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The best Four Seasons hotels & resorts for families in the world include Grand-Hotel du Cap-Ferrat, Four Seasons Lanai and Four Seasons Resort Hualalai in Hawaii, Four Seasons Surf Club on Miami Beach, Four Seasons Costa Rica, Four Seasons Los Cabos At Costa Palmas, Four Seasons Palm Beach, Four Seasons Hampshire, Whistler in Canada, and Vail in the Colorado mountains, To be honest, there are a number of other properties that we wanted to include in this article, but we would have to stray into the realms of the top 20 or top 30 to include all our favorite Four Seasons hotels. There are just so many great ones!
There are numerous Four Seasons hotels across Asia which are great, plus a great Four Seasons in Bora Bora, one in the Maldives, and one in the Seychelles. Back to European cities. We are huge fans of the Four Seasons in Florence and in Milan in Italy, and both Four Seasons properties across the pond in New York, which I have compared in more detail, Four Seasons Hotel New York Vs. Downtown.
Choosing the best Four Seasons is nearly an impossible task, so we have picked our personal favorites, many of which we have personally reviewed.
There’s no Four Seasons rewards program, but if you are a regular guest of the Four Seasons or even want to try this iconic brand for the first time, you can take advantage of complimentary loyalty style benefits at Four Seasons hotels, including free breakfast, hotel credit, room upgrades, and welcome gifts by booking your next stay via our luxury travel concierge.
1. Grand-Hotel du Cap-Ferrat, A Four Seasons Hotel
Grand-Hotel du Cap-Ferrat, a Four Seasons hotel. This Four Seasons hotel has the only luxury hotel air-conditioned glass lift down to their beach club (that I have come across) in the world. This Willy Wonka lift, along with the large saltwater pool, beautiful gardens, and, IMHO, the best terrace for sitting out on in the world, for breakfast, in the afternoon, and for evening drinks with live music, means that Grand-Hotel du Cap-Ferrat, A Four Seasons Hotel is our favorite hotel in Europe for couples and for families and a must for your bucket list.
The Grand-Hôtel du Cap-Ferrat, a Four Seasons Hotel, is actually located in France between Nice and Monaco, at the tip of the Cap-Ferrat peninsula, facing the Mediterranean, in a private 17-acre estate with pine trees and flowers of a thousand colors. The hotel has just 49 double rooms and 24 Suites, which have been entirely renovated and redecorated by the famous designer Pierre-Yves Rochon. It has an 8500 ft² spa with an indoor swimming pool, indoor and outdoor treatment rooms, an indoor and outdoor gym, a Jacuzzi, saunas, steam rooms, and spa gardens.
This luxury hotel is open from March to November, and you will find the best deals here at the end of March and the start of November. The spectacular Club Dauphin, along with all the glass lifts, are reasons why your children will love this hotel. The beach club offers an Olympic-sized heated seawater swimming pool, open throughout the season. if you travel as a family, you can book a room with its own private pool, which is perfect for a family.
My lasting memory of a stay at this hotel is sitting on that magical terrace, watching the distant ships pass by at the end of the Cap Ferrat peninsula while twinkling planes negotiate the skies above on their way into Nice airport. I love smelling the greenery in the gorgeous gardens at the end of a hot day under the Mediterranean sun. I love sipping a beer as live jazz plays into the starry night. If you have a soul, you will fall in love with this hotel and the person you share it with.
2. Four Seasons Lanai
Possibly offering the most picture-perfect beach in the world is in front of the Four Seasons Lanai, Hawaii, a true escape on a billionaire’s private island. Larry Ellison’s to be exact. The Four Seasons on Lanai features in my best Four Seasons hotels in Hawaii. You will not find more beautiful or more remote, empty beaches anywhere in the world. When we were staying, dolphins were jumping into the air off the shoreline…
Overlooking beautiful Hulopo’e Bay, Lana’i by Four Seasons offers an innovative vision of a Hawaiian resort, a perfect base to explore your own 90,000-acre island. Experience modern luxury at its most sophisticated, discover a remarkable variety of dining and drinks venues, and explore an astonishing range of landscapes with activities to match.
Upon arrival, you’ll find elegant yet innovative guestrooms and a variety of restaurants, including NOBU LANAI, a spa and wellness program, high-end retail stores, and a gorgeously landscaped pool oasis. Activities range from horseback riding, off-roading tours, sporting clays, and archery to snorkel and sailing adventures, as well as tennis, championship golf, and more.
