Name: Robert Schofield
Title: General Manager
Company, city: The Langham, Chicago; Chicago, Ill.
Number of employees: 300
Recent project: As our hotel is just over a year old, we are focused on ongoing refinement and fine-tuning to enhance guest experience and operational efficiency.
First job: Trainee accountant
Little-known fact about you: I am a chartered accountant.
Your Business
Essential business philosophy: Maintain a clear, compelling vision. You must start with a well-defined product and then ensure progress flows consistently from leadership to every team member. I follow a cascade methodology where strategic direction and standards are communicated top-down and executed throughout the organization.
Best way to keep a competitive edge: Stay relentless. Keep your foot on the pedal by monitoring trends, paying attention to details and refining the core aspects of the guest experience. Continuous improvement and operational discipline sustain a competitive advantage.
Yardstick of success: We measure success through guest feedback and satisfaction, return on investment, and market comparison. Success for us means delivering, selling and promoting the hotel while tightly controlling costs and maximizing revenue.
Robert Schofield as a Traveler
Most important item when traveling: My cellphone — it keeps me connected and lets me use travel time productively.
How I spend time on board: Reading business publications such as the Harvard Business Review and reflecting on how business models and trends can be applied to hospitality.
Favorite meal: Breakfast at Hotel Danieli in Venice — a memorable start to the day.
Favorite destination: Venice, Italy — a uniquely different and inspiring city.
About The Langham, Chicago
Amenities that make travel easier for business and leisure guests: The Club Lounge blends traditional club lounge services with dedicated butler assistance to provide personalized, less self-service-oriented hospitality. Butlers handle concierge and booking needs, and the space welcomes families. The 1865 frequent-guest program offers upgrades and perks across the Langham portfolio, helping business travelers enjoy consistent benefits.
Our meeting rooms offer abundant natural light thanks to large windows, creating an uplifting environment for events and conferences. Families appreciate the Kid’s Suite on the eighth floor, which is stocked with toys and activities, and our Cinema Suite screens family-friendly films on weekends. The pool, notable for its generous size in Chicago, and the fourth-floor wellness center deliver standout spa and fitness experiences. Locals can purchase spa memberships as well.
The Pavilion Tea Room is known for its afternoon tea, while Travelle, our on-site restaurant, draws a hip, eclectic crowd. This summer we introduced Elle on the River, an alfresco dining concept on the Chicago River offering Mediterranean-inspired small plates and tacos for a more casual experience.
About our modern guestrooms: Our rooms rank among the largest in Chicago at approximately 500 square feet. Expansive windows open to city views, and thoughtful amenities include in-house branded toiletries and practical items such as toothbrushes and combs. Bathrooms feature an opaque shower screen for privacy, and in-room technology includes 55-inch televisions and advanced systems. A distinctive touch is our service staff—stylists in pink Chanel—located in public areas to offer assistance and enhance the guest experience.
Why this property was ideal for Langham’s North American expansion: Chicago presented a compelling opportunity to introduce the Langham brand to the U.S. market. The building’s Mies van der Rohe architectural heritage and an unbeatable riverfront location made it an ideal choice. Significant city investment in riverfront development and the neighborhood’s transformation aligned with our vision for a flagship property. While we preserved the exterior architecture, the interior was reimagined with contemporary luxury design to transform an office building into a distinguished urban hotel that reflects both the brand’s history and modern hospitality standards.