Since emerging as a small Toronto hostelry some 48 years ago, Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts has consistently affirmed the old axiom that excellent service and august accommodations are the essential ingredients for success in the hospitality industry.
Today, the world-class collection of five-star, medium-sized hotels is synonymous with luxurious pampering set amid unsurpassed surroundings.
To stay in any of the 78 hotels that Four Seasons operates in 32 countries is to enjoy amenities reaching far beyond the ordinary. Here, guests will find glittering spas, clubs, excellent restaurants and other accoutrements that somehow manage to make every guest feel important.
This trademark attention to detail stretches to flawlessly kept venues where tennis courts, swimming pools, gyms and other alluring activity centers are hard to resist even for the most devoted couch potato.
Golfers in particular will find that putting away in any of the 14 onsite courses skirting Four Seasons properties will turn even the most casual game into a memorable experience. Most courses offer fine dining with fairway views or meeting spaces that allow guests to conduct business by the greens.
In fact, every Four Seasons property has access to nearby challenging golf courses. Guests who want to spend a little time working on their swing while enjoying luxury and comfort receive special privileges at nearby championship venues and have the option of being accompanied by Four Seasons pros to instruct on how to iron out the wrinkles in a swing or putt.
According to Craig Reid, senior v.p. of operations for Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, golf is an important component at every resort.
“I am convinced that what separates a Four Seasons course [from others] is the fact that the skill of our golf employees starts with sincere hospitality and expertise, then moves on to golf,” he says. “In addition, we protect tee times for our in-house guests, so that they may have access to prime times, but we also allow for spontaneous games. Guests will find that we welcome golfers of all playing levels and also encourage families to play together.”
Reid says that the most popular course within the collection is the Four Seasons Resort Aviara in California’s north San Diego County. There is a reason for that. Here clients will bask in unspoiled surroundings with a cinemascope panorama made up of a natural wildlife preserve, green valleys, the ocean and a serene lagoon. This retreat of unparalleled luxury and comfort also offers what may easily be the definitive golf experience in Southern California.
Located in Carlsbad, a mere 30 minutes from San Diego, the Aviara is a 200-acre, Spanish colonial-style pleasure palace set high on a bluff carpeted with wildflowers. Its Arnold Palmer-signature golf course is superbly laid out around the natural topography of the resort. This is a picturesque course where the water traps are part of the lagoon and the clubhouse is a Spanish colonial structure offering every amenity that serious golfers require and that occasional duffers relish.
