Yachts – The New Frontier

Yachts have become synonymous with the words luxury travel.

So it’s no surprise when more and more luxury hotel groups are digging in and docking their branded super yachts.

All eyes have been on the Four Seasons, whose super yacht is set to sail in 2025.

Contrary to what one might expect, the highest strata of luxury hospitality, with the top 5+ star brands, has become quite saturated. Brands are locked in a race to entice the super-rich.

So it all begs the question – how do you impress the one percenter who can’t be impressed anymore?

Four Seasons believe it’s by making luxury a love language.

They put this belief to practice through attention to detail, service, and care that can be found across the Four Seasons hotel portfolio, from Cap-Ferrat to Chiang Mai, Philadelphia to Punta Mita, and most definitely up in the air in the Four Seasons Private Jet, given the cost of that experience.

In the way of the competition, the new Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection was launched in October. The 624-foot Evrima carried 298 guests around the Mediterranean for a week.

The first of three Four Seasons superyacht will measure 679 feet and carry a fraction of passengers (in comparison). It features only 95 suites on board – each cost more than $4 million to build. It boasts an embarrassment of riches in amenities, from 11 food and beverage outlets to an outdoor movie theater, to the largest pool deck in its class, to common areas designed by Martin Brudnizki.

Following fast on their heels is Aman. Aman’s yacht, also coming in 2025, is a 600-foot luxury vehicle with 50 suites, a spa with a zen garden, and two helipads.

Marc Speichert, Four Seasons Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer, said, “Everyone can have a completely different puzzle as they assemble the pieces,” Speichert says. “We have scale. We’re small in the context of hospitality but big in the context of luxury.”

To others, Four Seasons’ competitive edge could also be that very few can claim bragging rights to luxury hospitality domination over land, sea, and air.