A Behind-The-Scenes Peek at The First Wedding at The Langham, Chicago

 

It is a very invigorating experience to open a hotel, and it's one of the best experiences in the business.  I have opened four hotels over the years, and I look back at these as real milestones in my career.  There is a lot of blood, sweat, and tears, so to speak, but it is truly exhilarating.

Therefore, I have asked one of the team members at The Langham, Chicago to give us, as a guest blogger, a "behind the scenes" account of one aspect of opening our beautiful new hotel in the Windy City.

Gaylord Lamy, the Director of Food and Beverage at The Langham, Chicago shares with us his experience in organizing the first wedding - three days after the 10 July opening - and transforming this event into a memorable occasion for everyone to cherish.

Opening a hotel is not just about getting it to operate efficiently but also to secure a base of business so that it can be as successful as possible after its opening.  I applaud the Chicago team to have had the courage to take the wedding booking and make it a resounding success, the result of which immediately helped the hotel's public profile and which I am sure has also brought in more business.

- Brett Butcher

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Although I’ve been with The Langham, Chicago since the summer of 2012 and have been involved in the challenging process of creating a professional F&B department from scratch, putting together our first social event for this absolutely stunning hotel in this fiercely competitive city just a mere 72 hours after its opening will always be a defining point in my career.

Prelude to the first wedding held at The Langham, Chicago

The first challenge in organizing this inaugural wedding in our Devonshire Ballroom was to figure out how things were going to work without the spaces themselves being finished. I’m not sure who had more pre-wedding jitters then: the bride or me! 

Conceptual planning with cardboard mockups

At the time, I remembered that, to look at the table setups for the outlets, we had to cut cardboard mock-ups of the tabletops, the same size and shapes of what would be the finished version. We used the cardboard in the shape of the tables to see if everything would fit nicely. So everything was really staged in the back as much as possible to reflect what would happen in the front of the house. So that was quite a feat –to be able to conceptualize in abstract, then map everything out in physical form without the actual furnishings.

 

Unpacking the silverware

 

Even up to the hotel’s opening, we were staging in the back of the house (as precisely as possible) what we wanted to happen in the front of the house once construction was finished.

Since we had a very obvious deadline looming, everything had to be done in double time, which was an exciting and nerve-racking challenge. We worked with rental companies for all the tables, chairs, and linens, and decorations—and that made it even more complex because now we were working in a brand new environment with equipment that were not our own.

 

 

Now originally, we had four different parties interested in a wedding on 13 July —the first three were understandably discouraged by the fact that we would open three days earlier as they were unsure if we would be ready for them. But the last wedding party really held on to that date, and for that we truly appreciate their confidence in us. One of the biggest nail-biting moments was when we invited the bride to the hotel for her wedding tasting. We did it on a Monday, and the wedding was five days later on the following Saturday—it’s really rare to hold a tasting so close to the wedding itself, but the couple fully trusted us with everything, and I'm relieved to say that we pulled it off seamlessly.
 

Desserts by Executive Pastry Chef Scott Green at the wedding tasting

The menu was also created on the day of the tasting. Our talented chef pulled it together; the wedding couple gave us a little background of what they liked, and the whole menu was completely tailor-made to their wishes. Basically, there was nothing off the menu.

"French 75" - the bride's choice of cocktail, as seen at the wedding tasting

 

All the way to the day of the tasting, 75 per cent of the ballroom was still a storage space. So we set up just one small part of the ballroom for the tasting, which looked beautiful— but if they had peeked behind the wall, it might have been a little scary!

 

The day of the wedding was the first time any of us had seen the Devonshire Ballroom fully decked out. And I’m delighted and proud to say that it all worked out beautifully through sheer hard work, dogged persistence, long hours, team camaraderie and an unwavering mission to make our first social event the very best the bridal party has ever seen.

Here’s how the Devonshire Ballroom looked a few minutes before the wedding party arrived:

The Devonshire Ballroom magically transformed into a wedding wonderland

Finally, none of it would have been possible without our fantastic Banquet and Events colleagues and I'm proud to work with each and every one of them as we set The Langham, Chicago up for success.

 

Gaylord Lamy is the Director of Food & Beverage of The Langham, Chicago.

What's Our Next Big Thing in Food and Beverage?

