One of the world’s top hotel and resort groups is upping the ante in 2018.

Coming off a year where they opened posh new properties in Florida, London, China and other locations, Toronto-based Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts has more expansion planned for this year, including the company’s first stand-alone residential project.

In addition to Twenty Grosvenor Square, a Four Seasons Residence in London, there are several anticipated hotel and resort openings in 2018, with most featuring Private Residences, including a new hotel next to the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The company will open its second hotel in India along with Private Residences in Bengaluru, one of India's fastest growing cities, as well as its second resort in Seychelles on the secluded Desroches Island.

Four Seasons will return to Philadelphia with a new hotel and Private Residences in what will be the city's tallest building. In partnership with Comcast, the hotel will introduce a new level of enhanced technology for luxury travellers. Four Seasons will also debut in Brazil with a new hotel and residences in Sao Paulo, and in Greece with the conversion of a longstanding favourite on the Athenian Riviera, the Astir Palace.

"Our singular focus is on luxury lifestyle, encompassing Four Seasons hotels and resorts, and increasingly, Four Seasons Private Residences," said J Allen Smith, President and CEO, Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, the world's leading luxury hospitality company. "For decades, Four Seasons has been synonymous with the highest standards of quality and service for luxury travellers, many of whom have now chosen to ultimately live at Four Seasons. We are now committing even greater resources to this priority."

To support the company's growing residential business, Paul White has been appointed to President, Residential at Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts. Reporting to the President of Portfolio Management and Owner Relations, Michael A. Crawford, this newly created global role is focused exclusively on the company's existing residential properties and the more than 30 projects currently in advanced stages of development, including working with owner partners to develop, design and market residential projects.

"Paul and his team oversee what we project will be $10 billion USD in Four Seasons residential sales over the next five years," Crawford said. "Four Seasons is distinct in the market as we also manage our residential properties, thus ensuring world-class service for our homeowners. We are also the only brand with a dedicated residential team, a team that under Paul's leadership will continue to evolve our offerings and provide owners with a luxury lifestyle experience that can only be found through Four Seasons."

Since entering the luxury real estate business in 1985, the company's portfolio of Four Seasons Private Residences, as well as its villa and residence rentals program, has grown to include 38 properties in 17 countries, and is set to double in the next five years. Twenty Grosvenor Square, a Four Seasons Residence that will open in London this year, will be the first standalone Four Seasons residential property, while approximately 80 per cent of current hotel and resort development projects.

In Surfside Florida, architect Richard Meier's and designer Joseph Dirand's vision for reviving the historic Surf Club came to life as a Four Seasons hotel and residences, while the company's first hotel in Kuwait is a modern marvel of architecture, art and design. The first Four Seasons in Tunisia also opened on a prime beachfront location just minutes from both urban attractions and major archaeological sites.

Four Seasons opened seven hotels and resorts last year, including a second location in London at Ten Trinity Square, which involved the restoration of a historic landmark. Additional expansion took place in China, where the company opened its ninth location, this time in the port city of Tianjin.

Late in the year, just one month after announcing plans to convert, Paradise Island's legendary Ocean Club in the Bahamas debuted as a Four Seasons experience. In another Four Seasons first, the company expanded its mountain portfolio to Europe in collaboration with the Rothschild family with an all-new hotel in Megeve, in the French Alps.

In 2017, the company also announced plans to open Four Seasons hotels, resorts and residences in Korea at Jeju Island, the Chinese port city of Dalian,a second location in Saudi Arabia at Makkah and a second property in Vietnam in the heart of Hanoi.