Four Seasons to Open Flagship Hotel in Toronto

By Adriana Pop, Associate Editor

On Oct. 5, Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts will celebrate a homecoming of sorts with the opening of a landmark–a 259-room hotel in Toronto, the multicultural metropolis where the company was founded more than 50 years ago.

Located at 60 Yorkville Avenue in the city’s most fashionable neighborhood, the flagship venture boasts two sleek towers connected by a skyway bridge, and a separate building for events.

The Four Seasons Hotel Toronto features 217 spacious rooms and 42 luxury suites. Amenities include an exquisite 28,000 square-foot spa that offers 17 customized treatment rooms, a full service salon, a relaxation pool with adjacent whirlpool, fitness center and yoga studio. Guests will also have access to an innovative culinary expertise with Café Boulud and dbar (a restaurant and lounge) by international restaurateur and Chef Daniel Boulud.

The hotel’s function spaces total more than 14,000 square feet and include two main event rooms and nine smaller meeting rooms for the city’s milestone celebrations and important business and social gatherings.

The new development includes the luxurious Four Seasons Private Residences Toronto, a residential component of 210 units. Residents will have full access to all the services and amenities of the Four Seasons Hotel Toronto.

“The new Four Seasons Hotel Toronto is a showcase for the next generation of Four Seasons experiences, helping to exemplify where we’re headed in the future,” said President and Chief Executive Officer Katie Taylor. “It gives us all a sense of pride to display the very best of Four Seasons, right here in our hometown.”

Since it was founded in 1961, Four Seasons has expanded across five continents and 36 countries. The company’s growth strategy includes expansion in every corner of the world.

China is one of the largest areas of focus for the next four years. A new property in Guangzhou opened in July, and additional hotels are slated to open in Beijing and Shanghai Pudong in the coming weeks, as well as a hotel in Shenzhen in the near future.

This fall, Four Seasons will also enter Sub-Saharan Africa, with the opening of the first of three properties, Four Seasons Safari Lodge Serengeti, Tanzania. Additional new developments are planned in Ngorongoro Conservation Area and on the island of Zanzibar.

The Middle East represents more than 10 percent of the company’s portfolio. The first hotel in the region opened in Cairo in 2000. Future projects include Four Seasons Hotel Baku, Azerbaijan opening in September 2012, and Four Seasons Resort Dubai at Jumeirah Beach, opening by the end of 2014.