Sir Richard Branson plans hotel chain
Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin group is to launch into the hotel market, opening a chain of four-star properties across North America.
Cities cited for the first openings include New York, San Francisco, Miami, Los Angeles, Boston and Washington DC, but Branson intends to open in other countries worldwide in the future.
A new website www.virginhotels.com invites property owners and developers to consider ‘getting into bed’ with the Virgin group.
It says: "We are keen to discover a range of interesting, authentic and high quality 150-400 room properties in appealing neighbourhoods that will meet the expectations of travellers in the ‘creative class’ – a culture and mindset that represent the values of our target guest."
Virgin Hotels is looking to acquire properties up to $500m over the next three years. It says it will buy hotels outright or operate them as a third party manager.
In order to develop its hotels business, Virgin has established a property venture with entrepreneur Alberto Beeck and hospitality and real estate investor Diego Lowenstein.
By Linsey McNeill
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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