Don’t expect a great deal of nightlife here. In fact, when we stayed, the alfresco restaurant by the pool closed quite early. Having said that, things have changed since Four Seasons took over, and there is now a beautiful alfresco bar on a large Lanai with sweeping views, connected to the Nobu restaurant, which serves a light menu and drinks through to 10:30 pm. After this, you can always wander barefoot down to the beach, where you will almost undoubtedly be alone, and you can enjoy a paddle under a Milky Way of stars.
3. Four Seasons Hualalai
Set on the North Kona Coast of Hawaii Island, Four Seasons Resort Hualālai boasts a dramatic mix of white-sand beaches, dazzling oceanfront, and black-lava landscapes. Enjoy championship golf, island-fresh dining, and a genuine aloha spirit during your stay.
Housed in intimate two-story bungalows, Four Seasons Resort Hualalai’s 243 expansive guest rooms and suites exude a nostalgic sense of Hawaii’s golden age. All rooms offer modern Hawaii décor and paddle ceiling fans (along with air conditioning), and each has a lanai or terrace.
The Ocean Golf View rooms are undoubtedly the best deal, as you get to enjoy all the benefits of the resort at the cheapest possible price. All rooms were recently renovated. We prefer the downstairs poolside rooms, which have private outdoor lava rock showers, and the kids can run out of and into the pool.
It is worth mentioning that even the cheapest room at the Four Seasons Hualalai is a great room, and you will have a similarly great holiday, whichever room you choose. If you book via our luxury travel concierge, we can bump you up a room level for free (subject to availability on check-in), as well as offering a bunch of other free benefits.
My favorite feature of the resort is the King’s Pond pictured above, which is brilliant for children where they can safely swim with fish! Four Seasons brings the ocean into the resort for you with this pool: a quarry-like pond with a sandy bottom carved free form out of the black lava and teeming with fish. It is right next to the beach and is one of the most unique resort features I have seen. It’s filled with seawater and is home to thousands of fish, including a couple of spotted eagle rays.
You can swim in this pool for as long as you like with complimentary snorkel gear. Swim with real fish and rays, a truly magical experience, and all with the convenience of being just a short walk from your room. It’s a “must-do” for your bucket list. There are five other swimming pools, some with sloping and sand bottoms, some with hot tubs/ You can look forward to complimentary frozen grapes poolside, which is a lovely touch.
There is also a large gym with a lap pool, and of course, there is an amazing beach. From November to May, you are likely to spot whales and dolphins just offshore, and there are local turtles that meander about on the beach, too. I could go on but suffice to say, this is one of the best Four Seasons hotels for families in the world, without a doubt.
4. Four Seasons Hampshire
I now feel compelled to share exactly why Four Seasons Hampshire (pictured above) is hands down the best family hotel in the English Countryside. The Four Seasons Hampshire is set in a beautifully restored Georgian Manor on a 500-acre estate in the English countryside. This great country house sits on the top of a hill and looks down over swathes of grassland and wooded copses. More modern wings have been built onto the house containing many of the rooms, and outhouses have been extended and converted to accommodate a stunning spa and two extensive pools, as well as a great gym and kids club.
The interior of this Georgian Manor has been beautifully restored. Marble has been used throughout, which gives the place a warm creamy hue. The manor and its various wings are adjoined by enclosed glass walkways with underfloor heating, ideal for walking barefoot between the rooms and the Spa.
Four Seasons Hampshire is a large estate, and families can walk, jog or cycle around the grounds on the hotel’s complimentary bicycles. A popular activity here is archery, along with horse riding, fishing, clay pigeon shooting, falconry, and playing in the adventure playground. If you want to leave the confines of the vast grounds, your family can cycle along the Basingstoke Canal or to the cute villages nearby. More recently, the hotel has built an ice rink and treetop walk with a zip line, which we hope to try on our next stay.
The Spa, located in an 18th-century stable block, is an absolute highlight. Not only do you have a fantastic spa for relaxation, but there is also a large swimming pool leading to an outdoor heated vitality pool and Sharky’s Reef for the kids.
The main pool is largely reserved for adults except during family time. It is huge and enclosed in a large Victorian-style glasshouse that is full of light and surrounded by comfy loungers. Kids can frolic in the pool at certain times, but for most of the day, this is an adults-only area. Next door to the main pool is Sharky’s Reef, which is one of my son’s favorite places in the world and is a wonderland for 2 to 15-year-olds.
Sharky’s Reef has a waist-deep swimming area and a knee-deep splash pool with buckets, umbrellas, and channels, all adjustable with child-friendly levers. The biggest and best bit is a wide, red, super slippery water slide. It’s so wide that numerous children can slide down at the same time, along with their parents. The best thing is that this pool is reserved exclusively for families staying at the hotel, so it never seems to be overly full. Mums and dads can sit on comfy seats around the pool and watch their kids having fun. You will literally have to drag your kids away. This pool is just too much fun.
