Four Seasons Hotel: Landscaping For Guests And High Expectations

  

 

When you check into a hotel, their staff is waiting there to assist you and ensure you have a good stay. They should maintain a high level of customer service the entire time you’re a guest.

That client-focused mindset is also something a commercial landscaping company should have when maintaining a hotel property to give guests a good experience whether they are inside or out.

For establishments with exceptional reputations to uphold like the Four Seasons Hotel in Washington DC, finding the right landscaping partner is especially important.

Providing Hotel Experience Like No Other

The nation’s capital has plenty of historic sites and attractions that bring tourists and businessmen alike to the area.

beautiful flowers at the four seasons hotel in washington dc

Washington DC had a record 20.2 million visitors in 2014. To give you a better idea of how many people that is, that’s about how many people live in the entire state of New York. That’s a lot of people looking for a place to stay in the DC area, making it important for hotels to stand out to earn their business.

As the only five-star, five-diamond hotel in Washington DC, Four Seasons Hotel has unparalleled service and plenty of lavish features inside and out. So when it comes to maintaining the outdoor areas it has to be done with an exceptional level of quality.

How The Hotel Wows Guests

Located at 2800 Pennsylvania Ave. NW (just 12 blocks from the White House), the hotel takes up an entire city block in the historic Georgetown area. Its amenities include 1,650 original works of art, 11 event venues, suites with terraces and a three-level fitness center. And the outdoor space is just as stunning.

There’s a courtyard with plenty of seating areas, bright foliage, artwork, shade trees, the sounds of water from a nearby stream, large container plants, green walls and many more natural features. The hotel also has a lot of annuals and high-impact areas that need to be top of the line at all times.

Four Seasons in Washington DC

Guests definitely won’t feel like they are in the center of a busy city as they relax at this hotel’s outdoor space — and that’s just what the hotel’s staff is going for with Level Green Landscaping as its vendor.

Landscaping To Exceed Expectations

Level Green Landscaping started maintaining the property in March and has completed two flower rotations, renovated the front planters and also enhanced the courtyard and royal suite spaces, says James Kole, account manager for Level Green Landscaping.

The team maintains the property three days a week, and you’ll find anywhere from two to 10 crewmembers there on any given time. It just depends on the work at hand, Kole explains.

When asked which areas on the site required the most attention, Kole says “the entire property. Everything is important.”

the beautiful outdoor area

Another important element of this property’s success is the relationship Level Green Landscaping has with Four Seasons’ team. They meet with Tony Savage, director of property operations at Four Seasons Hotel, onsite weekly and talk with him almost every day.

“We have a very good relationship with Tony,” Kole says. “They were looking for someone who understood the property and could meet their needs quickly.”

But the secret to this successful relationship is about more than doing the work efficiently and on time. There’s a level of passion and ownership that goes into each task, whether it’s trimming a bush, installing colorful foliage or removing plant debris from a container.

“The thing I find interesting about Level Green is that they don’t look at us just as a customer: They put themselves into the job,” Savage says. “When I say I want the garden to look right, it’s like they were doing their own garden.”

Putting Guests’ Needs First

In addition to being able to meet expectations, Level Green Landscaping also had to adhere to and understand the hotel’s unique schedule.

“For example, some courtyards can’t be serviced until certain times,” Kole explains. “And if there are events, we can’t use power equipment. Their guests can dictate when and what services can be done.”

At Level Green Landscaping, we have the same goals for our clients as they do for theirs: treat them with respect, please the customer and not disrupt the flow of traffic. It’s important for guests to be able to come and go through the hotel as if our crews weren’t there, says Paul Wisniewski, branch manager for Level Green Landscaping.

“We have the same goals in mind. It always needs to look its best,” Wisniewski says. “That’s what they offer their clients, and that’s what we need to offer them.”

Finding a qualified maintenance company that truly understands a client’s needs and goals and can then provide solutions for those things can be challenging. But it’s that type of partnership that is going to make a property successful.



Highlights

  • 12 blocks from White House
  • Entire city block long
  • 11 event venues
Tony-Savage.png

“When I say I want the garden to look right, it’s like they were doing their own garden.”

Tony Savage
Director of Property Operations
Four Seasons Hotel