Q & A
Learnings From Langham
CEO BOB VAN DEN OORD ' S LUXURY LEADERSHIP.
Luxury hospitality has traditionally been defined by formality and grandeur: opulent interiors, landmark locations, ceremonial guest service, anything and everything that can symbolize the idea of prestige. Langham Hospitality Group knows this well: The renowned Langham Hotel in London checks all the luxury boxes.
Under the leadership of CEO Bob van den Oord, the hotel group is aiming to reimagine not only luxury hospitality, but its overall offerings through more personal, intentional and versatile approaches. HOTELS spoke with van den Oord on his leadership style, Langham’ s upcoming plans and what he views as the group’ s raison d’ etre.
HOTELS: Langham Hospitality Group has a history that stretches back to the 19th century. Having taken over the reins as CEO in 2023, what is your duty to recognize and stay true to that heritage while also pushing the hotel group forward in this modern, connected world? van den Oord: Langham Hospitality Group’ s heritage isn’ t just about the past— it’ s a heritage that leads. When The Langham, London opened in 1865, it was unapologetically grand in a classical sense.
At the same time, it was also one of the most advanced buildings of its era, with hydraulic lifts and running water in every room. That blend of timeless elegance and progressive thinking has been part of the group’ s DNA ever since. As CEO, my role is to carry that spirit forward in ways that resonate with modern travelers. Honoring our past is not about standing still, but about using our history as a foundation to craft distinctive experiences for the future.
HOTELS: Langham Hospitality now has four brands, from high-end luxury through to the midscale space. Why is it necessary to be a multi-branded company and do you envision further extensions down the road? van den Oord: It’ s just not possible for a single brand to meet the full diversity of traveler expectations or owner requirements. A multi-brand portfolio allows us to serve different customer segments, diversify revenue streams and give our development partners flexibility to match the right product to the right market. At the top end, The Langham Hotels & Resorts anchors us in the luxury space; Cordis, which is Latin for“ of the heart,” positions us in the upscale space and has a distinctive focus on heartfelt guest servicing, wellness and authentic local experiences. Eaton plays to the lifestyle segment, appealing to those driven by creativity, culture and purpose. And Ying’ nFlo brings us into the midscale select-service tier, where soulful simplicity and thoughtful design cater to a younger, experience-focused audience. Together, these brands enable us to grow responsibly across geographies and asset categories without diluting each other’ s DNA. Looking ahead, we won’ t be expanding our brand portfolio for the sake of it. That said, we do remain open to exploring opportunities to address unmet guest or owner needs.
HOTELS: What are your overall global growth expectations for Langham Hospitality Group and how does parent company Great Eagle Holdings help to fuel it? van den Oord: Our vision is ambitious yet grounded: We aim to grow our portfolio to 100 hotels by 2040, pursued through brand strength, disciplined expansion and long-term partner alignment. In the more immediate term, our pipeline includes Bangkok in 2026, Venice and Kuala Lumpur in 2027 and Diriyah in 2029. We’ re also in active discussions about bringing The Langham to other destinations in the coming years.
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