What's New at Langham Hotels?

 

Bob van den Oord, VP Sales & Marketing for Langham Hotels, came by Travel Agent’s New York offices recently along with Gerilyn Horan, director of global sales North America, to give us some highlights on what is new for the brand, and what is on the horizon.

Langham now has 13 hotels in operation, he says, but the next few years will see that number rise exponentially: Fifteen new properties are under construction and another 15 are in negotiation. In three years, van den Oord estimates, the brand will be tripling its portfolio.

China is a major hub of the brand’s development, he says, and he envisions what he calls a new Silk Road of business expansion stretching from China to Southeast Asia to India and the Middle East. Cities including Shenzhen, Guangzhou, and Shanghai are getting new Langhams (the latter designed by Peter Remedios), as are Bangkok and Delhi.

Domestically, a new hotel has just been signed in Chicago, in what was once the IBM building. “The new site fits the brand,” van den Oord says, praising its lake view. To give an idea of the space available, the hotel will occupy only 1/3 of the building. The Boston Langham, meanwhile, is getting a new lobby, and the Pasadena hotel got a new restaurant, Royce, and tap room bar.

The brand just spent close to $30 million in refurbishments to the Langham London, cutting the hotel’s room count down by a third. (Three rooms were converted into two throughout the property.) The hotel also has a new Chuan spa—Europe’s first—which opened in February.

For more information about Langham, visit www.langhamhotels.com.