Thursday, August 11, 2005

The Four Seasons and Generic Luxury

I like reading reading View of the Wing, even if (fortunately from my perspective) I'm not a serious enough road warrior to appreciate or take advantage of a lot of my advice. Sometimes I have to laugh out loud though:
Clearly this is a Four Seasons, but which one? In their zeal to determine what Thomas Jefferson’s bedroom might have looked like if he had had electricity and modern plumbing, Four Seasons has stumbled into the sort of routinized design philosophy embraced by mid-market chains with out the wherewithal to spend tens of millions building a hotel. I can only assume that the Four Seasons interior design team was let go in a corporate downsizing and their last cruel act was to commit the company to a 20 year supply of fake chesterfield TV cabinets fitted with mini-bars.

To the list of really good Four Seasons properties, I'd add The Olympic in Seattle. (Especially nice after a week of climbing or backpacking. The last time I was there, I drove up with this dust-covered rental car. I'm sure it took all the doorman's poise to not back away and avoid messing up his nice uniform.

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