Langham Hospitality introduces leadership role to drive residential growth

Rico Picenoni/Image: Supplied

Langham Hospitality Group (LHG) has appointed Rico Picenoni as its global head of residential, a newly created role designed to strengthen the Group’s design, branding, and management of private homes. The move comes amid rising demand for mixed-use developments that combine hotel and residential offerings.

“The rise in mixed-use developments where we can offer hotel management and branded residence services in conjunction allows us to serve our clients more holistically,” said Bob van den Oord, CEO of Langham Hospitality Group. “It also enables consumers to not just experience our hospitality during their travels, but in the places they choose to call home.”

“Rico’s rare blend of branded residence and hotel operations experience makes him uniquely qualified to lead this key area of growth for the Group,” van den Oord added.

Picenoni joins LHG from Savills in London, where he led the branded residential consultancy team, overseeing advisory mandates across more than 50 countries with a combined development value exceeding $45bn. His career also includes senior roles at Accor, where he managed residential and extended-stay developments across the Middle East and Africa, along with project feasibility and assessment positions.

Earlier, he served as asset manager at Seven Tides Hospitality, overseeing residential properties operated by brands such as Minor Hotels Group and Mövenpick. He also gained operational experience with Rosewood Hotels & Resorts in the United States and Starwood Hotels & Resorts in the UAE, providing him with valuable insight into the service foundations that support branded residences.

A graduate of Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne, Picenoni also holds qualifications in real estate investments, asset management, and negotiations.

Reinforcing LHG’s growing focus on the Middle East, where it plans to open its first hotel in 2029, Picenoni will be permanently based in Dubai.