Jason de Vries

Four Seasons Tenure

• Since 2006
• First Four Seasons Assignment: Front Services Assistant Manager, Four Seasons Hotel Boston

Employment History

• Four Seasons Hotel San Francisco at Embarcadero; Four Seasons Resort Oahu at Ko Olina; Four Seasons Hotel Washington, DC; Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills; Four Seasons Hotel Boston; Fairmont Boston; Hilton Milwaukee City Center

Education

• Bachelor’s Degree International Hospitality Management, Johnson & Wales University, Providence, Rhode Island

Birthplace

• Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA

Languages Spoken

• English

“It feels great to be back!” says Jason de Vries of his welcome return to Four Seasons Resort Oahu at Ko Olina. As General Manager of the oceanfront address along the sun-splashed western shore of Oahu, de Vries is happily embracing his deep responsibility for shaping extraordinary experiences for travellers who want to get away from their ordinary. “As a hotelier, I’m focused on making sure we reward all of the expectations of our guests while showing whole-hearted appreciation for the time they choose to spend with us.”

The Resort has much to aid Jason’s mission, including elevated experiences ranging from culinary to spa. Jason is especially excited about the new Club Lounge, an enclave of exclusivity for guests occupying the Resort’s highest-end rooms and suites that recently opened.  “It allows us to connect with guests who are looking for a more intimate setting and added amenities.”

Beyond the Club Lounge, Jason also sees tremendous opportunity in the Resort’s broader experiences, which continue to shape how guests connect with the destination. He notes “leaning into our sports programming,” with options from tennis and pickleball to soccer and basketball, plus golf, personalized fitness, and water sports possibilities as wide as the Pacific. He also points to the dining scene led by Mina’s Fish House, whose “fish sommeliers” have long been a guest favourite; the Spa serving therapeutic wellness incorporating local ingredients and traditional Hawaiian healing techniques; and, like every Four Seasons in the islands, an embrace of Oahu’s vibrant cultural scene that intersects with the modern vibe of the Islands.

It’s a message he relates through words and actions to those he works with – all 800 of them. His job is “very simple,” Jason says: “It’s to have the back of our team.” That includes his leadership, of course, but also encouragement, recognition, constructive criticism, and ensuring that everyone has the resources they require to make their corner of the operation blossom.

Hailing from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Jason felt the pull of hotels at an early age – four, to be precise. By ten, he had his future figured out when, on a trip with his mother to see the splendour of the Grand Tetons outside of Jackson, Wyoming, he was more intrigued by the hotels that accommodated them than the peaks they’d travelled to gaze upon. “I’d talk my way behind front desks just to see the room keys dangling on racks and discover all the touch points.”

He dove into the industry early, attending a job fair in his hometown at age 15, where he scored a front desk position at an 800-room convention hotel in the city centre. He later studied hospitality management in Providence, Rhode Island, while earning hands-on experience on the room service team of a grand hotel an hour away by train in Boston.

Once his degree was in hand, Jason began working at the front desk of the same address, but he soon departed for Four Seasons Hotel Boston. His decade-long stay there saw him rise in management on the Rooms side operations while learning the ins and outs of company culture and how to approach challenges creativity. It’s a quality he traces to his cherished upbringing with his mother, a single parent and artist with a keen consciousness of design. “I learned from her that everything is in the details, and putting details together creates bigger pictures and forms connections.”  

Now more than two decades into his Four Seasons career, Jason has put that creativity to good work for guests at properties across the US, including a previous turn as Resort Manager in Oahu, as well as General Manager of Four Seasons Hotel San Francisco at Embarcadero. His heartfelt love of Hawaii is shared by his husband, Jonas, who commutes from his job as a professor of economics and political science at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. “San Francisco will always have a piece of my heart, but I couldn’t say no to an opportunity to return to the beauty, culture, and most of all the team on Oahu.”