Bob van den Oord on Langham’s Next Era: Heritage Hotels, AI Experiments, and the ‘Langham Way’
In a conversation at ILTM Cannes, Langham Hospitality Group’s chief executive outlines the group’s future through heritage hotels, modernization, and a service ethos rooted in memory and detail.
Photo: Courtesy of Langham Hospitality Group
When Bob van den Oord talks about Langham, it comes from lived history—25 years of it. He started when the group had five hotels and “a couple of people working out of a hotel room.” Today, Langham Hospitality Group counts 31 hotels, 15 more in the pipeline, and four brands spanning the luxury, upscale, and lifestyle categories. The CEO title may be newer for van den Oord (he was appointed in May 2023), but his view is deeply familiar. “I know the good, the bad, and the ugly with Langham,” he tells Luxury Travel Report.
His reference points always return to London, the brand’s birthplace and, in his view, the blueprint for what Langham does next. “This is a hotel that was built in 1865, so 160 years ago,” he says. “We’re proud of that heritage, but it’s more so what we’re doing in the future.” Modern additions like The Wigmore—“a posh pub, but it’s a pub”—and the Sauce cooking school helped the flagship “sex it up a little bit” while respecting its historic core. It’s those ideas that are now shaping new openings as the group continues to evolve its vision of refined hospitality.
On Identity and the “Langham Way”
When asked what should instantly signal “Langham” to a guest in 2025, van den Oord doesn’t point to architecture or a scent. Instead, he recalls a letter from a long-time London guest who described being remembered at every touchpoint: the check-in greeting, the Belvedere martini at the bar, the cappuccino in the club lounge. When the guest asked what made the hotel feel different, the server answered: “It’s the Langham way, Mr. Berkowitz.”
For van den Oord, that phrase encapsulates everything. “It’s a very authentic way and an unscripted way, where staff are able to tell their own story and be themselves when they engage with our guests,” he explains to LTR. That ethos—what he calls “comfortable luxury”—is not about curated formality, but about familiarity and freedom.
Langham’s identity has long straddled cultures. “Since it started in London, the brand has got a British heart, an Asian soul, with a global mindset,” he notes. That balance shows in club lounges inspired by modern gentlemen’s clubs, in menus that blend Asian and Western influences, and in spa treatments that reference traditional Chinese medicine while continually adapting to the local context. “Whatever hotel we open around the world, it needs to have a sense of place,” he says.
On Development: The Next Wave of Openings
Over the next three years, Langham’s growth strategy centers on historically meaningful buildings in major destinations—a pattern the CEO wants to preserve. Chicago sits in a Mies van der Rohe-designed IBM building. Boston occupies a former Federal Reserve Bank. Pasadena lives on as the old Huntington Hotel.
Next up: Bangkok, with a property in the former Custom House on the Chao Phraya River; Venice, converting a Murano glass factory; Kuala Lumpur and Riyadh, the latter tied to the Diriyah Gate development near the upcoming opera house. “They’re going to be phenomenal hotels,” he says. “There’s a great line-up of trophy hotels and I think those hotels will cement Langham’s future and future growth.”
Across the four brands—Langham, Cordis, Eaton, and Ying’nFlo—the group aims to open 100 hotels over the next decade. For the flagship Langham banner, the ceiling is intentionally lower. “Maybe we can get it to 30 hotels or so,” he says. Only gateway cities or resorts capable of maintaining the right rates will be considered.
On F&B, Product Upgrades, and Brand Storytelling
Several existing properties are receiving overdue investment. Pasadena’s 23-acre gardens are undergoing a $6 million redevelopment, including refreshed restaurants, bars, and public spaces. “New York and Chicago will get small touch-ups because they’re already in very good shape,” van den Oord says. Shanghai and Melbourne will see more substantial updates.
On the food front, Langham is bringing in established operators. For example, the group has partnered with Thesleff Group to open Sale e Pepe Mare at The Langham in London, a coastal-Italian, seafood-led concept set to launch in early 2026.
Beyond that, Langham is rolling out pastry and Chinese culinary academies across its properties to elevate consistency and talent across the group. Marketing efforts are also being refreshed: the campaign “Your Story, Our Legacy” revives Langham’s historic cultural ties through contemporary voices, while a new campaign for Cordis emphasizes self-expression with the tagline “let your heart rule.”
On AI, Staff Tools, and the Value of Small Touches
Langham is embracing technology, but with clear boundaries. The newly launched platform Experience Agent allows guests to communicate in more than 50 languages via text, call, or email. “It’s live, it’s quick, it’s easy, and it saves you a lot of time,” van den Oord says, while preserving human involvement when needed. Behind the scenes, staff-facing tools supply frontline teams with guest profiles and preferences in real time. “They will know exactly when a guest approaches them who they are, where they are staying, and what their preferences are,” he explains.
Yet technology doesn’t replace the human touches that define the brand. “I’m a real sucker for the power of a handwritten note,” he says. “These little touches don’t cost anything but are very powerful.”
A Clear Mandate for the Future
Throughout the conversation, Van den Oord repeatedly circles back to what he sees as Langham’s defining mission: disciplined expansion, thoughtful modernization, and a service culture that remains personal even as tools evolve. The upcoming openings in Bangkok, Venice, Kuala Lumpur, and Riyadh are not just expansions, but statements of intent: heritage-rich properties in key destinations, supported by renewed investment in product, food and beverage, and storytelling.
For a group that began with five hotels and now targets 100 across four brands, the mandate is less about size than about consistency and distinct identity. What matters now, he says, is delivering hotels with character and experiences shaped by people, not scripts. With major projects underway and a sharpened brand vision, the next few years may be decisive for Langham Hospitality Group. While the toolkit broadens, the philosophy remains the same: build hotels with stories, lead with service, and ensure every property feels unmistakably Langham.
