Four Seasons makes time for a makeover
Luxury hotel to update itself as downtown’s popularity grows
The Four Seasons Hotel at 1300 Lamar opened three decades ago as one of the few luxury offerings for travelers and businesspeople downtown.
Some now-familiar landmarks — Toyota Center, Discovery Green, Minute Maid Park and even the George R. Brown Convention Center — weren’t there when the doors opened in 1982. Neither were the Hilton Americas-Houston or the Westin, formerly the Inn at the Ballpark.
Today, these and other hotels are competing, and more high-end prop- erties are in the works. To keep pace as activity in the convention center area revs up, the Four Seasons management is launching a multimillion-dollar makeover. The renovation, its largest to date, is in part an effort to capture some of the new business driven by upcoming big events such as the NCAA Final Four and Super Bowl LI.
“We want to reposition the hotel and make sure it’s relevant in Houston,” general manager Tom Segesta said. “It can be a destination, a gathering space. People can come for a meeting or gather for happy hour and have a good time. It’s all about entertainment.”
Work will include a complete revamp of the property’s fourth floor spa and fitness center. The pool deck will be redone with new furniture and outdoor bathrooms. That phase will be completed next month. Later plans include a total renovation of the front of the building, including the porte cochère, lobby and new bar at the entry way to make the hotel more welcom-
ing from the street.
The timing of the Four Seasons’ renovation is no accident. Two high-end properties, the Marriott Marquis and the Hotel Alessandra, are under construction nearby.
The hotel boom took off when the price of oil was high and Houston had a shortage of hotels. A recent analysis by CBRE Hotels, previously PFK Consulting, showed that downtown had 74 percent occupancy in 2014, nearly 10 percentage points higher than the average. The downtown market now has 69.5 percent occupancy, and it’s expected to drop more in 2016.
CBRE Hotels managing director Randy McCaslin said the occupancy will stabilize at 68 percent, which is still higher than average.
McCaslin, who tracks hotel trends in the region, said that despite the oil plunge, there is growth downtown, including new residential and office towers and renovations to Dallas Street to create a retail district. He said the second convention center hotel, the Marriott Marquis, will help draw more conventions than ever.
Downtown’s change
“Downtown has become a completely different place,” McCaslin said. “Metamorphosis is a good word for it.”
He said the area around the convention center, which includes the Four Seasons, will be able to house 3,000 visitors. All this makes it a good time for a Four Seasons makeover.
The Four Seasons was last updated about 10 to 15 years ago, Segesta said, but it has never undergone changes as dramatic as those coming in the next 10 months. With the uptick in downtown activity, he wants the Four Seasons to become an urban destination.
The timeline for the lobby and bar redesign has not yet been established, but Segesta said the vision is to have a “great American bar.” He said there will be quick lunch and breakfast options and an outdoor space with fireplaces. Mirrors on pillars inside the bar will be able to be flipped to become televisions to show sporting events. Outside, trees and landscaping will be added to make the hotel more inviting.
The renovated spa will include treatment rooms, a relaxation room, a couples’ suite and a nail bar. The fitness center will have locker rooms, steam rooms and rooms for fitness classes. Both the spa and fitness center can be accessed by the public for treatments or through a gym membership.
‘A gathering place’
With a treatment, a guest can have access to the pool deck, usually reserved for hotel guests and residents of the Four Seasons. A summer movie night for the public is also planned for the deck. The spa-fitness area will get an updated menu at the Pool Deck Café.
“The whole area will be redone, making it more inviting,” Segesta said. “Houston is a very sophisticated town, and it will show in the urban design we will create. It will be a gathering place.”