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The best Four Seasons hotels in cities include Four Seasons Milan, New York, Boston, Venice, Budapest, Florence, Istanbul, Athens, London at Park Lane, London at Ten Trinity Square, Madrid, Moscow, Paris, Prague, Shanghai At Pudong and St Petersburg.
Many of these city hotels are also the best Four Seasons are in Europe because many European Four Seasons have been set in iconic and refurbished buildings making each property unique and many are deeply historic.
We are massive fans of the Four Seasons in Florence, Italy, and the Four Seasons up the road in Milan, which we visited recently. Although there’s no Four Seasons in Venice yet, this is due to launch soon. There remains no Four Seasons in Rome.
Wherever you go, Four Seasons rooms will be large and luxurious. The bathrooms, in particular, are always enormous, even in the base rooms. Their cheapest rooms are still of excellent size, standard, and quality. In fact, they are usually identical to the rooms with a heftier price tag and are often only differentiated from each other by the view.
1. Four Seasons Milan, Best In Italy
Four Seasons Milan (or Four Seasons Hotel Milano) is one of the best Four Seasons city hotels. Housed in a former 15th-century convent which is up a tiny side street in the heart of Milan. It oozes glamour and sophistication with a stylish bar, a restaurant that spills out onto an enviably green and flower-filled courtyard garden, and an impressive spa hidden in the historic depths of the convent’s cellar.
The spa is excellent. Created by Spanish designer and architect Patricia Urquiola, you will find a most unusual and warm pool in the convent’s former cellar, which features in our best hotel pools in Milan. This pool is reached via steps between thick pillars, and you swim in its warm waters under 19th-century vaulted ceilings. While this pool is not large, it is the most atmospheric in Milan.
Four Seasons Milan is historic and stylish. It is also boutique by Four Seasons standards, with just over 100 rooms, which makes any stay here feel even more exclusive.
As you enter the hotel, a majestic staircase in front of you leads down to a hidden courtyard, a restaurant, and a spa. To your right is the check-in desk, down a corridor that takes you to the lifts and hotel rooms. To your left, you will find a large, airy, and high-ceilinged bar area partitioned by walls of greenery.
In front of you, the main restaurant spills out onto the most idyllic and lush courtyard, where you can sit on lawns and under parasols and trees and enjoy a peaceful bite or a drink.
Rooms here are currently undergoing refurbishment and are generous in dimensions. Views are of the sidestreet in front of the hotel or over the internal courtyard garden.
This city Four Seasons hotel is an oasis in Milan and is well worth booking. If you book via our luxury travel concierge, you will get free breakfast for two (which is excellent here), prioritized room upgrades, and more.
2. Four Seasons Florence, Italy
Four Seasons Florence in Italy is a great place to stay. It is also the perfect venue for your wedding or a romantic break, and this hotel has at least two features that are very rare in Florence: an 11-acre private park and an onsite spa.
Four Seasons Hotel Firenze showcases original frescoes and reliefs on its walls. The Uffizi and Duomo are just a short stroll away. In the summer, a live band plays in the centuries-old private park as the sun goes down.
Your room will either be in the 16th-century Conventino, formerly a convent, or the 15th-century Palazzo della Gherardesca, once a palace. No two of the 116 bright guestrooms are alike. As for the spa, it boasts an outdoor swimming pool, whirlpool, and myriad treatments.
If your budget allows, splurge on the Duomo Suite for a truly romantic night.
3. Four Seasons Hotel London At Ten Trinity Square, England
Set in the heart of the city, overlooking Tower Bridge and the Tower of London, Four Seasons Hotel London At Ten Trinity Square is as impressive inside as it is from the outside. This Four Seasons Hotel is one of the best luxury hotels in London with a pool and is located in a 1922 Grade-II listed former Port of London Authority HQ, opposite the Tower of London.
The grand lobby lies at the heart of the hotel, which hosts all-day dining and afternoon tea and drinks under a backlit art-deco-style dome. Set off this hall are two excellent restaurants. This hotel’s communal areas are particularly stunning and steeped in history.
The hotel has just 100 rooms, including 11 suites, so it is boutique in size. Executive rooms have separate living areas and can sleep a family of four, while nine Heritage suites on the ground floor boast ceilings at least five meters high.
The lower ground floor is home to a 1,600 m² spa, eight treatment rooms, a hammam suite, and a 14-meter pool. The wood-paneled UN ballroom is THE event space in the city and has views over the Tower, Tower Bridge, and the Thames.
This Four Seasons hotel is probably the most highly luxurious Four Seasons in London and is certainly one of the best Four Seasons in England, but in terms of location for shopping, the parks and theatreland (Soho, etc), the Four Seasons Hotel London At Park Lane is better located.
