It is as much a statement about the Republic's movement up the league of wealthy nations as it is about providing a world-class hotel in Dublin that the prestigious Four Seasons Hotel and Resorts group has decided to locate here as part of its $500 million (€511 million) European expansion programme. A number of hotels will open in various European capitals.

"When we were looking at the whole strategy of our European expansion, Dublin was a place that was looked at as an area where a Four Seasons hotel would do well," says Mr John Brennan, the Irish general manager of the new 258-bedroom hotel. He has returned from abroad to oversee the project.

He says it is the growth in the economy and the kind of companies locating here that made the Republic an ideal location.

Mr Brennan is undeterred by the recent upsurge in new and refurbished hotels focusing on the lucrative top end of the market in Dublin. "I think that it is not necessarily going to stop," says Mr Brennan.

The expectations and demands of customers are growing all the time as they travel more, he says. "Because of that there is an opportunity for us to bring a different kind of product to the market than perhaps what is available [in the Republic] at the moment," he says.

Four Seasons hotels offer sumptuous surroundings combined with high standards of service whether in the Maldives or the landmark George V hotel in Paris.

"From our perspective, the Irish market is one which has its unique elements the same as any other market does," he says. "As a company we are particularly experienced operating internationally in very different cultures and in very different markets." His optimism is matched by the magnitude of the group's investment on a three-acre corner of the RDS which will cost more than £60 million (€76 million) when the hotel opens in April.

From the moment the customer arrives at the hotel, he or she can expect to be immersed in luxurious surroundings complemented by the Four Seasons own brand of customer service.

This includes valet car parking, a dedicated entrance just for baggage, or for the frequent Four Seasons customer who just wants to get straight to work in his bedroom - "streetside" check-in facilities which will cut out some of the fuss in the opulent surroundings of the lobby and reception areas.

The basic bedroom size of 500-square-feet is larger than the average one-bedroom apartment being built in Dublin today, says Mr Brennan. There is a range of suites of more than 1,000-square feet which are luxuriously decorated and complete with high-speed data lines and two-line speaker phones.

The private bar, international satellite television and in-room safe are standard, as is the one-hour pressing service and the hotel's own laundry and overnight dry cleaning.

The hotel will employ more than 300 staff. Mr Brennan attributes the company's training programme to low staff turnover and high standards of service.

The hotel chain's marketing department is gearing up to generate demand for the Four Seasons Dublin, says Brennan. "I think the kind of money that will be spent on these exercises will generate people's awareness of Dublin as well as the Four Seasons specifically," he says.

Mr Brennan sees these efforts luring local and international clientele. "We will have customers here from a corporate perspective; that is, people who are doing business, people who are attending functions and conferences. But also people who are here on leisure travel; customers who are on holidays and in incentive groups."

The hotel will include a sports, fitness and recreation centre which features a swimming pool, Jacuzzi, gym, sauna, steam room and health-care centre which will cater for residents, but may be open to the public, depending on availability.

It will offer ballroom and conference facilities which will cater for groups from as few as eight people to 600. It is in the food and beverage sector that Mr Brennan graduated in 1984 from Cathal Brugha Street College of Catering. He then joined the Four Seasons group. However, his first experience in hotels arose from his father's position as group general manager in Doyle hotels for 25 years.

Mr Brennan is continuing a cycle his father began in 1960 when he opened the first luxury hotel in the Republic the Intercontinental Hotel (now Jurys). He began learning his trade as a teenager earning extra pocket money on weekends sorting out the bottles, behind the Burlington Hotel in Dublin and clearing glasses on busy rugby weekends.

Catering will be a key concern for the new hotel, according to Mr Brennan.

"Everything from how the tables are decorated to the way the flowers are designed (the hotel has its own florist with dedicated rooms and facilities) is something that we believe can be executed in a large group the way it can be executed with smaller groups."

Mr Brennan has worked for the Four Seasons hotel and resort group for 15 years and in some of its most high-profile properties including the Four Seasons Regent in Hong Kong when it was voted one of the best hotels in the world.

"For me it is the completing of a full circle to come back to Ireland and to have an opportunity to open one of our newest hotels and what will be one of our most significant hotels in Europe," he says.