High-tech hotels: Four Seasons increases connectivity

Ready to roll: The Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles has a high-tech Mercedes van for meetings.

By Mark Chesnut

Staying connected is getting easier than ever at Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts—with mobile meeting space, Wi-Fi–equipped limousines and even Skype-assisted check-ins among the latest offerings.

As of October 1, free Wi-Fi is now available in all Four Seasons house cars and contracted limo services, at all of the company’s hotels around the world—including the recently opened Four Seasons Hotel Pudong, Shanghai. In some cases, cars may also be equipped with iPads that offer hotel information including spa and restaurant menus.

In addition, in-room basic Internet service is now free at Four Seasons—a potentially big selling point for travelers who are tired of paying premium prices at other luxury hotels.

The ride from the airport can be an especially productive time for guests at several of the company’s properties. Guests en route to the Beverly Wilshire, a Four Seasons Hotel and the Four Seasons Resort Costa Rica, at Peninsula Papagayo, can now connect live with Four Seasons staff while riding in the hotel car from the airport—allowing them to check in via Skype, book restaurant and spa reservations and order room service. At the Four Seasons Hotel Doha, a unique iPad application connects guests to a live concierge via Bluetooth speakerphone technology with the touch of a button. And at the Four Seasons Resort Jackson Hole, wildlife tour guides use an iPad to show maps and migration pictures, plus take photos that guests can take home as souvenirs.

The brand-new Four Seasons Hotel Toronto, which opened in October, features an iPad in every guest room. So does the Four Seasons Los Angeles, at Beverly Hills, a property that has become a major hub for the company’s innovative technology. The Los Angeles hotel now offers an eight-passenger Mercedes van equipped for en-route meetings—complete with swivel chairs, two plasma screens, electrical outlets and unlimited Wi-Fi. And for those times when nothing works as well as a good old face-to-face meeting, the hotel’s executive chef, Ashley James, has introduced a new Power Lunch for groups, available through December 2012. The specially priced two-course lunch, served in one of the hotel’s private event rooms, might be ideal for closing that next deal.

Mark Chesnut is a travel writer, editor and publisher of LatinFlyer.com, which focuses on travel to Latin America. He spends way too much time connected to the Internet. 

Tagged: California, Hotels