Great Eagle International to expand portfolio under Langham Hotels International

Great Eagle Holdings Hong Kong Ltd. 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 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 one of the Capital's most fashionable meeting places 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."

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 assets 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.