Hong Kong, January 13th, 2002 - Great Eagle
Holdings Hong Kong Ltd. has announced today that its hotel operating and
asset management arm, Great Eagle Hotels International (GEHI) will operate
under the name of Langham Hotels International Limited (LHI) with immediate
effect.
Great Eagle purchased the Langham
Hilton, London in 1996, subsequently carrying out a further upgrading of
the property that included acquiring the adjacent buildings which today
house the elegant Concierge Club, Health Club and Spa. The Langham Hilton,
along with the group's refurbished Great Eagle Hotel in Hong Kong, has
set the benchmark for the group's future international hotel expansion.
Langham Hotels International also owns |
The Langham Hilton
1C Portland Place, Regent Street
London |
hotels in Boston, Toronto, Melbourne, and Auckland and has started construction
on a new 700-room, five-star hotel in Mongkok, Hong Kong that opens early
next year.
The decision to rename the hotel business after the London property
underscores LHI's belief that the strength of the Langham name is correctly
aligned with the ownership of renowned and prominent hotels. The name also
accurately reflects the company's commitment to being at the forefront
of the hospitality industry, just like the Langham 150 years ago, consistently
improving its quality of product, service and environments for discriminating
travelers throughout all the hotels that it owns.
The Langham Hotel is legendary, its name synonymous with gracious hospitality
and fine living for over a hundred years. Opened back in 1865 by the Prince
of Wales, The Langham was not only London's first "grand" hotel, but also
the city's largest building at the time.
It quickly established itself as the Capital's most fashionable meeting
place and has played host to Emperors, Kings and Queens, sporting heroes,
film stars, eminent politicians and heads of state from around the world,
as have other more modern acquisitions of the group in recent years.
An extensive US$150 million refurbishment between 1986 and 1991 saw
the building restored to its original glory, with no expense spared in
recreating every tiny detail of its original grandeur and elegance, whilst
at the same time offering all the facilities and comforts of a modern luxury
hotel.
Commenting on this change of company name, Kevin Murphy, Vice President
- Marketing & Development said: "The adoption of the Langham name for
our hotel company is a natural progression for us as we bring a new focus
on growing this division of the Group's interests in the years ahead. It
will also further strengthen our commitment to own or operate only successful,
high quality hotels that offer excellent hospitality and service, combining
the best of both our international and Asian traditions. We will now concentrate
efforts also on future growth here in Asia Pacific, particularly in Mainland
China.
"Those existing agreements we have with our operating partners in our
various other international locations remain comfortably in place providing
an additional benchmark for our own present and future operations."
Langham
Hotels International, the newly renamed hotel subsidiary of Great Eagle
Holdings, is a hospitality ownership and management company which operates
a number of luxury hotels and serviced apartment properties in prime locations
within Hong Kong, and asset manages the extensive overseas hotel interests
of its parent company, the publicly listed Great Eagle Holdings Limited,
Hong Kong.
Properties managed and operated by Langham Hotels International in
Hong Kong include the luxury Great Eagle Hotel, a new five star property
in Mongkok (due to open in first half of 2004), the superior Eaton Hotel,
three Eaton House serviced apartment buildings and the Yat Tung Heen Chinese
Restaurants.
Overseas properties owned by the Group, and asset managed by Langham
Hotels International, include the deluxe Langham Hilton in London, UK;
the Sheraton Towers Southgate in Melbourne, Australia; Le Meridien Boston
in the USA; the Sheraton Auckland Hotel and Towers in New Zealand; and
the Four Diamond rated Delta Chelsea Hotel in Toronto, Canada. |