The Langham Way
Langham Hospitality Group is a Hong Kong-headquartered hotel management company and wholly owned subsidiary of global real estate group Great Eagle Holdings. In this interview, we catch up with CEO Bob van der Oord to speak about their global portfolio and how they plan on continuing to offer timeless experiences to guests.
Langham Hospitality Group (LHG) took its name from its luxury flagship brand, The Langham Hotels and Resorts, which was established after the acquisition of The Langham hotel in London by Great Eagle Holdings (GE).
Today there are a total of four brands under the Group. Alongside its marque one there is Cordis Hotels and Resorts, their upscale segment offering that focuses on delivering localised and wellness-oriented services; Eaton Workshop, which is renowned for its mission-driven hospitality approach that champions support for social and environmental causes and Ying’nFlo, their select-service segment entry.
Under its umbrella, the business currently operates a total of 32 hotels across four regions – Asia, Australasia, Europe and North America.
Last April saw LHG opening a new hotel in the Chinese city of Foshan, a bustling urban centre in the heart of the country’s Greater Bay Area. The property is situated in a culturally vibrant part of the city, which is known for its ceramic art, opera and martial arts.
They then opened their third hotel in Shanghai in what was also their second there under the Cordis brand. The property is part of the city’s SeaWorld complex, which is home to the largest cruise terminal in Asia.
“When we look at our upcoming pipeline, we will be opening three hotels in China in 2025 – two under the Cordis brand and one under The Langham,” highlights Bob van der Oord, CEO of Langham Hospitality Group. “We will also be opening new branches of The Langham in Bangkok in 2026, as well as Venice and Kuala Lumpur in 2027. In all, we now have 15 new hotels due to be added to our portfolio, which we aim to grow to 100 hotels by 2040.”
In addition to their expansion in Italy, Malaysia and Thailand, they will also be launching new hotels in Saudi Arabia and the Far East. Looking beyond geographies for a moment, van der Oord comments that they will be taking some active steps to expand their resorts and branded residences businesses.
Owning roughly half of their portfolio through parent company GE, the CEO feels this gives them a unique edge when it comes to securing new management contracts because it often takes a hotel owner to cater to one. So, when considering new properties, they prioritise opportunities that allow them to establish strong owner-operator relationships built on mutual understanding and shared goals.
“Our focus lies in creating hotels with a sense of place and that offer timeless experiences. At The Langham, Customs House in Bangkok for example, we are breathing new life into a landmark steeped in history while also introducing modern and world-class amenities to create a heritage hotel with a remarkably contemporary luxury offering.”
We move our discussion onto the topics of social media and sustainability and through speaking with the CEO, we learn that, as a company, LHG have wholly embraced the digital landscape as an integral part of the guest journey. Through their ‘Brilliant by Langham’ loyalty platform, their enterprise cloud system and the immersive content they deliver via social media and the web, they ensure their digital operations and presence mirror the elegance and service they are known for.
As for sustainability and how they operate, the CEO says that whether it is their spa products, the ingredients of their dishes or the way they conserve resources, everything they do operationally is assessed through a sustainability lens per their CONNECT programme, which puts people and the planet on an equal footing with profits. As a result, they have robust colleague and community engagement schemes in place, 19 EarthCheck certifications and continue to work towards halving their carbon footprint by 2030 and achieving their net-zero target by 2045.
When speaking about guest loyalty and what differentiates them in the market, van der Oord comments that their guests return because of their unparalleled levels of service and thoughtful creation of unique and multifaceted brands and related experiences.
“As a case in point, The Langham is renowned for its remarkably authentic and unpretentious approach to hospitality, its blend of Eastern and Western influences, its legendary afternoon tea and playful pink accents, all of which serve to create a unique guest offering that has made it one of the world’s most beloved hotel brands,” van der Oord points out.
“We are not the largest hotel group, but we are large enough to pursue goals with wide-reaching impacts, yet small enough to ensure we effectively achieve those goals.”
The ethos of LHG can be explained through what they refer to as ‘The Langham Way’, a phrase coined by one of their many satisfied customers. This phrase refers to the company’s emphasis on open and genuine interactions with guests, colleagues and the world around them, as well as their its unique mix of British heart, Asian soul and global mind-set, which they express by embracing the best hospitality practices from the West and the East in a way that resonates internationally.
As our time ran out, one last question for van der Oord was what does he perceive to be the greatest challenge facing the business?
“The future holds tremendous potential as we expand our reach and services to more iconic destinations. However, navigating the ever-evolving order will be a challenge, as will ensuring that we strike the right balance between preserving the heritage of our brands while also continuing to embrace innovation.”
