Celebrating Virgin Hotels Edinburgh
Delighted to visit Scotland to celebrate our new Virgin Hotels Edinburgh. The future hotel site in the historic India Buildings in Edinburgh’s Old Town is the perfect location for our first hotel outside of the US.
Before turning to business, my day in Edinburgh started with a trip to the shops with my wife Joan. It was a glorious day to see the castle, say hello to the locals and wander the Royal Mile. My grandparents are from Edinburgh and Joan is also a Scot, so the city has always had a special place in my heart. After Joan had picked me out a new jacket - she’s always had great taste! - I enjoyed surprising some entrepreneurs (more on that soon) and learning more about Virgin Hotels’ latest project.
In the evening, we showed off the first designs of Virgin Hotels Edinburgh, inside the beautiful building itself. It will open in 2020, offering 225 Chambers and Grand Chamber Suites, our flagship Commons Club – and plenty of surprises. We love the musical heritage of Edinburgh (I even remember the Sex Pistols appearing at Virgin Records in the city in the late 70s) and we’ll be sure to bring more live music back to the capital in surprising ways.
We have been working closely with Edinburgh’s city council and developer Jansons Property to ensure our new hotel fits in with the special fabric of the city, while creating something unique. We managed similar at our first hotel in Chicago, which converted an historic building into a hotel that Conde Nast named the best in America. India Buildings is absolutely stunning and has so much for us to work with; it is full of stories and legends, and I’m sure we can create many new ones.
I was asked what makes Virgin Hotels so different, and like any Virgin business it comes down to the people. It’s all about providing brilliant, personalised service with a genuine love for what we do, and ensuring everyone leaves happier than when they arrived. We love to help create and develop strong communities around our hotels, with new and exciting restaurants, bars and co-working spaces inside for locals and visitors to Edinburgh to enjoy alike.
It’s an incredibly exciting time for Virgin Hotels. While our Chicago property goes from strength to strength, new hotels in San Francisco, Nashville, Washington D.C, New Orleans, New York, Dallas, Palm Springs, Silicon Valley, Las Vegas and more are on the way.
Thankfully, opening new hotels is a great excuse for celebrations. In fact, I’m already looking forward to the grand party to toast the opening of Virgin Hotels Edinburgh. Cheers!