After eight years in the making, The Langham is finally ready to introduce its first beachfront property in Australia with the opening of The Langham Gold Coast and Jewel Residences, on June 23.

The 339-room luxury hotel, which is at the centre of three majestic towers situated between Surfers Paradise and Broadbeach, is the first development with direct beachfront access to be built on the Gold Coast in more than 30 years.

“Opening our first beachfront property in one of the world’s most desirable travel destinations is an incredible milestone, giving Australians and international travellers a new luxury resort experience through The Langham lens,” said the Langham Hospitality Group’s Regional Vice President, Operations – Pacific & Southeast Asia, Jeffrey van Vorsselen.

“The Gold Coast is a rich and diverse landscape which offers everything from rainforest adventure and golden beaches to vineyards and farmers markets which we want to introduce to our guests travelling for leisure or business.”

Targeting the resort guest

With two luxury hotels in metro Sydney and Melbourne, the Gold Coast property challenged Langham to create a unique luxury resort experience while retaining signature brand elements that regular guests will recognise such as its Service Stylist and Ginger Flower fragrance.

“The Langham itself will become a reason to come to the Gold Coast,” The Langham Gold Coast General Manager, John O’Shea, told HM exclusively.

“We’ve had to invent a few things to make it resort style, but there’ll be a very strong Langham essence to the building.

“We’ve got flip flops instead of instead of slippers in the rooms; we have beach bags that guests can take with them – they’re the kinds of things that are a little bit different from our inner-city hotels.”

Designed with a modern coastal palette, the hotel features artwork by Australian sculptor and artist, Camie Lyons.

Each of the 17 different types of rooms and suites feature balconies with views of the ocean or hinterland, a minibar with a range of cocktails, large bathtubs and separate rainforest shower, 55-inch TVs with Chromecast, and a round dining table with two chairs.

O’Shea says the rooms have been designed to encourage guests to stay inside longer.

“We’ve set up the rooms to offer more of an experience because they all have fantastic views,” he said.

Winning over the locals

Food and beverage is an integral part of the offer at this five-star property, with several venues to cater to various dining occasions.

“You’re always judged by your food and beverage,” O’Shea said.  

“We want to be locally loved and internationally famous. And to be locally loved, people from Gold Coast really need to be proud of what they have. This hotel has been being built for the last eight years so there’s a lot of community interest.”

The hotel will offer The Langham’s famed Afternoon Tea in its Palm Court venue, while breakfast, lunch and dinner will be served at seafood-focused restaurant Akoya. The venue also features a lobby and pool bar.

More food and beverage venues will be added in September, including Coral Moon – an open-air cocktail bar on the third floor with fire pits, and Cantonese fine dining restaurant T’ang Court.

“We have a very famous T’ang Court in The Langham in Hong Kong, which has been rated three Michelin stars for years. The T’ang Court in Shanghai also has a Michelin star, and this will be the first headquarters outside of Asia, so we’ve got big hopes that it will become a great sensation.

“It’s a little bit different and will need a little bit of education for the market as well because there’s not very many fine dining Cantonese restaurants in Australia.”

The hotel’s wellness offering includes Chuan Spa, which includes eight treatment rooms offering Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) therapies, a gym overlooking the beach, and 22-metre swimming pool.

O’Shea expects the property’s extensive meeting facilities to appeal to the MICE market.

“There is a ballroom on the ground floor, opposite the hotel lobby and we have concertina doors that open up to the pool and the beach area where you can actually drive a car into the lobby of the ballroom,” he explained.

Since opening the website for bookings last week, the hotel is already seeing demand for the opening week in June.

“We’re not opening until June 23, and we almost have as much business as we want on that first weekend,” O’Shea said.