What does the pinnacle of luxury look like? Is it 24/7 butler service? Panoramic views from a presidential suite? Limitless dining options offering everything imaginable? Four Seasons Hotel Riyadh boasts all these things and more, but it’s not glitz nor glamour that make the hotel luxurious, it is the staff’s respect of guests’ valuable time which sets the property so far apart from others.
Located within the country’s most iconic modern building, Kingdom Centre, Four Seasons Hotel Riyadh is one of the exclusive – yet best-known – hotels in the Kingdom. Frequented by royals, lived in by celebrities and visited by travellers from all over the world, it is a place which has mastered – and defined – modern Saudi hospitality.
As more hotels enter the market, those running the Four Seasons are confident their hotel will stay on top. Regional vice president and general manager Guenter Gebhard tells Hotelier Middle East: “We continuously look to upgrade this hotel. The past year has been a lot of planning for restaurants and other plans to come. We have renovation plans all the way until 2025.”
In July last year, the hotel completed the refurbishment of its Kingdom Suite. The refreshed Kingdom Suite was possible thanks to a US$150 million renovation project by Four Seasons Hotel Riyadh, now complete, which seeks to push the hotel “into a whole new dimension of excellence.”
Gebhard adds: “These refurbishments are absolutely necessary. Look at any of the top hotels in the world, you’ll notice they actually have quite short intervals between refurbishments and upgrades. We are in the business of providing unique experiences and we can only do that if we remain relevant.”
If the hotel is already at the top of the market, positioned in the most alluring location of them all, why refurb at all? The RVP explains: “One of the biggest mistakes any hotel at the top of the market can make, is waiting until you’re not at the top anymore. Primarily, we see ourselves as a trend-setter rather than a trend follower. We come up with the ideas first and we drive forward what we think is where the market will go.”
Refurbishments and rehauls can only go so far, the RVP explains, what truly makes Four Seasons special is its approach to service. He says: “Many will say that luxury is a high-end bag, a nice car, mainly touchand-feel stuff. My feeling is that the highest level of luxury out there is time.
“You can’t buy time, it’s not for sale. Luxury is about what you do with that time. How unique an experience can we fit into that 24 hour time frame? That is our task as luxury hoteliers. We need to be able to read our guests well, seek out their interests, and deliver on the promise of exceeding expectations.”
With such a personalised approach, naturally, the hotel puts a lot of focus onto its talent. Gebhard explains: “I see myself not necessarily by my title, I see myself as a trainer and a mentor. I’m here to share knowledge and accelerate the careers of others.
“With that approach, localisation becomes very natural. We hire people we know will understand what luxury hospitality means.”
He proudly tells us the hotel has around 40 percent localisation of its talent, a crucial component of the hotel’s success. He says: “Localisation hasn’t been difficult for us, we want our Saudis to be front and centre, we want to help them grow.”
A we hear so often in Saudi hospitality, Four Seasons isn’t just a hotel experience, it is as if you were welcomed into a local’s home.
He explains: ”We will stay on top exactly the same way we have done for the last five years. We stay flexible, nimble and we continue to innovate. We look at our guest as a guest, not as a paying customer.”