My nights at Four Seasons
I’ve been reading with interest the excerpts in The Globe and Mail from Israel Sharp’s fascinating book, Four Seasons: the Story of a Business Philosophy (Penguin Canada).
In it, Izzy Sharp describes his crusade to build the world’s finest hotel chain. The chain, which today consists of more than 50 properties around the world, was built literally from the ground up.
Sharp and a few partners put up the first Four Seasons as a downtown motel on a strip of rundown Jarvis Street in Toronto in 1961. Two years later, they built the posh Inn on the Park, and from there extended to cities across Canada and to every continent except Antarctica.
Sharp set out by focusing on four key differentials in his drive to ensure excellence in Four Seasons Hotels:
Four primary elements make the difference between other hotels or resorts and a Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts property: service, quality, culture, and brand. All four defining characteristics are on display and in practice daily in the ritual of the morning meeting.
As one who has stayed at many of Mr. Sharp’s hotels, I can vouch that he’s met his goals in all respects.
But it wasn’t always so.
In 1971, I brought the former Chancellor of West Germany, Ludwig Erhard, to Canada to speak to the Toronto Stock Exchange. I sent people to the airport to meet him, and awaited his arrival at the Inn on the Park.
When Erhard’s limousine drew up, I expected a reasonable welcome from the hotel staff. Not atall. The doorman ignored the car and the bellhops stood around contemplating their navels.
When I was finally able to get Mr. Erhard into his suite (at 8 o’clock in the evening) a couple of maids were still making up the beds. It almost seemed like a “by the hour” sort of establishment.
I chewed out the night manager. The next morning, I was on the phone to Izzy, dragging him from his bathroom when he was shaving to take my call. He’s listened to me politely, and I’m sure took appropriate action. We had no more problems.
Some years later I was booked into the Four Seasons in Ottawa, awaiting a meeting with high-level people in the Mulroney government. I mentioned on arrival that I had an important package following me on the next plane from Toronto. Could I arrange a courier? A member of the staff went to the airport to pick up my package. Talk about service!
Then there was the time that I was hosting Peter Ustinov in Toronto. I called the Four Seasons to book him a suite. The reservation clerk told me the usual rate was $400 a night (this was 1991) but that for Mr. Ustinov, “The rate will be $300.”
Izzy Sharp is right on when he speaks of the importance of service and quality, no matter the business.
And he’s right in arguing that a recession is the ideal time to reinvest in your business. It’s a time when materials and labor are less costly.
And it’s just as important, he writes, for a business to keep up its advertising and promotion during a recession. He recounts how he boosted the ad spend for Four Seasons in the 80s and 90s recessions.
As I don’t travel as much as I used to, I don’t often get to the Four Seasons, except for dinners and such affairs.
But it’s first in my heart, and in the hearts of thousands of others, thanks to Mr. Sharp’s lifelong commitment to delivering value to his customers.
