A passion for people

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Four Seasons Resort Provence at Terre Blanche in France.

But, while current expansion is taking the name into weird and wonderful locations - palazzos and palaces in Europe, beachfront residences in the Indian Ocean, theme parks in the US and more - it is the service culture that now distinguishes Four Seasons from its as equally sumptuous competitors.

While it is company policy to achieve the highest room rate in any destination - and Four Seasons does rank highest for revPAR through the Middle East - this aim can only be reached by delivering a consistent product that rewards both repeat and new customers.

And, expansion to the four corners of the globes has been made possible by using staff as ambassadors to expand that Four Seasons culture, according to Antoine Corinthios, president, operations, Europe, Middle East and Africa, citing the example of the Cairo launch when even the owner expressed doubt that good service could be imported into the Egyptian capital.

"Early on during our move in to the Middle East, the Cairo owner wanted to see our (non-existent) training manual to discuss the contents since he felt that people would not have the ability to deliver in Egypt as in the rest of the world," said Corinthios.

Since that time, more than 250 staff have moved on from the Four Seasons First Residence to open other hotels both in the region and elsewhere, creating a mythology of the Four Seasons ‘college' in the Middle East.

But, with global expansion a priority, the willingness of staff to commit to Four Seasons and move with the company in to new destinations has stood the group in good stead in challenging environments.

"When going to out-of-the-way places, our ambassadors are vital," stressed FitzGibbon. "It helps that the staff holiday with us too, as they have 12 days a year free at any of our hotels and receive 50% discounts on F&B."

This commitment to people as a resource, the creation of a trust and an open line of communication between management and staff, and a very real corporate family dynamic is apparent both back and front of house.

At the Four Seasons at the Bosphorus in Istanbul, for instance, a typical back-of-house environment includes the restaurant and internet lounge used by both management and staff; great ideas board; media board displaying articles written about the hotel; cartoons of the management adorning the corridors along with staff party photos; a world map showing all group hotels (also known as the holiday board), a library of management and training books and a shoe cleaner.

There, the concierge in an average day had fixed some glasses, glued a pair of cuff links and sourced a musical instrument, as well as buying a novel for a guest who was in the middle of reading it but had left the book at home.

The result, according to general manager Marcos Bekhit, is that a warmth has been created by his staff in just nine months that is already exciting letters of praise from customers: "These are coming in not just for the product, but for the employees," he said.

"As general manager, I spent 15 minutes with each member of staff, but in talking about culture and hotels, they have heard it all before and to build the culture, we have to build trust and respect - we have 450 staff, half of whom are new to Four Seasons, but I tell them all that we are like pieces in a puzzle that is not completed without one piece."

And, while the commitment to have nurture and evolve staff to intuitively deliver service that is anticipatory to the point of a ‘wow' factory is a staple ingredient of the Four Seasons product, the only downside comes in the real world.

"We aim to treat others as we would have them treat ourselves, both guest and staff, but the challenge sometimes is when we leave the hotel at the end of the day and go into the outside with its rough edges," said a hotel employee.

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