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The Commons Club at Virgin Hotels Edinburgh , which opened in 2022 . |
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which opened in 2023 . The current portfolio includes six hotels in the U . S . and three in the U . K . “ The strategic focus initially was the U . S ., with always the intent to grow in Europe ,” Bermingham said . And by conversions , like Chicago , like London-Shoreditch . “ They are a priority for us ,” Bermingham said , years ago and now . “ The capital markets are super challenging ; getting new development finance is difficult ,” he said .
Up next , Virgin is headed to the Rocky Mountain State , with the scheduled 2026 opening of Virgin Hotels Denver Fox Park . Owned by VITA Development Group , it will be part of a 40- acre master redevelopment of the former Denver Post site , which will also include office
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space , residential , retail and entertainment offerings , a focus on public art and garden reticula . Bermingham said Virgin was also looking at doing one of the residential towers as a branded residential play .
In September , Virgin opened applications for the Virgin Red Rewards Mastercard . The card earns points that can be redeemed for Virgin-branded flights , hotels and cruises and more . The Virgin Red loyalty program , launched two years ago , offers more than 150 ways to earn and burn points and also can be used in conjunction with non-Virgin purchases .
Virgin is an asset-light branded company where it values long-term management contracts . It does have one franchise hotel , the 1,500-
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room Virgin Hotels Las Vegas , a just-off-the-strip property and conversion of the former Hard Rock Las Vegas . The size of the hotel made it sensible , Bermingham said , to franchise it .
FEEDING THE WHEEL The Virgin Hotels brand is one cog within the mammoth Virgin machine . Its future expansion relies on the other parts within the Virgin wheel , as Bermingham explained it . “ We ’ re prioritizing our growth opportunistically in North America and Europe and prioritizing markets that either Virgin Atlantic flies to or Virgin Voyages sails to ,” he said , with cities like Los Angeles in mind and a return to San Francisco , potentially , where it previously operated a hotel that
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was shuttered in 2020 during COVID by its owner , Jay Singh and Paradigm Hotels Group . Virgin subsequently filed a lawsuit against the owner over wrongful termination of the 20- year management agreement . In September , a court ruled in its favor and against the owner for an appeal for a new trial . In a statement to HOTELS , Virgin Hotels said it was pleased with the court ’ s decision . “ Strong , constructive partnerships are at the heart of how we operate at Virgin Hotels , and we look forward to putting this chapter behind us .”
San Franciso isn ’ t the only town where Virgin has run into some challenges . In fall 2019 , it announced plans for Virgin Hotels Miami in the Brickell neighborhood . ( Miami
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38 hotelsmag . com Oct / Nov 2024 |