Case_6_HBS_Four_Seasons_Goes_to_Paris.pdf

9-803-069 R E V : J A N U A R Y 8 , 2 0 0 3 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Professor Roger Hallowell of Harvard Business School; David Bowen, Dean, Faculty and Programs, and Professor, Thunderbird, The American Graduate School of International Management; and Carin-Isabel Knoop, Executive Director, Global Research Group (HBS) prepared this case. HBS cases are developed solely as the basis for class discussion. Cases are not intended to serve as endorsements, sources of primary data, or illustrations of effective or ineffective management. Copyright ? 2002 President and Fellows of Harvard College. To order copies or request permission to reproduce materials, call 1-800-545-7685, write Harvard Business School Publishing, Boston, MA 02163, or go to . No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, used in a spreadsheet, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without the permission of Harvard Business School. R O G E R H A L L O W E L L D A V I D B O W E N C A R I N - I S A B E L K N O O P Four Seasons Goes to Paris: “53 Properties, 24 Countries, 1 Philosophy” Europe is different from North America, and Paris is very different. I did not say difficult. I said different. — A senior Four Seasons manager In 2002, Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts was arguably the world’s leading operator of luxury hotels, managing 53 properties in 24 countries and delivering what observers called “consistently exceptional service.” For Four Seasons, that meant providing high-quality, truly personalized service to enable guests to maximize the value of their time, however the guest defined doing so. In 1999, Four Seasons opened the Four Seasons Hotel George V Paris (hereafter, “F. S. George V”), its first French property, by renovating and operating the Hotel George V, a historic Parisian landmark. Doing so was