4. Four Seasons Hotel New York Downtown
Four Seasons Hotel New York Downtown is steps away from the city’s most authentic neighborhoods. It is not as well located as the original Four Seasons in New York, but at the time of writing, the Downtown Four Seasons is the only Four Seasons that is open in New York.
As you would expect from a Four Seasons hotel, the detailing here is incredible. Downstairs, this modern setting is made to feel natural with partially arched corridor ceilings. A droopy black prickly chandelier hangs over a U-shaped staircase with intricate handrails. Woods and natural materials soften what could be a starkly modern setting, and subtle lighting makes the impressive foyer feel welcoming.
Four Seasons Hotel New York Downtown offers an extensive Spa with a heated indoor pool. Many of the best hotels in New York don’t offer a decent pool. CUT restaurant by renowned celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck, is another attraction and the perfect place to spend the evening.
5. Four Seasons Hotel London At Park Lane, England
Four Seasons Hotel London At Park Lane is a beautiful property in a modern building. The foyer of the Four Seasons London is decadently attired in black marble and warm burgundy reds.
The rooms are exactly what you would expect from a Four Seasons and exactly what you’d wish for from a hotel of this caliber. It is beautifully finished and perfectly appointed.
The decor in the rooms is traditional and classy, with a plush feel. Objet d’art is scattered throughout, with black and white prints of stars from the past hanging from the walls. The decor is a mix of warm golds, browns, and deep reds. The bathrooms are black, shiny marble, and luxurious. Each of these rooms has been recently refurbished, so the whole hotel feels brand spankingly new!
Even the plush corridors are worth a mention. Adorned with photos of glamorous stars in the vein of Marylin Munroe, they feel safe and luxurious (you need to use your room key to get the lift to take you up to the corridors and rooms).
Even though this isn’t a small hotel, the Four Seasons London has the feel of a large boutique hotel with just the right number of rooms and with that “just right” lighting level everywhere – you look fabulous but can still see.
Four Seasons Hotel London At Park Lane is a wonderful place to be, whether you are staying or just popping in for a drink at their bar.
6. Four Seasons Madrid
This is one of the newest Four Seasons city hotels in Europe. After a seven-year reconceptualization and meticulous restoration of a collection of seven historic buildings, the Four Seasons Hotel Madrid, the first Four Seasons in Spain, offers 200 rooms and suites.
We reviewed Four Seasons Madrid and loved the four-level spa retreat capped by a sky-lit indoor pool and sun terrace looking out across Madrid’s rooftops.
In this truly pedestrian-friendly city, most of the main points of interest are within a 20-minute walk, including three of the world’s best museums – the Prado, the Thyssen-Bornemisza, and the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía. Guests can also easily access Retiro Park with its incredible Glass Palace and endless pathways amid trees, fountains, and ponds, and the Galería Canalejas luxury shopping mall.
7. Four Seasons Paris Georges V, France
For stylish sophistication in Europe, You can’t beat the French. Four Seasons Paris Georges V in Paris ticks all the boxes as one of the best hotels in Paris, although it is the Four Seasons Cap Ferrat in the South of France that truly steals my heart.
Paris is the city of love, and the Four Seasons in Paris has one of the best hotel pools in Paris, whilst the suite at this Four Seasons has one of the best hotel rooms with a view of the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
Just steps from the Champs-Elysées, on the Georges V Avenue, Four Seasons Hotel George V features private terraces with commanding Paris city views, signature lavish flower displays imagined by Jeff Leatham, top-of-the-line spa treatments, and Michelin-awarded dining. The rooms are palatial rooms and suites, many with private terraces overlooking the city of Paris.
8. Four Seasons Geneva, Switzerland
The Four Seasons Hotel des Bergues Geneva is one of the best luxury hotels in Geneva. This luxury hotel will never make it into my list of the cheapest Four Seasons hotels in the world because Geneva is expensive, and this hotel sits at the very top of the luxury options in this lakeside city.
The Four Seasons Geneva is a lakefront property in this Swiss city’s heart. Geneva airport is a short drive away, around 20-30 minutes in a taxi. The hotel itself is slap bang in the middle of Geneva. You can walk everywhere.
Geneva is a year-round destination. Summer is balmy and ideal for romantic walks around the lake and boat trips across the lake. Autumn is a misty and romantic time to visit, with the leaves falling off the trees. Spring is also uplifting, but it can get awfully cold in the winter, so I would always choose to visit late spring, summer, or early autumn to hedge my bets with the weather.
There are two entrances to Four Seasons Geneva, one at the front of the building overlooking the lake, where the supercars drop off the high-net-worth guests. This rotating door leads onto a grand marble foyer which is so swish, it will really blow you away.
The superb restaurant, Il Lago, forms the other entrance to this Four Seasons hotel. This restaurant in itself is a reason to stay at this superb hotel. Hand on heart, it’s the best restaurant I have ever eaten in!