Like many Four Seasons hotels, this hotel seamlessly combines a stylish retreat for adults with a brilliant place to stay for children. At this Hampshire outpost, you have a super spa, fine dining, country walks, and a host of county pursuits like riding, but you also have a huge pool, a second children’s adventure pool, an adventure play park, and a great kids club. This means that the whole family can enjoy the indulgent break, and unlike many hotels in England, children (and dogs!) are welcome in this luxury hotel.
5. Four Seasons Costa Rica
Tucked at the very tip of a beautiful Peninsula on the western coast of Costa Rica, you’ll find the equally beautiful Four Seasons Costa Rica. With very high finishes, impressive architecture, a huge open lobby, and beautiful restaurants with an impressive style that will have your Instagram groaning, the exotic Costa Rican flair shines through everywhere.
The facilities here are nothing short of excellent. There are two huge freeform swimming pools. At both, the loungers (more day beds, really) are always given a front-row seat in the pools. There’s never any trouble finding a day bed, and your biggest decision is sun or shade! Once you’re settled, you are waited on hand and foot. The poolside staff are an absolute joy. Whether recommending the perfect cocktail (they got it spot on, we hated each other’s and loved our own) or telling our daughter her dolphin impression was brilliant, they add to your time here.
You are spoilt having two sandy beaches within steps of each other, but each has a different purpose. One of the bays is much calmer with more sheltered waters, so it’s perfect for water sports. The other beach takes in beautiful views across to the Santa Rosa National Park and was our favorite spot to grab a lounger, really relax, and soak up those views.
For families, the hotel is just perfect too. Four Seasons are well known for welcoming their little guests just as well as the full-size ones, and Four Seasons Costa Rica certainly outdid themselves in this regard. The Kids For All Seasons kids club was just fabulous. When they found out they had their very own (very shallow!) kids-only pool, complete with miniature sun loungers, our children knew they’d found their happy place! The club’s range of activities is excellent, too, and the welcome from the lovely staff was so warm that any shyness soon disappeared, and they couldn’t wait to return to make their tie-dye t-shirts and Costa Rican jewelry! While the children reveled in the activities at the kid’s club, we were overjoyed to finally settle down at the adults-only pool. You are almost on the sand here, so you can admire the ocean and the pool as you relax in complete and utter blissful peace!
Golf carts drive you around this resort, which is an absolute highlight for our children. The drivers are just charm personified, and when they offered to take us up to find the monkeys. Of course, we said yes. We got lucky, and he found two mums with their babies playing in the trees, a magical sight we’ll never forget. The Wildlife was a big part of our time here and the monkeys. There are so many lizards, you share breakfast with the tropical birds, and our favorite was the Coati, a member of the raccoon family, who’d clearly had the Four Seasons service training. They couldn’t have been friendlier or happier to welcome us to their country!
For a taste of paradise in truly tropical surroundings where the ocean and wildlife become just as much a part of your stay as the welcoming service, wonderful facilities, and delicious food and drink, you’d struggle to do any better than the stunning Four Seasons Resort Costa Rica.
6. Four Seasons Los Cabos At Costa Palmas
Four Seasons Los Cabos is located on the East Cape, on the warm, crystal-clear waters of the Sea of Cortez, offers a brilliant beach, excellent snorkeling and diving, some of the world’s best light tackle and sport fishing, and world-class windsurfing and kiteboarding. The idyllic setting at the base of the Sierra de la Laguna Mountains also offers endless opportunities for land adventure, from hiking, biking, and horseback riding to exploring waterfalls, spring-fed freshwater pools, and hot springs.
Four Seasons Los Cabos At Costa Palmas encompasses over two miles of beach, and this beach is much, much calmer than the beach facing the Pacific, which is often unusable. This beach is perfect for families. This is why we think this is the best luxury hotel in Los Cabos Vs. Las Ventanas or One & Only Palmilla. Add in the views of the Sierra de la Laguna mountain range, which the resort is designed to take advantage of, and you will be hard-pressed to find a more ridiculously romantic luxury hotel in Los Cabos or the world.
My favorite rooms at Four Seasons Los Cabos are, in fact, on the ground floor, and many feature private plunge pools. The ground-floor beach rooms, which are steps from the shore, are particularly good for families as the kids can rush out onto the beach first thing in the morning.
7. Four Seasons Whistler
Love the snow? Love building snowmen? Then Four Seasons Whistler is for you. The Four Seasons Whistler has 178 guest rooms and 95 suites, a dedicated ski concierge, a gorgeous spa, and a heated pool. it is situated on the Blackcomb side of Whistler and is easily the most luxurious hotel at the foot of the magnificent Blackcomb Mountain.
