Skift Take
Como Hotels and Resorts is executing a strategic playbook that puts broader luxury sector dynamics into sharp relief.
Early Check-In
Editor’s Note: Skift Senior Hospitality Editor Sean O’Neill brings readers exclusive reporting and insights into hotel deals and development, and how those trends are making an impact across the travel industry.
If you haven't heard much about Como Hotels and Resorts, I expect you will soon. The luxury brand is making distinctive moves worth noting.
While not a unique company, Como Group appears to be coming out of the pandemic with more momentum than many of its luxury hospitality peers.
This fall, it opens Como Singapore. A few months ago, it opened Como Le Montrachet in France. Other recent additions include Castello Del Nero in Italy (2019), Como Castello Del Nero in Tuscany, Italy (2020), and Como Laucala Island in Fiji (2021). Como Group plans to open about one property a year on average. The group is finalizing a project in Japan. It wants to expand in places like Bhutan and Antarctica but also remote outposts in markets like the U.S., such as a desert or mountain location.The company has the resources to grow, despite having to compete against better-known brands like Four Seasons, Belmond, Montage, and Auberge.
Billionaire Christina Ong founded the company in 1991 by opening The Halkin in London. Today it has 18 properties worldwide. It claims to be the oldest luxury hotel brand still controlled by its founder. Christina Ong owns 85% of the group. Ong and her husband, Malaysian businessman Ong Beng Seng, had a net worth of around $1.7 billion as of 2019, Forbes estimated. They have substantial real estate, retail, fashion, and (non-Como) hotel investments. They've said they want to hold Como for yea