Christian Zais built a "bathing establishment for distinguished guests" on Wilhelmstraße (formerly Alleestraße) in 1818-20. The Wiesbaden spa owners, who feared losing many spa guests as a result of this new building, succeeded in having the Nassau estates deny Zais all subsidies. Zais was forced to take out large loans and had to accept considerable delays due to the lawsuits brought before the Dillenburg court. In 1820, shortly before the hotel was due to open, the owner died.

When it was completed, the Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten had 140 luxuriously furnished rooms. Zais had made use of the medical expertise of his eldest son Wilhelm Zais for the balneological facilities (43 baths). From 1828, the Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten also had its own thermal baths. The stables for up to 50 horses were located behind the kitchen and the utility rooms. Wilhelm Zais took over the business in 1845, and from 1861 his widow Adolphine ran the hotel, which had 172 rooms in 1870. Her son Wilhelm Zais jun. had another building with stores and eleven apartments erected in place of the garden rooms.

The hotel's guest list includes celebrities such as Elisabeth of Austria ("Sisi"), Otto von Bismarck and Tsar Nicholas of Russia. In 1881, the Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten was granted the right to be the only hotel in Wiesbaden to call itself a "Hotel und Kurhaus".

The bombing raid in February 1945 spelled the end for the Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten, which was not rebuilt after its destruction. From 1949-62, the site was used as a garage and petrol station before the new owner of the property, Rudolf Herrmann, erected a new building with 250 apartments and 30 stores. Today, only the name of the building is a reminder of the former luxury hotel.