Belmond Ltd. (formerly Orient-Express Hotels Ltd) is a hospitality and leisure company that operates luxury hotels, train services and river cruises worldwide. In 2015, the company had 35 deluxe hotels, 7 tourist trains, 3 river cruises and restaurants in 22 countries.

History

The company was founded in 1976 by the American entrepreneur James Sherwood with the acquisition of the Hotel Cipriani in Venice from the

Guinness family The Guinness family is an extensive Irish family known for its accomplishments in brewing, banking, politics, and religious ministry. The brewing branch is particularly well known among the general public for producing the dry stout Guinne ...

for £900,000. James Sherwood then bought a number of historic rail cars similar to (but likely separate from) those used on the original

Orient Express The ''Orient Express'' was a long-distance passenger 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 and int ...

train, which he restored and used to offer rides from Paris and London to his hotel in Venice to wealthy clients,thus the former name of the company. Much of the history of the company is documented in James Sherwood's memoir '' Orient Express: A Personal Journey''. On 10 March 2014, Orient-Express Hotels Ltd was renamed Belmond, and on 1 July 2014, Belmond's holding company was also renamed Belmond Ltd. In April 2015, Belmond Limited partnered with

Irish Rail Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

to launch the luxury train Belmond Grand Hibernian in Ireland. In July 2016,

Indian Hotels Company Limited The Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL) is an Indian hospitality company that manages a portfolio of hotels, resorts, jungle safaris, palaces, spas and in-flight catering services. The company is part of India's Tata Group. IHCL was founded in ...

sold its 5.1% stake in Belmond, retaining only 0.44% of Belmond after the sale. In December 2018, the company agreed to be acquired by

LVMH LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton (), commonly known as LVMH, is a French holding multinational corporation and conglomerate specializing in luxury goods, headquartered in Paris. The company was formed in 1987 through the merger of fashion house ...

in a $3.2billion transaction which closed in April 2019, thus delisting the company from the NYSE and making it 100% privately owned. The announcement of the sale led Belmond's share to increase by 40% in a single trading day.}

Properties

Hotels

Transportation

Restaurants

Notes and references

Notes

References

External links

* * {{LVMH Hotel and leisure companies based in London Companies of Bermuda Cruise lines Multinational food companies Railway companies of Italy Railway companies of the United Kingdom Hotel chains in the United Kingdom Hospitality companies established in 1976 Railway companies established in 1976 1976 establishments in Italy 2019 mergers and acquisitions LVMH brands