In 1970, Inn on the Park London (later renamed Four Seasons Hotel London) opened, right at the start of the transatlantic jet-travel boom. A chance meeting in the mid-1960s had introduced Issy Sharp to a British family with a Hyde Park-area property and a plan for a hotel. They felt that there were enough grand hotels in London, and wanted to create a no-frills alternative.
Sharp had a different vision: “A personal, down-to-earth hotel. Not for dukes or duchesses, but for people who want to be treated that way, and are put off by the stuffy formality of traditional grand hotels.” His sceptical British partners were eventually won over. Although competing with famous names like the Savoy, the new hotel was virtually always full. London’s Inn on the Park became Europe’s hotel of the year.