This article contains content that is written like an advertisement .(September 2024) |
Formerly | Orient-Express Hotels Ltd |
---|---|
Company type | Subsidiary |
Industry | Hospitality |
Founded | 1976 |
Headquarters | Hamilton, Bermuda [1] |
Key people | Roeland Vos (Chairman) Dan Ruff (CEO) |
Services | Hotels, trains, cruises, restaurants |
Revenue | US$ 576.84 million (2018) [2] |
Parent | LVMH |
Website | www |
Belmond Ltd. (formerly Orient-Express Hotels Ltd) is a hospitality and leisure company that operates hotels, train services and river cruises and safaris worldwide. [3] In 2024, the company has 47 properties in 28 countries and territories, with 32 hotels, six tourist trains, seven river cruise boats and two safaris.
The company was founded in 1976 by the American entrepreneur James Sherwood with the acquisition of the Hotel Cipriani in Venice, Italy, from the Guinness family for £900,000. Sherwood then bought a number of carriages from the original Orient Express train, which he restored and used to offer rides from Paris and London to his hotel in Venice, [4] thus the former name of the company. Much of the history of the company is documented in Sherwood's memoir Orient Express: A Personal Journey.
On 10 March 2014, Orient-Express Hotels Ltd was renamed Belmond, [5] [6] [7] [8] and on 1 July 2014, Belmond's holding company was also renamed Belmond Ltd. [9]
In April 2015, Belmond partnered with Irish Rail to launch the train Belmond Grand Hibernian in Ireland. [10] In July 2016, Indian Hotels Company Limited sold most of its 5.1% stake in Belmond, retaining only 0.44% after the sale. [11]
In December 2018, the company agreed to be acquired by LVMH [12] in a $3.2 billion transaction which would delist the company from the New York Stock Exchange and make it 100% privately owned.[ citation needed ] The announcement of the sale led Belmond's share price to increase by 40% in a day. [13] The deal closed in April 2019. [14]
Belmond has continued to grow its portfolio in Italy. In September 2021, it acquired Villa Beatrice in Portofino. [15] In February 2023, the company announced an agreement with Sardegna Resorts S.r.l to manage Romazzino in Sardinia. [16]
It has also added a cluster of new properties in Mexico. In August 2023, Belmond re-opened Maroma following a redesign, in which ten beachfront suites were added. [17] In June 2023 it entered into an agreement with Cora Pacific Development to open Milaroca, a hotel on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, in 2025. [18] In December 2023, the company announced that it had acquired Hacienda Katanchel in Mexico, with a planned opening in 2027. [19]
In December 2022, Belmond announced a ten-year plan to upgrade its properties, which it had already begun with the renovation of Splendido Mare in 2021. [20] Upgrades have included renovations and refurbishments to its trains. In October 2021, Belmond launched a train carriage designed by film director Wes Anderson on the British Pullman train. [21] In 2023, the company also launched a Dior Spa on The Royal Scotsman. [22]
In 2024, the company returned the Eastern & Oriental Express to service, after the train service was paused during the pandemic. [23] The company also launched a Dior Spa aboard, and unveiled a sleeper carriage for the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express, designed by French street artist JR. [24] The carriage was presented at the 2024 Venice Biennale. [25]
Type | Route | Name |
---|---|---|
Sleeper trains | London-Venice | Venice Simplon-Orient-Express |
Scotland | Belmond Royal Scotsman | |
Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand & Laos | Eastern and Oriental Express | |
Peru | Belmond Andean Explorer [note 2] | |
Day trains | Great Britain | Belmond British Pullman |
Peru [note 3] | Belmond Hiram Bingham | |
River Boats | France | Les Bateaux Belmond (seven canal and river barges) |
Country | City | Name |
---|---|---|
United States | New York City | 21 Club |
United Kingdom | Oxfordshire | The Restaurant at Belmond Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons |
London | The Lalee | |
Portugal | Madeira | William Restaurant |
Italy | Venice | Oro Restaurant |
Taormina | Otto Geleng Restaurant | |
Florence | La Loggia | |
Brazil | Rio de Janeiro | Mee |
Rio de Janeiro | Ristorante Hotel Cipriani |
The Orient Express was a long-distance passenger luxury train service created in 1883 by the Belgian company Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits (CIWL) that operated until 2009. The train traveled the length of continental Europe, with terminal stations in Paris in the northwest and Istanbul in the southeast, and branches extending service to Athens, Brussels, and London.
