Four Seasons

“I approached the business of innkeeping from a customer’s perspective. I was the host, and the customers were my houseguests. . . . If we give them good value, they will unhesitatingly pay what they think it’s worth. That was the first strategy, and it continues to this day.”

How did a child of immigrants, starting with no background in the hotel business, create the world’s most admired and successful hotel brand? And how has Four Seasons grown dramatically, over nearly half a century, without losing its focus on exceptional quality and unparalleled service?

Isadore Sharp answers these questions in his inspiring memoir. He started out in Toronto, the son of a modest builder from Poland, but ambition and fate rapidly took him beyond his father’s three-man construction business.

Sharp learned the hotel business by trial and error. His breakthrough was a vision for a new kind of hotel, featuring superior design, top-quality amenities, and, above all, a deep commitment to service. Today, Four Seasons is widely recognized as the world leader in comfort and luxury—in fact, it sets the standard by which every luxury hotel is measured.

If you’ve ever set foot in a Four Seasons hotel, you know that every property accomplishes a rare and elusive aim: to deliver a memorable and unique guest experience at every point of contact. It’s not just the custom-made beds or the fact that the staff always remembers your name. It’s a feat accomplished through genuine engagement at every level of the company, from the hotel managers and concierges to the housekeepers and doormen.

Four Seasons is the story of a unique approach to creating an extraordinary brand by building a culture of true respect and caring—and nurturing that culture in more than thirty countries around the world.