Live From ILTM: How Langham Balances 160 Years of Heritage with Modern Luxury

Langham Hospitality Group is proving that heritage brands can innovate without losing their soul, transforming historic buildings into contemporary luxury destinations while maintaining the personal service that defines true hospitality.

In this ILTM⁠ (International Luxury Travel Market), recorded live in Cannes, Bob van den Oord, CEO of Langham Hospitality Group, joins Afar editor-in-chief Julia Cosgrove to share how he’s guided the 160-year-old brand through thoughtful expansion that honors its British legacy while embracing modern wellness, design, and guest expectations.

Bob discusses Langham’s journey from opening Europe’s first grand hotel with elevators in 1865 to current projects converting iconic buildings—from Chicago’s former IBM building to Bangkok’s historic Custom House—into luxury properties that tell compelling local stories. The brand now operates with what Bob calls “a British heart, an Asian soul, and a global mindset,” creating spaces where posh pubs coexist with traditional Chinese medicine spas and cooking schools share space with world-class bars.

Bob also explores the challenge of attracting Gen Z talent to hospitality through specialized academies and how the “Langham Way” of unscripted, authentic service remains the brand’s non-negotiable standard across all properties.

Transcript

Julia: I’m Julia Cosgrove, vice president and editor in chief of Afar. And welcome to View from Afar, a podcast that spotlights the people and the ideas shaping the future of travel. In this special series, I’m coming to you live from ILTM, one of the most important travel shows that happens every year. ILTM stands for the International Luxury Travel Market, and the show takes place in a fittingly luxurious city, Cannes, France. The conversations that happen here influence how we think about travel for years to come.

Afar co-founder Joe Diaz and I sat down with leaders across the travel industry, from visionary hoteliers to destination innovators, to discuss the trends, challenges and ideas that are driving hospitality forward. We want to understand what truly motivates these leaders, how their personal stories, values and visions shape the experiences they create for travelers. You’ll hear each of those conversations over the coming week.

In this episode, I’m talking to Bob van den Oord, the CEO of Langham Hospitality Group. Bob has spent more than two decades with Langham, helping shape its identity as one of the world’s most enduring luxury hotel brands. From the group’s flagship property in London to new openings in Asia, Europe and the US, he’s guided Langham through a period of thoughtful expansion that honors its heritage while embracing innovation. Under Bob’s leadership, Langham has leaned into its British legacy and modernized how the brand approaches wellness, food and beverage, fine dining and design. We talk about what it takes to evolve a 150-year-old brand for a new generation of travelers, and how Langham is redefining timeless luxury in a fast-changing world.

Welcome Bob to Afar in studio at ILTM Cannes, we’re so happy you’re here.

Bob: It’s good to be here, Julia.

Julia: It’s good to see you again. Yeah, so let’s get right into it. Langham is a heritage brand with deep British roots, yet it feels increasingly contemporary. As CEO, how are you reinterpreting Langham’s legacy for a new generation of travelers?

Bob: Yeah, great. Great question, Julia. And, you know, we’re super proud of our legacy. We’ve been doing this since 1865. And when this hotel was opened, it was the first grand hotel in Europe with elevators, rising rooms — they used to call them — running water, hot and cold. We had some kind of air conditioning as well in those days, so we were the very first at a lot of different things. But look, it’s not about being nostalgic. It’s more about running a brand with heritage, but heritage that leads. And I think nowadays people appreciate that we’ve been doing this for so long, but they’re looking for new things. And if I just look at our Langham in London, we opened this quintessentially English pub. Martin Brudnizki designed it. And I remember when I mentioned to my chairman about this space and he said, what do you want to do with it? And I said, I want to put in a pub. And he said, well, that’s not very luxury. I said, Doctor Lo, you can never have enough bars in London and we’re going to make it a posh pub. So Martin Brudnizki came in and turned it into this very iconic neighborhood bar, and we put in a cooking school in London, which is very unique, very different for the hotel landscape. And I think that’s also been appreciated by people that are looking for something different. So I think we’re always looking for different things, new things. To really offer something different to what everyone else is doing.

Julia: Is the pub favored by obviously guests but also locals in London?

Bob: Yeah it is, and that’s the key to success. Now, when you’re in a hotel and you are dining in the restaurant or having drinks in the bar, but you realize you’re not actually in the hotel, and if we can create that kind of environment, then we’re winning.

Julia: Yeah, yeah. So wellness, technology, sustainability — these are all words that we’ve certainly been hearing for the last five years as they reshape the guest experience. What are the elements of very classic hospitality and service that remain non-negotiable?

