Canadian businessman Isadore Sharp founded Four Season Brands. Four Seasons, the world’s largest hotel chain, has managed to spread from Toronto to many countries of the world. The company, which has more than 100 luxury hotels all over the world, continues to serve today. This article compiles what you need to know about Four Season Brands.
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History of Four Season Brands
The Four Seasons Hotel Group was founded in Toronto in 1961. The hotel’s design, founded by an architect named Isadore Sarp, also belongs to Sharp. Established in the suburban area of Toronto, the first hotel began to serve people visiting the city for business travel.
In the first Four Seasons hotel, a luxury discotheque was opened for people’s entertainment. Sharp built the Inn on the Park hotel in 1963 and opened the first Four Seasons hotel in London in 1970.
Unfortunately, the rapid growth of Four Season Brands came to an end in 1974. In fact, the hotel chain has almost come to the brink of bankruptcy. Recovering itself in the 1990s, Four Seasons became the biggest rival of the Ritz-Carlton, the most famous hotel of that period.
1- Financial Crisis for Four Season Brands
Although we say that the hotel was a house of the world for a long time, things started to turn around with the arrival of the 2000s. While many brands suffered losses as of September 11, Four Seasons refused to adapt to the situation and decided not to apply discounts on room rates.
2- Bill Gates Era
Bill Gates is mentioned in many sources as the Four Seasons owner. Bill Gates, the founder of a big brand like Microsoft, bought Four Seasons shares through Cascade Investment, one of the investment companies. Prince Al-Waleed Bin Talal holds other shares of the hotel through the Kingdom Holding Company.
After all these share purchase and sale transactions, Isadore Sharp has 5% of the hotel’s shares left.
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3- Four Seasons Locations
Four Season Brands has branches of luxury hotels in many parts of the world. Besides North America and Canada, there are hotels in the Bahamas, Mexico, Colombia, Argentina, Costa Rica, the United Kingdom and Italy. Here are the locations of other hotel branches within the body of Four Season Brands:
- Istanbul Turkey
- Milan, Italy
- Lisbon, Portugal
- Paris, France
- Budapest, Hungary
- Geneva, Switzerland
- Baku, Azerbaijan
- Petersburg, Russia
- Florence, Italy
- Athens, Greece
- Madrid, Spain
It is possible to answer the question of “how many Four Seasons Hotels are there” with more than 100 branches worldwide.
4- Is The Four Seasons Owned by Marriot?
One of the most curious things about Four Season Brands is whether the hotel has anything to do with Marriot. However, contrary to popular belief, Marriot and Four Seasons serve as different hotel groups. While the headquarters of Four Seasons is located in Toronto, Marriot continues to be managed from Maryland.
