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LANGHAM MAKES A FURTHER MOVE WITH ANNOUNCEMENTS TO REBRAND HOTELS IN MELBOURNE AND AUCKLAND
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Hong Kong, 15th March 2004 ----- Langham Hotels International (LHI) the hotel operating and asset management arm of Great Eagle Holdings Limited, announced today that the management contracts with the Starwood Group in relation to its wholly-owned Sheraton Towers Southgate in Melbourne, Australia and Sheraton Auckland Hotel & Towers in Auckland, New Zealand would expire by agreement on 31st December 2004.
LHI, the wholly-owned hotel operating subsidiary of Great Eagle, will take over the management of both hotels from 1st January 2005 and operate them as the Langham Hotel, Melbourne and the Langham Hotel, Auckland respectively, further complementing its other deluxe Langham properties in London, Boston and Hong Kong.
The Langham in London, from which the Langham Group takes its name, was opened in 1865 as Europe's first truly grand hotel and was purchased by Great Eagle in 1996 following a US$150 million refurbishment that saw the building restored to its original glory. The hotel has played host to many royal guests, foreign dignitaries and celebrities over the years.
Great Eagle's decision to name its hotel company Langham Hotels International underscores its belief that the strength of the Langham name accurately reflects its commitment to being at the forefront of the hospitality industry - just like the Langham in London 140 years ago - with a top quality product, excellent service and superb environments throughout the hotels it operates.
Commenting on the Langham Group's plans moving forward, Kevin Murphy, Vice President of Marketing & Development, LHI said, "We value the reputation that our hotels in Melbourne and Auckland have each achieved over the years and are appreciative of the efforts Sheraton has made in keeping them among the market leaders in their respective cities. We look forward to many more years of providing customers with the deluxe international standard of fine hospitality offered by our Langham Hotels worldwide."
Starwood will continue to provide corporate sales and marketing support to the hotels while working with Langham to effect a smooth transition. The existing management team and staff of Sheraton Towers Southgate and Sheraton Auckland Hotel & Towers will stay in place to continue with the excellent operations of the hotel. "We are very proud of the highly professional and dedicated team at the hotels who are among the finest in the hospitality industry. We know they will continue to provide the excellent service that is associated with Sheraton Towers Southgate and Sheraton Auckland," said David Shackleton, Senior Vice President and Area Managing Director, Australia/New Zealand/Fiji, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc.
"We value greatly the seven year partnership with Great Eagle Holdings Limited in the management of these excellent hotels in Melbourne and Auckland and wish Great Eagle Holdings continued success with the hotels under its hotel operating arm of Langham Hotels International," he added.
Says Murphy: "We are looking to extend Langham Hotels as a new luxury brand alternative, both with our wholly owned properties where appropriate, and in partnership with other like-minded owners.
"We believe our own European origins with the Langham name and intimate knowledge of Asian values, coupled with strong internationally experienced management, will allow some of that expansion for Langham Hotels to occur in the coming years."
The Melbourne hotel has received several recent accolades and awards, including being named in Travel + Leisure's 500 Best Hotels in the World list in the magazine's January 2004 issue, and ranked Number One in Australia/New Zealand/South Pacific in Travel + Leisure's World's Best Value Hotels. The Travel + Leisure 500 is composed of the 500 hotels that received the highest overall ratings from Travel + Leisure readers in the 2003 World's Best Awards survey. The hotel was also ranked among the Top 20 Conference Venues (Central Business District) by the National Business Bulletin Magazine in 2003.
The Auckland hotel has been a three-time winner of New Zealand's "Best Hotel in Tourism Awards" accorded by the New Zealand Tourism Industry Association. As a third time winner of the award, the hotel received an additional merit in the form of a certificate of distinction that admits the hotel into the Tourism Hall of Fame.
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Exterior shot of Sheraton Towers Southgate, Melbourne
Exterior shot of Sheraton Auckland Hotel & Towers, Auckland.
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Background Note:
Langham Hotels International is a dynamic, modern hospitality ownership and management company which operates a number of luxury hotels and serviced apartment properties in prime locations within Hong Kong and overseas.
Its parent company is the publicly listed Great Eagle Holdings Limited, which was founded in 1963 and was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 1972. The Great Eagle Group is one of Hong Kong's leading property and hotel companies. Headquartered in Hong Kong, the Group develops, invests in and manages high quality office, retail, residential and hotel properties in Hong Kong, North America and Europe. Its core commercial properties comprise 1.6 million square feet of Grade-A office space in the prime commercial districts of Hong Kong. It is also developing a 1.8 million square feet office, retail and hotel complex in the prime shopping district of Mongkok, Kowloon. The Group's extensive international hotel portfolio currently comprises seven gateway city luxury properties with over 4,000 rooms.
Properties managed and operated by Langham Hotels International in Hong Kong include the luxury Langham Hotel, Hong Kong, the Langham Place Hotel (a five-star property in Mongkok opening Summer 2004), the superior Eaton Hotel, three Eaton House serviced apartment buildings and the Yat Tung Heen Chinese Restaurants.
Other overseas properties owned by the Group - in addition to the hotels in Melbourne and Auckland which will be rebranded under the Langham flag in 2005 - include the Langham Hotel, London in England; the Langham Hotel, Boston in the US; and the Four Diamond rated Delta Chelsea Hotel, Toronto, Canada.
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For information, please contact:
Langham Hotels International
Iris Wong
Director of Corporate Communications
Tel: (852) 2710 1878
Fax: (852) 2736 1331
Email: iris.wong@langhamhotels.com
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Langham Hotels International
Kevin B Murphy
VP - Marketing & Development
Tel: (852) 2710 1888
Fax: (852) 2736 1331
Email: kevin.murphy@langhamhotels.com
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To download high resolution images to accompany this release, please visit: www.leonardo.com and search for “Sheraton Towers Southgate in Melbourne and Sheraton Auckland Hotel & Towers in Auckland” and select photo reference: H0D3YH04 and H0FC7H00 respectively.
For information of Langham Hotels International, please visit:
www.langhamhotels.com |
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