Delighting in the Holidays at Four Seasons

From Texas-sized Christmas cheer to English country traditions to Kyoto’s time-honoured New Year rituals, Four Seasons creates stays of a lifetime.

Four Seasons Hotel Austin

The hotel’s annual Ice Rodeo rounds up plenty of fun for Christmas. An outdoor skating rink, rink-side dining cabins, a candy shop, and food trucks set the scene, along with holiday décor on a Texan scale, such as a 30-foot-tall outdoor Christmas tree and a 120-foot-long light tunnel. Coziness comes in the form of the Teddy Bear Brunch, with Santa as a special guest, and in the Hidden Flask pop-up speakeasy, where cocktails are served around an outdoor firepit.

Four Seasons Hotel Hampshire

At Four Seasons in Hampshire, about an hour drive southwest of London, a quintessentially English Christmas kicks off November 27 with the lighting of the tree and carols performed by a local church choir. Mulled wine and mince pies are on offer, and Milo and Dougal, the hotel’s resident Shetland ponies, are on hand for photos. “Christmas in the British countryside is always magical,” says the hotel’s general manager, Andrew Harrison. There’s also a special festive menu featuring a taste of the snowy Alps in the historic stable courtyard, with classic Swiss moitié-moitié fondue, Alpine charcuterie boards, and selections of wine from the oldest vineyard in Switzerland, Mont d’Or.

Four Seasons Hotel Kyoto

Holiday celebrations at this serene property in the historic Higashiyama district focus on welcoming the New Year. On New Year’s Eve, listen for the 108 strikes of the bell at nearby Chishaku-in Temple that symbolize starting the year with a purified spirit. Order a bowl of toshikoshi soba—traditional noodles eaten on December 31—before asking the concierge for the best spots to join locals for hatsumode, the first visit of the year to temples and shrines, to pray for health, happiness, and good fortune. —Nicola Chilton