Bob: You know, I received a letter a year ago from one of our regular guests, and he stays at the Langham in London every year a couple of times. And he wrote to me, it was almost like a love letter. And he says, Bob, I was again in your hotel last week and I arrive at the door. They know my name. I walk into the bar. They know that I like a Belvedere martini. I go to your club lounge and they make my cappuccino exactly the way that I want it. And I turned to one of your waiters, Hoi, and I ask him, what is it about the Langham? And Hoi turns to Mr. Berkowitz and says, “It’s the Langham Way.”

And I think that’s the thing that I want to keep for the brand, that Langham Way of doing things, which is very authentic. It’s unpretentious, it’s unscripted, and I want every member of staff throughout the group to be able to tell their story. And I think if they’re able to engage with our guests in that way, we call it the Langham Way. I think that’s really going to resonate. So that’s the one thing that’s non-negotiable for me: giving staff and our colleagues around the world the flexibility, the freedom, the room to be themselves and to be able to express themselves in that Langham Way of doing things.

Julia: I love that, and it speaks to the warmth and the intuition and the connection that staff make with guests.

Bob: Yeah. That’s right. And look, nowadays there are so many amazing hotels. All these brands are doing a phenomenal job — gorgeous lobbies, great rooms, great restaurants and bars. But what’s going to stand out is the service, and it’s how we make our guests feel. And we’re very much focused on that.

Julia: So from London to Hong Kong, Venice, Bangkok, Langham is expanding carefully but ambitiously, I would say. What makes a new project the right fit for the brand? And what do you and your team weigh most heavily as you decide where and how to grow?

Bob: Yeah, I mean, obviously location is everything, but it needs to have a story. And if I look at our Langham in Chicago, it’s the old IBM building designed by Mies van der Rohe. I look in Boston, we got the old Federal Reserve Bank there. In Venice, we were able to purchase this gorgeous glass factory. It’s a listed building. It’s going to have beautiful murals that are listed. So I think there’s a story there, and it helps us tell the story with our guests.

In Bangkok, next year, we’ll be opening the Langham Custom House. It sits right on the Chao Phraya River, and it was the first post office in Thailand. Every Thai person knows that building and that heritage, that legacy, that history, and us being able to write stories in a way for our guests, I think will resonate with people. So it’s about location and it’s about stories that we can share with our guests.

Julia: So Bangkok next year, 2026?

Bob: Yeah. So next year, around November time, we’ll be opening that hotel. It’s going to be a phenomenal hotel. We’re very lucky with our owners there. They really want this to be the best hotel in Bangkok. We’ve got a great lineup of chefs for our restaurants there, and the Custom House building speaks for itself. Obviously, that’s where all the restaurants and bars will sit. But then next to that, we’re building this glass structure where all the rooms and suites will sit, and it’s going to be in the shape of the river. And it’s almost like your I.M. Pei pyramids at the Louvre — the heritage building and that modern structure. So we’re doing something similar in Bangkok.

Julia: I can’t wait to see it.

Bob: Great location, great heritage, and a great lineup of restaurants and bars, and of course, a great location on the Chao Phraya River.

Julia: What do you think luxury travelers are seeking in 2025–2026 that they weren’t a decade ago. What’s changed?

Bob: Freedom of time, freedom of space. Those are the two most important parts. So when we design hotels and when we look at our rooms, we want to make sure that the bathrooms are oversized. The guest rooms are true living spaces for them to hang out in. And if I look at our new projects now, rooms have really gone up from, you know, 35 square meters to 45 square meters. Now they’re sitting at 50 square meters. So space is really important, not just in their own guest room, but also in the public areas, gardens where they can walk and relax.

In Pasadena, our hotel sits on 23 acres of land, and we’re actually renovating that hotel. The rooms have turned out really very special, and the next phase is the new landscaping — we’re spending $6 million USD just on the gardens. And I think people will just really enjoy being able to sit in the garden with a lemonade or walk around and just admire the beautiful landscaping that we’re putting in. So I think space is important. But then there’s also time. You know, none of us have time anymore — the luxury of time. And I think that’s changed. So we’re putting in motion a lot of initiatives that make the guest journey much easier and much more enjoyable. But the easiness is important because it allows the guest to spend their valuable time on the stuff that they really enjoy and want to do.

Julia: And wandering around the gardens of the Huntington and walking over that bridge with the mural.

Bob: That’s right, that’s right.

Julia: I can’t wait to see the renovation and wander those gardens myself.

Bob: You must, you must.

Julia: Yeah. So wellness has become a defining part of modern luxury. How are you and your team thinking about well-being today?

Bob: Yeah, well, first of all, all of our teams have a beautiful spa. It’s inspired by traditional Chinese medicine and they do really well. But speaking to our guests, actually the fitness component has become far more important. So we’ve looked at that. We are making our gyms bigger. We have areas in some hotels with spin classes. We have other hotels that have a much bigger area for stretching and meditation. We have a hotel that’s introducing pickleball as well. So I think that whole fitness and gym component is really, really important. But then we’re taking that one step further into the rooms.

