What makes a great high-end hotel? Just ask Four Seasons San Francisco GM Stan Bromley, who ensures his guests get the very best of everything.
It's 10 a.m. on a Tuesday at the new Four Seasons in San Francisco, and Stan Bromley has spotted something terrible: two balls of lint on the carpet near his office door. It could be worse. The offending bits of fluff could have collected in the hotel lobby, directly in the footpath of a well-heeled guest.

But even small infractions are a serious matter to Bromley, the general manager and regional vice president overseeing the launch of the Market Street hotel.

"I can't have this," he says, picking up the lint and flicking it into a trash bin. Just down the hall, hotel staffers have gathered for a morning meeting. Bromley strides in, like a field general on a reconnaissance mission, and requests a full report on incoming guests. All of them, of course, will get five-star treatment, but among the day's arrivals is the owner of a major sports franchise who Bromley wants to welcome personally.

"I'll get right on it," says Bromley.

Truth is, Bromley has been "on it" since 7 this morning, tending to an endless stream of high-end hotel details. And he'll remain on it until 9 tonight. It's like that every day at the Four Seasons. And Bromley wouldn't have it any other way.

At 57, Stan Bromley is a self-proclaimed obsessive-compulsive who just happens to be a legend in his industry. During more than three decades as a high-end hotelier, he has earned a reputation for his unyielding work ethic, his otherworldly attention to detail, and his unconventional - some say outrageous - way of getting things done.