Ballsbridge residents can hardly wait for the doors of the Four Seasons hotel to open, but it looks as though there are some months to go before the sightseers will be able to have a good snoop around. When it does open later this summer, expect to be met by multi-lingual concierge staff. The hotel has had to recruit staff from all over the world because of the acute shortage of trained personnel here, and the word is that this is going to push up prices to a level undreamt of by Irish hoteliers.
Meanwhile the hotel's PR, Edelman, has sent out a tempting pre-opening brochure that shows just how luxurious and refined the Four Seasons will be. Borrowing a tip from estate agents, it has included several pictures that foreign visitors might imagine represent the locale - as Powerscourt in Co Wicklow.
The Four Seasons' rival in Dublin, the planned Westin Hotel at College Street, is aiming to match whatever room rates are set in Ballsbridge. This could make life difficult for the Merrion Hotel, the Westbury and the Berkeley Court.