We have partnered with a dietician doctor who has put together a menu for in-room dining, and indeed we have a whole sleep program for our guests. And we’re doing that in partnership with Sleep Matters by TheraN, and that’s actually been really well received as well.

Julia: So have you tried it out?

Bob: You know, I have. And I tell you, we have tried it out in each and every one of our hotels looking at a number of components. Do we have absolute blackouts in every room? Are there little red lights flickering somewhere in that room? Is it quiet? In some of our hotels we were not able to make it quiet, so actually, we’re providing some earplugs. And I think that’s okay. And then, you know, at turndown you have a chamomile tea. And we have a lot of tips on how to have a good sleep, how to do some meditation before people go to sleep. They don’t have to do any of this, of course. It’s just there for those people that want it. But we’ve had some really good feedback on it.

Julia: That’s great.

Bob: And then, of course, I haven’t even spoken about the beds that we have — and they’re great beds.

Julia: Yeah. Also critical, mission critical. So Langham’s newer properties balance this consistent brand DNA with a strong local sensibility. How do you ensure that each hotel feels authentic in its location without losing that Langham-ness, that Langham identity?

Bob: Yeah. You know, we like to say that Langham has a British heart, an Asian soul and a global mindset. And I think each and every one of our hotels will focus on these components. Some are bigger than others, depending on where they are. But I think that sense of place is really important. So the afternoon tea that we serve in London is obviously going to be very different to what we’re going to do in Bangkok — it’s going to have some Thai flavors. The spa treatments that we have in Pasadena will be different to what we’re doing in Jakarta. And indeed at the Gold Coast Surfers Paradise, we give a very different experience than in Venice when we open that hotel. I think it’s really important to work with the locals and to give that sense of place, but to allow guests to be able to immerse in the local neighborhood. And when they check into our hotels, they should feel that they’re checking into the local neighborhoods. I think that’s really important.

Julia: I agree. Hospitality is facing generational change from leadership transitions to some of the shifting guest demographics that we talked a little bit about with the new generation of travelers. What larger trend or challenge are you watching most closely now, and how are you positioning Langham to respond?

Bob: Well, I suppose the one thing that keeps me up at night is how we can continue to attract young talent. First and foremost, how can we keep them as well and develop them? I mean, that’s a big concern in the industry. Gen Z isn’t so excited about working in the hospitality industry and we have to make it sexy again.

With Langham, we have introduced a number of initiatives. We now have a Chinese cuisine academy, and chefs can come through that academy and they get trained by our master chefs. We have a Taiwan Academy where therapists come through to learn about the techniques of traditional Chinese medicine. We have a pastry academy with pastry chefs teaching, and we have a bar academy as well. So we’ve introduced these academies that I feel will attract more young people, but also make them stay with us. And I think that’s really important.

Julia: So you’re investing in their training and education. And building, you hope, that brand loyalty.

Bob: Well, that’s it. I mean, you know, we talked about the Langham Way and these kinds of academies help staff to embrace and understand what the Langham Way is all about, and let them be able to articulate that when they’re on the floor. So that’s just one area. Of course, there are other areas too that we’re thinking about. We are seeing more and more young people stay with us around the world. And, you know, we need to tap into that. And whether that is the Wigmore in London or the gyms with pickleball, those are the kinds of initiatives that the young are interested in.

Julia: Yeah. Well, Bob, we are out of time already. We could go on and on over a nice glass of champagne. And it was wonderful to have you here today. And we thank you so much for joining us.

Bob: I enjoyed it. It’s always great to be with Afar. Thank you for having me. And let’s have that glass of wine now.

Julia: Thanks for joining us for this special episode of View From Afar, recorded live at ILTM in Cannes. In the show notes, you’ll find links to everything we discussed today, as well as Langham’s website and social media handles and Afar’s recent coverage of Langham. And be sure to follow along this week to hear more interviews with industry experts.

You can find more Views From Afar on Afar.com and be sure to follow us on Instagram and TikTok — we’re @AfarMedia. If you enjoyed today’s exploration, I hope you’ll come back for more great interviews. Subscribing always makes that easy. And be sure to rate and review the show on your favorite podcast platforms — it helps other travelers find it.

This has been View From Afar, a production of Afar Media. The podcast is produced by Aislinn Green and Nikki Galteland with assistance from Jenn Flowers, Julia Cosgrove and Joe Diaz. Music composition from Epidemic Sound.

This podcast is part of the Airwave Media Podcast Network. Visit AirwaveMedia.com to listen and subscribe to their other fine shows like Culture Kids and The Explorers Podcast.