Creative Execution: What Great Leaders Do to Unleash Bold Thinking and Innovation

Creating the New Four Seasons

As the global economy continues to stutter, the competition between the Four Seasons and the Ritz-Carlton and Marriott will heat up and expand. Boutique hotels, which only make up 3 percent of the U.S. hotel industry, are quickly becoming trendier and more appealing than large luxury hotels. Already half the new hotels under construction in Manhattan are boutique types. And while RevPar grew in 2010 and 2011 (at around 7 percent both years, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers), the largest growth is coming from Asian destinations like China and Singapore. Other than the recent reopening of the Four Seasons London at Park Lane, the Four Seasons opened four new hotels in 2011: Guangzhou (China), Marrakesh, Baku, and ...