Shangri-La Asia just appointed Kuok Hui Kwong, daughter of founder Robert Kuok, as its new CEO.

More than five decades after its launch, the group now runs 100+ hotels across 75 destinations, continuing to define what “Asian luxury” looks and feels like from Beijing to London.

Here is their story.

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🍚 The man behind the brand

Robert Kuok didn’t have a hospitality background. Born in Johor Bahru, Malaysia to immigrant Chinese parents with a rice trading business, Kuok built his empire the old-fashioned way, dominating commodity markets.

After he inherited the family business, he became the “Sugar King of Asia,” ran shipping fleets, traded oil, and moved markets quietly from behind the scenes.

By the 1960s, he had wealth and power.

And he noticed something strange: Asia was rising, but its top hotels were still imported. They were built and run by Western groups with Western tastes.

No one had created a luxury brand that actually reflected the values and rhythms of Asian hospitality.

Kuok believed there was room for something better. He didn’t build Shangri-La to play by Western rules. He wanted every check-in to feel personal, every lobby to be more than just marble and chandeliers.

A place where the experience was calm, considered, and deeply respectful. Where service came from intuition, not instruction. That belief became the foundation for Shangri-La.

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🏨 The first hotel

On 23 April 1971, Robert Kuok opened the Shangri-La Hotel Singapore on Orange Grove Road in approximately 12 and a half acres of gardens just off Orchard Road.

Instead of copying Western luxury playbooks, Shangri-La based its approach on Asian philosophy: comfort over ceremony, presence over performance.

In practice, that meant something simple but powerful. Everyone was treated with quiet attentiveness, no matter what room they booked or how much they spent. The staff didn’t follow scripts. They were trained to read the room, notice what people needed, and respond without making it a show.

Asian hospitality at Shangri-La centers on humility, respect, courtesy, selflessness, and heartfelt sincerity—their official brand roots.

It was not as gestures of deference, but as a way to create harmony between guest and host. It wasn’t about calling someone “sir” or “madam.” It was about knowing when to speak and when to step back.

Refilling a guest’s tea without being asked. Remembering a child’s favorite breakfast. Creating a sense of ease, not status.

Every Shangri-La team was taught to build that feeling from the moment someone stepped in.

And they used systems to make it stick: detailed guest logs, daily staff briefings, and the Shangri-La Academy, which trains every colleague from bellhop to GM in both world-class service and the brand’s philosophy.

You didn’t just walk into a hotel. You walked into a place that knew you even if it was your first time.

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✅ It wasn’t just luck

Shangri-La Singapore was a success,but skeptics still saw it as a one-off. A lucky build in a rich city.

So in 1979, Kuok opened Shangri-La Kowloon in Hong Kong. It was a tougher, more crowded market already dominated by legends like The Peninsula and The Mandarin.

There was no margin for error. The Kowloon property doubled down on service.

It introduced larger-than-average rooms, subtle interiors that didn’t scream “luxury,” and a stronger focus on business travelers who wanted quiet comfort over showy status.

The gamble worked. Guests noticed the difference and started switching loyalties.

This wasn’t about beating the big brands at their own game. It was about offering something they didn’t. Shangri-La wasn’t louder. It was steadier. And that’s what made it stick.

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💥 Growth on their terms

Most hotel chains scaled fast by franchising. Just lend out the name, let someone else run the property, and take a cut.

But Kuok wasn’t interested in shortcuts. He wanted every Shangri-La to feel the same in spirit.

That meant building each hotel from the ground up, and making sure every team was steeped in his vision for service—even as professional managers and family members carried it forward.

So they grew slowly. This meant no franchising and no shortcuts. They built and owned every hotel themselves, trained every GM in-house, and sourced talent from within the system. It gave them full control over design, hiring, menus, and service rituals.

What actually defined a Shangri-La? It wasn’t chandeliers or architecture. It was the way staff anticipated what guests needed before they asked. The consistency across cities came from habits, not sameness.