The hotel itself is a mass of magnificent and historic corridors leading onto majestic bars and lounges. All are encased in marble and dark wood. It offers a playground for wealthy bankers and rich tourists. The rooms are just as immaculate and historic as down below. The rooms at the Four Seasons Geneva are beautiful and historic.
A decadent spa and an elegant swimming pool offer superb rooftop views across the lake, making this the perfect hotel place to relax. Loungers face the view, and with so few hotels in Geneva offering pools, this pool is a great feature of this Four Seasons.
Apend your evening at Il Lago At Four Seasons Geneva. In the summer, it spills out a decked area that overlooks one of the prettiest streets in Geneva. The decking is protected by olive trees and flowers, candlelit and romantic, whilst still undoubtedly in the heart of Geneva.
Sounds of clip-clopping horse-drawn carriages mix with the farty exhausts of the occasional Ferrari (which all, by the way, seemed to be stopping by the Four Seasons), but somehow, the protective olive trees and greenery simultaneously whisked to a romantic garden on a Tuscan hillside.
This alfresco eaterie is just across the water from historic lakeside buildings that stand to attention, topped with sparkling letters from Cartier, Hublot, and Rolex, which light up the night sky.
9. Four Seasons Hotel Istanbul At The Bosphorus, Turkey
Four Seasons Hotel Istanbul at the Bosphorus (on the European bank) feels like a palace because it was originally a beautiful 19th-century Ottoman palace. This Four Seasons hotel is well located for exploring the famous Dolmabahçe Palace, a few buildings away, along with the Naval Museum and Yıldız Park, a steeply sloped park with pretty pavilions.
This waterfront palace offers decadent dining venues providing views of the Asian shore, while the urban day spa boasts a Turkish hammam, famous for its purity and cleansing rituals. The highlight is the wide terrace decked in comfy seating, where you can sit out and enjoy watching the boats crisscross the Bosphorus strait and look over to the hills on the other side of Asia.
In the evening, you can dine alfresco on the terrace in the Italian restaurant Aqua, and a large Tikki torch lights the bar area. It is utterly atmospheric. Aqua is also where you have breakfast. It has an indoor section for the colder weather, but in the summer, it is a wonderful place to munch through the generous Four Seasons buffet breakfast.
One hundred forty-five guestrooms and 25 suites all have windows that open to the sea breezes, contemporary mahogany furnishings, and handpainted ceilings. “Palace” rooms in the older buildings are the ones to choose from, and these have been stunningly preserved. Two more modern buildings house the remaining rooms and suites.
There is a pretty waterside outdoor pool, a whirlpool tub, and decking plastered with deeply plush loungers positioned to make the most of the views. It is a great and sophisticated place for families and couples to hang out together between May and October. An indoor pool is ideal for the rest of the year and offers attractive lighting and grand pillars for an atmospheric swim. A large fitness room will keep you fit.
10. Four Seasons Astir Palace Hotel Athens, Greece
Four Seasons Astir Palace Hotel Athens is on the edge of Athens but also has its very own beach, so it combines the best of the city with a complete resort offering. In our opinion, this hotel is the very best luxury hotel in Athens. It is located on the newly revived Athens Riviera, on the end of a pine-covered peninsula in Vouliagmeni.
Athens’s eclectic and dynamic nature stretches from the city’s center to its sun-kissed coastline and Blue Flag beaches. Amid the surroundings of nature and the deep blue sea, visitors can experience an entirely different pace along the Athenian Riviera.
Located in the former legendary Astir Palace, a convenient 30 minutes from the airport, this 1960s landmark is an iconic destination welcoming VIPs, from foreign leaders to film stars. The secluded private beach inside the complex was the beach where Brigitte Bardot famously posed for photographers in her pink bikini in 1969.
Four Seasons Astir Palace Hotel Athens offers three private beaches strung together by a thousand-foot (300 meters) boardwalk, three pools (free-form family pool, sleek infinity pool, and indoor lap pool), five tennis courts, myriad watersports from windsurfing to sea kayaking plus a sunset sail every evening, an onsite basketball court and a golf club steps away, extensive trails for jogging and walking, a fully-supervised complimentary Kids for All Seasons program housed in its own facility, boat access, and even a helipad.
If you’ve ever had to make the tough decision between staying in Athens or going to an island resort, Four Seasons Astir Palace has it covered in one seaside destination.
Housed in two distinct buildings and a collection of private bungalows, Four Seasons Astir Palace Hotel accommodation options range from light-filled rooms and suites to ultra-exclusive garden cottages.
Four Seasons Athens offers the best of both worlds: a laid-back seaside escape just 30 minutes from the historical city center. Discover the wonders of ancient civilization at the Acropolis, then return to Four Seasons to unwind and relax.
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