The Venice Simplon-Orient-Express (VSOE) is a private luxury train service from London to Venice and other European cities. It is currently owned by Belmond.
The Belmond Hotel Monasterio is a five-star hotel in Cusco, Peru. It is a refurbished Baroque seminary built in the 17th century on Inca foundations. The hotel is located two blocks from the Plaza de Armas, in the former premises of Saint Anthony the Abbot Seminary.
PeruRail is a railway operator providing tourist, freight, and charter services in southern Peru. It was founded in 1999 by two Peruvian entrepreneurs and the British company Sea Containers.
The Great South Pacific Express was a luxury Australian train service, run in by Queensland Rail and Belmond, the operator of the Venice-Simplon Orient Express.
The Eastern & Oriental Express is a luxury cruise train that carries passengers between Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand.
James Blair Sherwood was an American-born, British-based businessman, and the founder of Belmond Limited and Sea Containers.
The Belmond Hotel Cipriani is a deluxe hotel on the island of Giudecca in Venice, northern Italy. It is reached by hotel launch from St Mark's Square, a five-minute journey across the lagoon. Long considered one of the leading luxury hotels of the world, its room rates begin at USD $1,400 per night.
The Belmond Villa San Michele is a hotel situated on the hill of Fiesole overlooking Florence, Italy. It is named after the church of St Michael the Archangel. Today it is owned by Belmond Ltd. and is operated as a luxury hotel.
A luxury train is a premium passenger rail service. Some luxury trains promote tourism in destinations across a region, while others take passengers on a ride through a single country. Luxury trains include restaurants, bars, bathrooms, and sleeping and seating areas.
Belmond Reid's Palace is a historic hotel located to the west of Funchal Bay in Madeira, Portugal, in an imposing position looking out over the Atlantic Ocean. The hotel has sloping gardens. The hotel's complex include more than 40,000 square meters of space designed as a subtropical botanical garden.
Belmond Maroma Resort and Spa is a hotel on Mexico's Riviera Maya, 30 miles south of Cancún. It was built by Mexico City architect Jose Luis Moreno a specialist in designing restaurants and small hotels, and opened in 1995.
Belmond Hotel Rio Sagrado is a hotel in the Sacred Valley of the Incas, 46 kilometres from Cusco, Peru. It is built on the banks of the Urubamba River by Urubamba, near the town of Ollantaytambo, which is known for its Inca archaeological site and as a starting point for one of the longer treks to Machu Picchu. The hotels features 11 suites, 10 rooms, and 2 villas. The hotel has extensive gardens constructed with streams reminiscent of Inca water channels.
Belmond Sanctuary Lodge is a small hotel situated at the entrance to the Machu Picchu Inca citadel. It is the only hotel at this World Heritage Site, and can be accessed by foot or by rail.
Belmond British Pullman is a private luxury train that operates day and weekend journeys around Britain. Until 2023, it also served as the British leg of the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express (VSOE) service between London and Venice.
The Belmond Hiram Bingham is a luxury train operating day return trips from Poroy station outside Cusco to Aguas Calientes, the station for Machu Picchu in Peru.
Lorenzo Sousa Debarbieri is an entrepreneur, businessman and author from Lima who oversees large privately held tourism and railway companies in Peru.
The Belmond Andean Explorer, launched in May 2017, is South America's first luxury sleeper train. It replaces the eponymous Pullman day train, between Cusco and Puno, at Lake Titicaca. By the new train this trip is converted to a one-night journey, and extended from Puno for another overnight ride to Arequipa.
Belmond Las Casitas is a hotel in the Colca Valley, Caylloma Province, Arequipa, Peru, 180 km north of Arequipa and 8 km from the town of Chivay, which is known for its regional market. It is a one-hour hike from the colcas or granaries, hewn into the cliffs just above the river, where inhabitants of the valley dating back to the pre-Inca era would store grain. It is 11.2 km from the Colca Canyon where condors can be seen in flight.
The Orient Express is a private luxury train service and luxury hospitality company operated by Accor. It will carry passengers between Paris and Istanbul, like the original Orient Express, beginning in 2025. It will also offer journeys around Italy.