Shangri-La

I just wish FS would inject a little more personality (tied with the local culture) into some of it's properties, particularly the city hotels.

The size of Beijing seems a little too big for my tastes-313 rooms, 66 suites, and 1 presidential suite.

phantom862

Don't mind FS taking over other properties , so long as they make it appealing with superior service and decor.

Most of their european hotels are reconversions with Paris , Geneva , Istanbul etc being their flagship properties .

They have made mistakes though... some of the old Regent hotels should never have been a FS.

like Jakarta , Singapore . Sydney has a good location but the building is ugly , uninspiring and has very small rooms.

The major challenge ahead for FS is to upgrade their American properties.
It is laughable that FS NYC charges obscenely expensive rates when all they can offer is outdated decor , outdated facilities and substandard service.

Atlanta , Philadelphia , Dallas , Austin , Houston are all in the same league and require EXTENSIVE renovations like what was done to London at Park Lane

Personally i enjoyed my stay at Doha , Hong Kong and even Riyadh than at NYC or Houston

Shangri-La

It really seems like it's the relationship between FS and the property owners. Prince Al Waleed bin Talal seems more than willing to splash the cash and let FS do its thing, where owners like Ty Warner tend to be more tight wads.

patekfan

I think a happy middle point is the renovations at FS and RCFS Chicago even with owners (JMB Realty), who are known not to want to spend too much.

The rooms and public spaces are great even though it didn't do a full FS London renovation with being out of commission for 2+ years.

Ciao!

luxury

FS is aware of this bifurcation of their portfolio. I was chatting with some senior management of Le George plus other Execs based in Paris in March and they are painfully aware of this. FS are trying to make changes where possible but while they did not concede this, reading between the lines, they feel this is an upwards battle. They do wish they could do a Toronto or London Park Lane at many of their North American properties.

On a separate note, I've also noticed that the room design (not interior design) but the physical space of the room is virtually identical at Canary Wharf, Miami and San Francisco.

patekfan

Aren't the Four Seasons in Miami and San Francisco both owned by Millenium Partners? Don't think Canary Wharf is...right?

Kagehitokiri

millenium (both used Gary Handel and Associates) sold controlling in MIA/SFO to westbrook

http://press.fourseasons.com/canarywharf/hotel-facts/

WATG have done 8 FS

Kagehitokiri

http://www.businesstravelerusa.com/m...t-safari-lodge
bilila confirmed by Jane Burnell, VP Sales EMEA

http://www.cpp-luxury.com/en/antoine...ment_2216.html

AmanJunkies

Tanzania may open another smaller Tented camp resort, slightly bigger than Golden Triangle.

Another China property just appointed a pre-opening GM, very unique design.

Shangri-La

Four Seasons has been absent from key European markets such as Spain and Germany. What is your strategic approach related to these markets? Unlike other luxury hotel chains, Four Seasons' development strategy does not include leasing, which is very much a norm on the German market. We have been intensly reviewing properties in Munich, Frankfurt and Berlin however, we have not yet identified one to match Four Seasons' criteria.

What is leasing in luxury hotel terms? Is it like a hotel management contract?

Kagehitokiri

same as in other terms - leasehold ownership

Shangri-La

So the hotel company actually leases the building, compared to just managing it for the property owners? Interesting. I'm guessing it's a lot more expensive that way then, since the hotel companies are actually funding the building's upkeep and investments?

Are the other luxury properties in Germany leaseholds (MO Munichand PH's properties)?


I'm still a little uncertain on the new properties in Santa Fe and Tanzania right away; hopefully they can get the FS imprint-both in terms style personality and service-quickly.

xracer

I am curious to see what FS does with the Santa Fe property. Since it is rather new, I can't imagine that it would really need any redecoration. The physical issues that this resort has are related to overall site design and I doubt that FS can do much to address those.

And I wonder about Tanzania as well. Although I have not been there, the resort itself looks quite nice (and new), so I wonder what improvements FS plans to make to the hard product. I wonder if FS will market this place as a 'safari lodge' to compete with places like the various Singita lodges. If so, I would think that the fact that resort has over 70 rooms would be a problem. Isn't a great safari lodge, by definition, small?

Kagehitokiri

Shangri-La, lease = own, mgmt cos used to own tons of properties.. lots sold, but not like its not done now..

xracer, youre not mentioning rate difference in africa?
although bilila rates may be going (too?) high... even if they remove seasons
also >
that was posted a year ago. FS doesnt even have comparable to RC phulay...

RC >
54 phulay reserve (owned by piya bhirombhakdi of singha)

FS >
11 maldives explorer (and both FS maldives owned by HPL/ong)
15 golden triangle (owned by minor/heinecke)
44 carmelo (and [PH] buenos aires signed with involvement from 'original' FS exec orenstein)

did (non-FS) carmelo golf residences ever get built?

edit - bilila was confirmed in HPL annual report dated mar/apr 12, before above article apr 25

aa213bb

And Carmelo SUCKS.