The feel inside is of an alpine luxury boutique hotel with walls and ceilings cladded with red cedar and unstained maple wood, and honey-colored stone floors. The rooms and suites in the hotel all have separate bath and rainfall showers, L’Occitane toiletries, and gas fireplaces. There’s nothing like sitting by the fire in your room, and most have balconies.
Four Seasons hotels are a brilliant choice if you are traveling with kids. The restaurants at the Four Seasons Whistler have kids and teen menus, children’s bathrobes and slippers, and babysitting services. There is also a children’s program offering evening entertainment. The resort offers fantastic winter and summer programs, providing loads to do for kids of all ages.
The pool is my highlight for couples and families alike. It is warm, and the steam rises up in the winter as the snow falls. Even the pool deck is heated, so you don’t have to run from the indoors to the pool like an idiot to avoid frozen toes (it also avoids any icy slippiness, a very welcome attribute).
8. Four Seasons Hotel At The Surf Club, Miami, USA
Four Seasons Hotel at The Surf Club is the fourth Four Seasons in the Sunshine State, joining her sister hotels Four Seasons Resort Palm Beach, Four Seasons Hotel Miami, and Four Seasons Resort Orlando at Walt Disney World Resort. Situated directly on the Atlantic Ocean in the northern beaches of Miami, Four Seasons Hotel at The Surf Club in Surfside, Florida, is minutes from the prestigious Bal Harbour shopping and the nightlife of South Beach and Miami. But for kids, the beach is glorious and brilliant.
Archive photos show poolside fashion shows at The Surf Club directed by Elizabeth Arden, Shah Mohamed Reza of Iran on the tennis court, his wife on water skis, and Winston Churchill painting in his cabana. There was booze on the beach during prohibition, kayaks in the swimming pool, black-tie boxing dinners, and lavish-themed galas, one time with elephants, another with 300 tables made of ice. It was a place of myth, legend, and endless laughter. The names that rolled up were pioneers of the good life: Noel Coward, Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and Elizabeth Taylor, The Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Frank Sinatra, Tennessee Williams, Joan Crawford, and Liberace.
The restaurants and bars evoke bygone times. The Spa is a light-dappled sanctuary. Outside, pool experiences include quiet and family options and a cabana pool. The pristine beach is a dream for families. Guests can take part in an array of non-motorized water sports or just mess about with a bucket and spade. Younger guests are also welcomed at the fully supervised Kids for All Seasons studio.
9. Four Seasons Vail
Four Seasons Vail is nestled at the base of Vail Mountain in the beautiful Colorado Rockies, offering guests the ideal location to take advantage of all the activities and adventure that the Vail Valley has to offer. The Resort is situated at the front door of the history-rich village of Vail, steeped in the pioneering spirit, with legendary Vail Mountain just steps away, which provides brilliant ski slopes.
The multi-million-dollar complete renovation of Four Seasons Resort and Residences Vail includes a refresh and remodel of all hotel guest rooms, suites, and corridors; conversion and remodeling of several private residences; refreshed meeting space; and a redesigned lobby and all public spaces.
Tucked away in a dip, the sheltered heated outdoor pool is a delightfully warm suntrap for the family in the summer and a great place to swim as it snows in the winter. There are also two hot tubs to warm up in if the bracing weather chills you.
10. Four Seasons Orlando
Four Seasons Resort Orlando at Walt Disney World® Resort features as one of our best luxury hotels in North America. It has waterslides, a lazy river, and a shuttle to the Walt Disney World.
Four Seasons Resort Orlando is nestled within the 47 square miles of Walt Disney World®. It is tucked away in the secluded millionaires’ row of Golden Oaks. This is easily the very best and most luxurious hotel within Walt Disney World®, in our opinion, but you need to take their complimentary luxury shuttle to get to the parks, as it’s quite a walk.
This lakeside resort has extensive gardens, pools, and towering pillars of palms and cypress. Tee off at the exclusive Four Seasons Golf and Sports Club Orlando, splash around with the kids at Explorer Island, treat yourself to a soothing, post-park massage at The Spa, or toast the evening fireworks with dinner at the rooftop steakhouse Capa.
Highlights include two elegant infinity pools, one for the family and one for adults only, splashing around in the lazy winding river, two exhilarating water slides, and weekly Dive-In Movies at the family pool, which also has zero walk-in water, so is ideal for any age! The pools are the biggest reason to stay here. The lazy river sparkles and is never crowded, with giant waterfalls. It just floats you along. So relaxing!
Here are some more of the best Four Seasons resorts in the world that we have reviewed:
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