Langham Hotels International Limited, trading as Langham Hospitality Group, is a hotel operator with its headquarters in Hong Kong. Langham Hotels International Limited is wholly owned by Great Eagle Holdings, which was founded in 1963 and is listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
History
Langham Hospitality Group claims a history that dates back to 1865, when The Langham hotel in London opened as the then-largest building in London and Europe's first 'Grand Hotel'. Ten stories and 156 feet high, The Langham featured 15,000 yards of Persian tapestry, hot and cold running water in every guestroom, the world's first hydraulic lifts, known as 'rising rooms', and even an early form of air-conditioning. Upon opening The Langham, the then Prince of Wales hailed the hotel as having "everything a man, woman or child could desire under one roof". However, the hotel closed during World War II and after the war was bought by the BBC and used as office space until 1986, when it was sold to the Ladbroke Group (which also purchased the non-US Hilton hotels) and reopened as the Langham Hilton hotel in 1991.
The Langham was sold to Great Eagle Holdings in 1995. Great Eagle used the 'Langham' brand to rebadge a number of hotels in its portfolio, thus creating the Langham Hospitality Group. Great Eagle has subsequently purchased further hotels and rebadged them as 'Langham' hotels. It has also moved other hotel brands within its portfolio into the Langham Hospitality Group.