Food and Beverage is a large business segment for our company. Many of our hotels enjoy almost 50 per cent of total revenue streaming from this division.

So when I ask myself what is the secret of successful restaurants and bars, I find that it usually boils down to a simple formula:

Be very good at one or two things. 

In other words, have focus.

Don’t try to be all things to all people.

A business will never get a great name unless it specializes in something. That specialization will create talk and chatter, and that will in turn rebound in business.

An excellent example in our company of this focus is Melba at The Langham, Melbourne.
 

  

This restaurant turns over AUD1 million per month and is the best performing restaurant in our group. What is their speciality, you might ask?

Simple – Its vision is to be the very best interactive, high-end buffet restaurant in Australia. This is clear and the customers understand that perfectly.

 

The team in Melbourne continually challenge each other about what can be the next "big thing" on their interactive displays.  Recently, they added a “seafood altar” that’s a roaring success. Now they are changing part of the hot section to provide Asian noodles cooking a la minute.  They prepare fantastic fresh naan bread and Tandoor in front of you, and the desserts and cheeses are as high-end as any a la carte restaurant.

Their secret?

Not wavering from the single idea that this is their core mission, that their buffet has to be better than any Sunday brunch, anywhere – and to consistently deliver at that high level seven days a week.

 

Another restaurant I can remember that is both unique and a great success story is Henne in Berlin. 

This restaurant, located right beside the former Berlin wall, and tucked away in the city suburbs serves just one thing – chicken.

Actually, there are only two items on the menu: chicken with potato salad and chicken with coleslaw.

That’s it.

It is packed every night and has been for 100 years! This is extreme, I know, but it underlines my point - you don’t have to be all things to all people to be successful in this sector. 


I truly believe that Food and Beverage has to be run with our hearts and only then will our customers feel this passion; best of all, it will give them something worthy to talk about.

  

So what I ask all of us to do is question ourselves:
 

What are we famous for?

What do we do better than anybody else in our communities?

Are we consistent with this?

Does the entire team know and focus on this?

Is our messaging unwavering?

Now, I am sure you can also think of other restaurants that serve the best something.

You rave about them to your friends, you recommend them to strangers, you think of special dishes with great affection, and these are the businesses that will continue to not only survive but prosper, and for some, achieve legendary status.


I'd like to hear from you on this blog about these restaurants that are close to your heart and why you think they are so special.  Hopefully, that way, we can share our experiences and work collectively to find our next "big thing" in our company.
 

Hotel Tour: The Langham, Shenzhen

 

This week, I visited our luxurious The Langham, Shenzhen which had opened last November. It is really coming together well as the final touches have been made to the hotel. On every turn, there are unique selling features....from the double height Palm Court, to the very elegant meeting facilities, to the high-ceilinged Duke's bar and restaurant.
 

From left to right: Palm Court Lounge, Duke's, T'ang Court

The two-storey Langham Club on levels 22 and 23 

Making the most of the natural light, there's a double-height Club Lounge and on the hotel's top floor, the Star Room with the adjoining VIP duplex suites connected by well-lit staircases definitely generate the desired wow effect.   

The two-storey Honeymoon Suite (left picture) and the Grand Ballroom (right)

The stunning Star Room in a twilight setting

Over 40 per cent of the room inventory is 62 square metres and above so we are at the top of the market in that important aspect. This is our first purpose-built The Langham property and I must say we have the best hotel in Shenzhen; one that exudes true European elegance.

Epitome of luxury: The two-bedroom Royal Suite

For those of you that don’t know Shenzhen well, it is a sizable city economy with annual GDP of US$208 billion, which is already 80 per cent the size of Hong Kong or Singapore and no doubt one day will be even bigger.  We are truly fortunate to be a part of this growing dynamic city with such an excellent hotel. 

Afternoon tea at the Palm Court (left) and all day dining at Silk (right)

So if you are coming to Hong Kong, I would highly recommend you spend some time to travel to Shenzhen which is just an hour away. Have a look at this beautiful hotel and maybe stay for a relaxing weekend getaway.  Sven and his team have done a great job opening the hotel and it is already on top of some of our Guest Service Ratings as the colleagues in this hotel, on every turn, are there to make your stay a memorable one.

A liquid oasis in the middle of Shenzhen