Four Seasons Vancouver to Close in 2020

Date: May 2018

Location: Downtown Vancouver

Name: Four Seasons Vancouver – to close January 2020

No. of Keys: 372, including 66 suites

Owner: Cadillac Fairview Corp., which also owns the Pacific Centre shopping mall attached to the hotel.

Cadillac Fairview’s development activity is primarily focused on redeveloping existing assets and new development projects in their four core markets in Canada: Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto and Montreal, comprising mainly large condominium developments, retail and offices.

Cadillac Fairview is one of the largest owners, operators and developers of best-in-class office, retail and mixed-use properties in North America. The company also invests in retail, mixed-use and industrial real estate in Brazil, Colombia and Mexico.

Valued at more than $29 billion, Cadillac Fairview owns over 37 million square feet of leasable space at 71 properties in Canada, including landmark developments, such as Toronto-Dominion Centre, CF Toronto Eaton Centre, CF Pacific Centre and CF Chinook Centre.

Cadillac Fairview has been wholly owned by the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan since 2000. Ontario Teachers’ is a diversified global investor and administers the pensions of more than 300,000 active and retired school teachers.

In April 2018, OTPP acquired 40% of European Camping Group, which is positioned exclusively in the mobile-homes holiday market and is the European leader, generating revenues of €230 million.

The group offered holiday solutions to its customers in some 20,000 units (mainly mobile-homes) across almost 300 destinations in Europe, via its five complementary brands: Eurocamp, Homair, Al Fresco, Roan and Go4Camp, and its distribution platforms Allcamps and Lux-camp.

Operator: Four Seasons, who’s GM, Martin Sinclair, made the announcement to his staff earlier this month that it’s lease on a 30-storey location in the city’s downtown core won’t be renewed and that its hotel would stop operating in January, 2020. The statement did not elaborate.

The hotel said that until it ceases management, “it is business as usual and employees will continue to provide the same legendary service guests have come to expect from Four Seasons.”

Last year, Four Seasons Vancouver was sued by Cadillac Fairview for allegedly failing to modernise its facilities and equipment in line with newer luxury hotel properties in the city.

The dispute began in 2015, but Four Seasons allegedly failed to resolve the issues within 60 days, and it became a matter for the court in the fall of 2017.

“Four Seasons Hotels had furnished and equipped the hotel below the standard of a typical first-class luxury hotel,” the lawsuit statement of claim filed in B.C. Supreme Court in October said.

“Four Seasons Hotels had furnished and equipped the Hotel in an inconsistent and uninviting manner, with an overall appearance that was tired, dated and not in keeping with typical first-class luxury hotel.”

The lawsuit said certain public areas of the hotel had not been updated in 40 years and guest rooms were furnished and equipped with “low-quality” products and furnishings.

Lawyers for the Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts company rejected the allegations in a response to the claim, declaring the hotel had been honoured for its operation with praise that included being one of only two hotels in the City of Vancouver to be awarded a five-star rating by Forbes magazine.

The five-star hotel is home to the famous Yew Seafood restaurant and bar.

The hotel says while that location is closing, they do plan to relocate, although they will not say where.

THPT Comment: Don’t think we have reported on a hotel announcing that it will close in 18 months time!

Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, launched by Isadore Sharp, opened its first hotel in downtown Toronto in 1961, with a commitment to distinctive, quality service that came to include European-style concierge services and other luxuries as it opened operations around the world.

First Seen: Canadian Lodging News