Page 95 - Hospitality Horizon - February-March 2021

HOTELS

SEASONS’

GREETINGS

ONE YEAR ON, FOUR SEASONS HOTEL BENGALURU
HAS NOT ONLY RAISED THE BAR FOR HOSPITALITY

BUT IT HAS ALSO REDEFINED SERVICE STANDARDS

BY SHAFQUAT ALI

uilding a luxury hotel is one thing. . Weaving luxury into
the fabric of the hotel and translating that DNA
seamlessly into the guest experience, on the other hand,
is more easily said than done. More so if the hotel in
question is part of a trendsetting hotel chain in the
Bworld that is known for its brand of ‘understated’ luxury.
Well, it takes time. It takes effort. And, most importantly, it takes
good understanding of the market.
To its credit, Four Seasons Hotel Bengaluru (only the second of the
world’s leading luxury hospitality brand to open in India in mid-2019)
has done just that, with the relative ease. One year into its operations,
it has not only raised the bar for hospitality but also redefined service
standards in India.
“Luxury is not about overdoing,” says Fredrik Blomqvist, General
Manager of Four Seasons Hotel Bengaluru, summing up the ethos of
the brand. He couldn’t be more right. The idea of a much more
understated and discreet luxury is slowly being comprehended by
well-travelled Indians.
By all accounts, Fredrik left nothing to chance from the moment he
touched down from Shanghai a year before the opening of the hotel.
He drove straight to the construction site and, armed with a laptop, a
phone connection and little else began his job in earnest as “employee
number one”.
What followed was an extraordinary journey that shaped the
opening of one of the finest luxury hotels in the country.

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hospitality horizon FEBRUARY-MARCH 2021