facilities needed a re-do. Instead they are renovating Boston and Philadelphia (unfortunately, these renovations do not include installation of seperate showers). They have completed the Washington renovation. They have lost the contracts in Seattle and Santa Barbara...this actually brings up the overall facility quality of the chain.

Of course the new hotels are great. Though they are not my favorites in the respective cities, the hotels in Miami, San Francisco and New York etc. are all strong from a facility perspective. The new international resorts are also superb.

luxury

True... many of the North America FS hotels are considerably worse in terms of physical plant than overseas. That said, FS world is not confined solely to the US and many of their international properties are fantastic.

At least Seattle, Baltimore, Vail, Toronto-Yorkville (interesting since their current hotel is also in Yorkville) will be all new builds.

A friend showed me his pics of the FS Miami and the room shape and layout looks just like Canary Wharf and San Francisco...... the FS BKK is nearing completion of its renos and I am looking forward to seeing this in May.

As for a friendly George V debate..... I am just happy that I have one less person to compete with for a room or upgrade since the hotel is always nearly, if not completely, full.....