Accommodations/Service
For both chains, repeat business
and customer
loyalty are what it’s all about. If your family
loves one
seaside Four Seasons
golf resort, chances are you’ll
love all the
others. And what’s not to love?
Inside and out,
the rooms and suites
are decorated more like a lavish home than
a hotel
room.
On average,
Four Seasons’ rooms and
suites have a little more
elbow room
and lounging space. Accommodations
at the Ritz-Carlton Grand Cayman
range from 480-square-foot rooms to
the 2,400-square-foot
Ritz-Carlton Suite.
Compare that to the Four
Seasons Punta
Mita, where rooms range from 645 square
feet all the way
up to
the 13,308-square-foot Arena Suite.
At
Ritz-Carlton
properties, you’re more likely to be in a
traditional
hotel room. Although it’s
likely to be an
extremely nice room, you may
feel like you’re on a lavish
business trip instead of a
soul-rejuvenating vacation. At a
Four Seasons
resort, you may find
yourself wondering how you
could make your own home look
and feel a
little more like your
suite.
Both chains offer
some of the
best
service in the industry. Ritz-Carlton’s staff has an
uncanny knack—and
database—for addressing guests by name. Four
Seasons’
twice-daily housekeeping
service and one-hour clothes
pressing may not
be that important to your golf
vacation, but
chilled towels on the
course may rescue you on a hot
day.
So
will the Private
Golfer’s Suite at the Four Seasons Aviara in Carlsbad,
California. If you’ve had a tough round on the Arnold
Palmer-designed
course,
this post-round experience, with a
fireplace, private veranda
and outdoor
whirlpools delivers
complete privacy and total relaxation.
If the waiting cold
beer and cigar don’t do the trick, the golfer’s
massage
will.
Luxurious
amenities like these give Four Seasons the slight nod in this
category.
Paradise Factor
If you’re looking
for paradise,
the recently remodeled Four Seasons resorts
on Lanai
practically define it. The white-sand beaches at the Four Seasons
resorts in Costa Rica and Nevis and Great Exuma in the Bahamas
are
beyond
compare. And the rooms and suites at all the Four
Seasons
tropical resorts are
likely to either front the ocean
or have an ocean
view.
The Ritz-Carlton
resorts at Kapalua
and Grand Cayman offer outstanding
settings, but in general,
Ritz-Carlton golf properties stress
elegance over location. Lake Las
Vegas, Half
Moon Bay and
Naples may not be tropical oases, but they
provide the height of
fine living.
Individual Decision
While Four
Seasons comes out
on top by a whisker
based on our arbitrary
categories, the
truth is that although we are discussing
chains, the
decision
of where to head mostly comes down to the merits of the
individual properties and locations—and how they fit with your
needs
and
preferences.
Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel,
for instance, has direct access to
one of Southern
California’s best
surfing beaches. If you’re on a business trip
to Dallas, Four Seasons
at Las Colinas is convenient to both
downtown and the
airports, and
features a PGA Tour-stop
course.
No matter where you
go, you
really can’t go wrong. Because for all their differences, Four
Seasons and
Ritz-Carlton offer one quality in common: an
unforgettable
luxury golf
resort experience.
