As a sign of the times and a first for the luxury hotel brand, The Langham Hotels & Resorts will celebrate its 155th anniversary on 10 June 2020 with a 24-hour livestreaming event, and will feature original content under “Artisans in Hospitality” theme by 17 Langham hotels around the world.
Titled “Celebrating 155 Years: The Langham 24-Hour Afternoon Tea Party,” the event will feature performances, cooking guides, calligraphy tutorials, luxury suite and destination tours, wellness tips and more, from professional opera singers, authors, master chefs from Michelin-starred restaurants, renowned illustrators as well as appearances by The Langham hotels’ leaders including Stefan Leser, chief executive officer of Langham Hospitality Group.
Among the planned segments are pre-recorded tours of the ancient streets in Haining, China and the famed laneways of Melbourne, Australia; afternoon tea etiquette lessons for children by Nancy Hoogenboom, founder of Daily Etiquette, Southern California School of Etiquette and Protocol; a traditional pastry making session with Master Chef Kwong Wai Keung of the three Michelin-starred T’ang Court at The Langham, Hong Kong; a guide to calligraphy and engraving by Chicago-based Ricki DiCola; architectural and landscape photography tips by New York-based photographer Joe Thomas; a visit to the famous Rose Garden in Pasadena hosted by Tom Carruth, curator of The Rose Collection at The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Garden; an illustration class on The Art of Afternoon Tea by Sydney-based illustrator Alexandra Nea; and a special birthday rendition by soprano Stacey Alleaume of Opera Australia taped on location at The Langham, Melbourne.
The online festivities will also feature an hour long virtual Wigmore Pub Quiz, a favourite staple at The Langham, London, as well as instructive cooking sessions and educational tea tutorials, all of which will be streamed on the official Facebook pages of The Langham hotels around the world.
“We wanted this special livestreaming event to shine some positivity during a year that has seen such difficult and, often times, painful moments for so many,” says Stefan Leser. “Our colleagues at The Langham hotels have been creating original video content on social media since the beginning of the pandemic, and we just wanted to share their creativity and positive energy with all our guests, travel partners and members of the public on this milestone anniversary.”
Known for many firsts, The Langham, London was Europe’s first Grand Hotel when it opened in 1865 and at the time, was the largest and most modern hotel featuring 100 water closets, 36 bathrooms with cold and hot running water, and the first hydraulic lifts in England. Among the dignitaries at the opening ceremony on 10 June 1865 were the Prince of Wales and illustrious members of the Victorian high society.
“The afternoon tea is the perfect over-arching theme for this livestream as The Langham, London was the first to serve it back in 1865,” says Vivienne Gan, vice president of communications at Langham Hospitality Group and host of the livestream event. “Furthermore, ever since the onset of the Covid-19 outbreak and the subsequent stay-at-home recommendations around the world, we have received many customers’ wistful comments about how much they miss our afternoon tea service and by extension, the celebratory events they associate with The Langham hotels. It is in this spirit that we decided that a virtual 24-hour “afternoon tea party” is the best way to commemorate the brand’s 155th year in luxury hospitality.”
Added Gan, “Even though we are honoured to have such a fantastic line-up of professional artisans in their respective fields headlining this online celebration, we are equally proud to have so many of our own talented Langham colleagues participate in a multitude of segments as well. Their passionate zeal to reach out to the communities in which our hotels are located is the essence of what travel hospitality stands for and this livestream would not be possible without their caring contributions.”
The “Celebrating 155 Years: The Langham 24-Hour Afternoon Tea Party” livestream will kick off in Melbourne and Sydney (2 p.m., Australian Eastern Standard Time) before it moves on to Hong Kong, Mainland China and Jakarta, and then to the U.K. and North America. The event will be streamed on The Langham Hotels & Resorts Facebook page (www.facebook.com/langhamhotels), WeChat (TheLanghamHotels) and Weibo (www.weibo.com/thelanghamhotel).
