Four Seasons Joins Ranks of Premier Hotels : Opening Is Symbolic of Upscale Trend

Days before Wednesday’s grand opening of the Four Seasons Hotel in Newport Beach, the luxurious lobby’s centerpieces--two hand-woven rugs valued at $40,000--were still sitting somewhere in Bangkok.

“We were really biting our fingernails, wondering if they’d get here,” said Klaus Tenter, general manager of the $75-million hotel.

But Four Seasons executives, who pride themselves on service, weren’t about to have the rug pulled out from under them. The company chartered an Air France jet to Bangkok. The jet brought the designer rugs into town just hours before the big opening bash.

When the doors opened at the 314-room Four Seasons Hotel late Wednesday morning, the doors also opened on a new direction for the area’s hotel industry. An upscale revolution of the local hotel market is taking place at near-frantic speed. The Four Seasons--the 20th hotel in the Toronto-based chain’s network of first-class lodgings--joins the Ritz-Carlton in Laguna Niguel as yet another world-class hotel in Orange County.

While Four Seasons will manage the hotel, it is the Irvine Co. that developed and owns it.

The company--recognized primarily as a residential and commercial developer--is emerging as a powerful hotel development firm. The Four Seasons joins the Irvine Hilton as the company’s second hotel, and many more are on the way. The company plans to build four more premier hotels over the next five years, said Irvine Hotel Co. President Jim Kelley, who attended the grand opening.

Four Proposed Hotels

“I don’t know that you can top this,” he said, pointing to the 20-floor hotel that towers over Fashion Island. “But our other projects can be just as spectacular.” The four other proposed hotels, which would total about 1,900 rooms, could cost up to $500 million, he estimated. He said that construction could begin within the next three years and that all four projects could be finished within five years.

Observing the grand opening with a discerning eye is the Ritz-Carlton--which enjoyed the same limelight when it opened in Laguna Niguel two years ago.

Henry E. Schielein, general manager of the Ritz-Carlton, said the opening of the rival hotel will not affect the Ritz-Carlton’s operations. “We try to be the best hotel we can be with or without the Four Seasons,” he said.

The Ritz-Carlton is generally viewed by industry executives as more of a weekend resort hotel while the Four Seasons will appeal more strongly to the week-day corporate guest.

In attempts to solidify that appeal, Four Seasons offers guests some unusual amenities, such as at least two phones in every room, and black-and-white television sets in the bathrooms. For the fitness-minded executive, the hotel also features five daily aerobics classes. And massages are available for $60 per hour, and facials for $50 per hour.

Other area hotels also plan to cash in on the expanding market that the Four Seasons and Ritz-Carlton have created. “We hope that executives who try the Ritz-Carlton and Four Seasons their first and second visits, will try us on their third trip,” said Dennis Clarke, general manager at the Irvine Hilton. He pointed out that room rates at his hotel can be half the cost of the high-priced competitors.

The lowest-priced single room at the Four Seasons is $140. Suites begin at $190. The hotel’s Presidential Suite, which can be booked only through the general manager, goes for $1,000 a night.

Shopping Center Interested

Fashion Island, undergoing renovation across from the hotel, also expects to pick up new business from the hotel. The shopping center expects to soon offer weekend package promotions in tandem with the hotel, said Kathleen Flood, Fashion Island’s marketing manager. The package deals would feature special room rates combined with meals, shows and shopping specials at the center for hotel guests.

Besides appealing to top-notch guests, the hotel has lured employees from many competing area hotels. Paul Austin, a bellman, left the Irvine Hilton to work at the Four Seasons. But the job didn’t come easy. It required five separate interviews, including one with the general manager.

After just one week on the job, he says he has learned a lot about the caliber of service he must show the corporate chiefs who stay at the hotel. “It’s not so much that guests demand great service,” Austin said, “they just expect it.”