Four Seasons Hotels are different from each other and noticeably a notch above most other hotel brands. Look at any guest rating surveys of hotel brands and Four Seasons will typically be number one or two with Ritz-Carlton or some other exclusive lodging brand. I must confess that I have never slept in a Four Seasons Hotel since the typical nightly rate places me in the excluded class of these exclusive hotels. But I have spent time checking out a few Four Seasons Hotels and I have had several experiential dining adventures with Four Seasons.
Last week I stopped by the Four Seasons Westlake Village which is located in the last suburban city in northern Los Angeles County before heading into Ventura County at Thousand Oaks on Highway 101, known locally as the Ventura Freeway. Across the street from the Four Seasons Hotel is the global headquarters of Dole Foods.
Wikipedia lists Westlake Village as one of the most affluent communities in Los Angeles. Westlake Village is a planned community that developed over the past fifty years from a large cattle ranch. This is the ultimate in California suburbia with country clubs (Tiger Woods is playing this weekend in the Chevron World Challenge at Sherwood Country Club and at the time of writing leading the tournament by four strokes after 54 holes – The Bar at Four Seasons must be feverishly fun), lakes, horse and hiking trails in the Santa Monica Mountains and of course freeways.
Typical of Four Seasons Hotels is museum quality art. Here is a rare Twelve Panel Porcelain Throng-Back Screen, Qing Dynasty in the hallway across from Onyx Restaurant.
Four Seasons may not have a hotel loyalty program, but Four Seasons Westlake Village has a 10% discount dining program for Hampton’s and Onyx.
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Long, wide hallways are a striking design feature of the Four Seasons Westlake Village.
These are the kind of hallways more common to 19th century hotel design where showing off your wears along the promenade was part of the hotel experience. I rarely see a new build hotel with grand halls.
Along the main hallway are wedding planning rooms, The Bar, The Spa, the kitchen for the Wellness Institute and a variety of window viewing experiences that can be lifestyle learning experiences if you so desire. Four Seasons epitomizes luxury with the opportunity to be trained, treated and pampered.
Hotel design element details also make a difference in a luxury hotel setting. For example, the wall paper is actually engaging when walking the stairways of the Four Seasons Westlake Village.
Hamptons and Onyx are the two hotel restaurants.
Hamptons Restaurant (photo courtesy of Four Seasons Westlake Village)
Typically I only post my own photos, but I visited Four Seasons Westlake Village in the morning when restaurants were not open, the lobby lounge was crowded with people and it was an impromptu stop without an appointment on a Saturday morning so I had limited access to many of the beautiful spaces.
Four Seasons Westlake Village has many more photos and video on the hotel website.
Indoor Pool (photo courtesy of Four Seasons Westlake Village)
The grounds of the hotel are lovely for a stroll or a wedding.
Check out the Four Seasons Westlake Village website for room descriptions and photos.
Luxurious Bathroom (photo courtesy of Four Seasons Westlake Village)
Loyalty Traveler does not typically write about Four Seasons Hotels due to no loyalty program component for the hotel chain. The coincidence of driving home to Monterey from southern California and needing a hotel stop and learning there was a Four Seasons in Westlake Village led to my visiting this property last week in a town that I had never stopped in before.
The Hyatt Westlake Village is just one mile north on the other side of Highway 101 from the Four Seasons. The Hyatt is a fine upper upscale hotel where I had a wonderful Hyatt Gold Passport Diamond experience with an upgraded room and good breakfast.
When you want a luxurious experience the Four Seasons is definitely a class above the Hyatt.
Kind of like the Tiger Woods of hotels.
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