Behind it all were systems: guest preference logs, internal audits, and a group-wide Shangri-La Academy that trained everyone from bellhops to GMs.

The feeling of calm, attentive care wasn’t an accident. It was a skill not left to chance. It was deeply rooted in formalized training and everyday practice.

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💪🏼 Riding out the hard years

In the late ’90s, things got rocky. The Asian Financial Crisis hit hard—travel budgets vanished, and Western hotel giants with deep pockets poured into Asia with new flagships and aggressive marketing.

Shangri-La didn’t slash tons of staff or cut corners. Instead, they quietly doubled down on what mattered: unwavering service, room upgrades, calm leadership.

They played the long game, trusting that in the end, resilience and reliability would outlast flash.
When the region recovered, corporate travelers and governments remembered who stood steady.

But behind the calm, the risks were real. Unlike franchise-heavy rivals, Shangri-La’s choice to own every asset gave it unmatched consistency—yet left it with more debt and exposure when trouble came.

The same strength that built a luxury legend also meant riding out downturns took patience and deep pockets. Risk was always part of the bargain.

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🧠 Owning the whole stack

One of the brand’s quietest strengths? They built everything themselves.

They didn’t just run hotels. They developed the land. Designed the architecture. Trained chefs, managers, and florists in-house. Even their back-of-house logistics were built from scratch.
It wasn’t glamorous work—but it meant total control.

They could promise consistency across cities because they weren’t depending on third parties. If something didn’t meet the standard, they fixed it. If a dish wasn’t right, they changed the recipe, not the customer’s expectations.

That full-stack approach made the experience more stable, and the margins more durable.

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🤝🏼 Built on relationships

Over time, Shangri-La built something just as valuable as luxury: trust. Governments, property developers, and landlords saw them as steady hands. If you were building a new financial district or launching a global summit, you wanted a Shangri-La nearby.

They didn’t win deals by undercutting competitors. They won by being reliable by showing up, delivering, and keeping promises. They played a longer, quieter game. And it worked.

If you needed a partner, not just a name on a building, you picked the quiet hands that would do everything to make sure they don’t drop the ball.

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🇨🇳 China: the expansion no one else could pull off

In the early 2000s, most global hotel chains were cautious about China. The risks felt high. The consumer habits weren’t clear. Shangri-La didn’t hesitate.

They moved beyond Beijing and Shanghai into second-tier cities like Chengdu, Dalian, and Guilin. They tailored services to local tastes with custom menus, locally inspired design, regional art, and guest experiences that reflected each city.

By the 2010s, China wasn’t just a part of the business. It was the center of it.

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😰 The pandemic stress test

Then came 2020. Global travel shut down. Hotels emptied out. Luxury brands scrambled. For Shangri-La, the hit was especially hard.

Remember, they didn’t lease or franchise. They owned. Every hotel still had bills to pay, even with no guests walking in.

But they didn’t panic. They restructured debt, held onto leadership, and used downtime to reset, revamping training, tightening operations, and keeping their best people close.

By 2023, travel was coming back, and so were the guests. Slowly, steadily, Shangri-La picked up where it left off. China is still key. But today, it’s equal parts opportunity and challenge.

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🤩 Here and now

Shangri-La didn’t just survive the hardest years in hospitality. It came out with its identity intact and its ambitions still quietly growing.

By 2025, the group has more than 100 properties in over 75 destinations. More importantly, it had built something rare: a brand that guests trusted without flashy, unnecessary luxury..

And it remains a family  business. With Robert Kuok’s daughter, Kuok Hui Kwong, now CEO, the second generation is poised to guide Shangri-La through a new era—one that values people, resilience, and genuine hospitality above all else.

And Shangri-La’s real legacy? Loyal guests, deep partnerships, and a reputation for care and consistency that spans generations. Not just luxury, but longevity.

Built quietly, held tightly, and always delivered with care.