James Bermingham, the CEO of Virgin Hotels Collection, has an uncanny resemblance to his boss, who happens to be one of the most famous and recognizable men in the world, Sir Richard Branson. It could be the shock of blond hair and the matching goatees. Or, possibly, the accent. Either way, the two are identical in one regard: They continue to push the Virgin Hotels brand out of virgin territory and into expansion mode, bringing the distinct Virgin experience to more customers and promise of asset value to developers. Its latest hotel opening helps accomplish just that.
The Virgin brand is about as British as meat pie. Virgin Group was founded in 1970 by Branson and Nik Powell and recognized initially for its eponymous music megastores, which, in its heyday, were magnets for teeny-boppers and serious music heads, alike. The group has grown to include everything from airlines and cruise ships to mobile phones and space travel. Bermingham, who was nearly 20 years with Montage International before joining Virgin in 2021, calls Branson the “ultimate entrepreneur,” and 50-plus years into it, “He’s still as creative and as entrepreneurial as he was when he first started out.”
IN THE VIRGIN MOLD
Virgin Hotels was launched in 2010, but, in its 14 years since, it never had a property in London, a peculiarity for a company whose head honcho was knighted in 2000. Until now.
In August, Virgin opened Virgin Hotels London Shoreditch, a conversion of the former Mondrian, giving it presence in a city that is not only known for its chic hotels but a city that birthed the Virgin brand name. At the same time, the artsy and hip Shoreditch neighborhood, far from the glitz of Mayfair and the tourist throngs of Soho, is home to a cluster of hotels—from The Hoxton to One Hundred Shoreditch—that fit closer in the shape of a Virgin hotel, with its distinct stylings (think shiny, red phones and SMEG fridges) and lifestyle mentality.
To hear it from the Dublin-born Bermingham, having a hotel in London matters. “It’s a big milestone. London is the home of all things Virgin,” he said. In a way, it helps to further close a circle, as Bermingham noted, ably tapping into passenger airlift through Virgin Atlantic and travel through Virgin Atlantic Holidays. The idea or strategy, Bermingham noted, is to have a Virgin property in every destination Virgin flies to. (Virgin Atlantic Holidays is the holiday wholesaler of Virgin Atlantic and generates thousands of room nights for Virgin properties, particularly in New York and Las Vegas, which is one of the reasons, Bermingham said, it prioritizes destinations Virgin flies to.)
The London hotel, the ninth Virgin hotel, is in partnership with the Reuben Brothers, the siblings and broader family no stranger to the hotel industry, with numerous investments, including another recent, conspicuous opening, the revamped The Surrey, A Corinthia Hotel, in New York. “I am incredibly excited to be partnering with Virgin Hotels in London, the city that Sir Richard Branson and I are proud to be from,” said Jamie Reuben, principal at Reuben Brothers, at the time of the deal. Virgin’s relationship with the Reuben Brothers runs long and deep, tied socially to Branson and his family.
GROWTH PATH
Virgin’s British pedigree makes it seem all that more backward that Virgin Hotels’ expansion mode started in the U.S. before making its way across the pond. It was, however, by design, Bermingham said. To wit, the first Virgin hotel opened in Chicago in 2015, in what was a former bank building. Virgin was a managing maverick in those early days: Branson famously railed against hidden charges and what he deemed the absurdity of having to pay $10 for a chocolate bar. Those Virgin Hotel SMEGs are stocked with snacks and drinks at street prices.
Virgin, expectedly, does things a bit differently than other hotel companies. There are the small things, such as calling rooms “chambers,” to the larger design maneuvers, like dividing the chambers into what Bermingham calls two experiences: the dressing room, a combination of wardrobe, bathroom and makeup area, which is separate from the interior, or the lounge part of the guestroom. Food and beverage programming is operated in-house and inspired by each hotel market. “The culinary offerings you’ll see in New York are far different than in New Orleans,” Bermingham said. A third prong is technology: Lucy, Virgin’s app, is described as a personal comfort assistant. Guests can check in via the app, which doubles as the room key. On property, guests can use it to ask for things like an extra pillow, laundry pick up or room service. TVs and air conditioning can also be controlled through the app.
After Chicago, subsequent U.S. hotels cropped up, including the long-awaited Virgin Hotels New York City, 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 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-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 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 is the headquarters of Virgin Hotels and home port to Virgin Voyages.) Six months later, COVID preempted those plans. The anticipated opening of the hotel at the time of the announcement was 2023, and while there hasn’t been an official update, the project remains listed on Virgin Hotels’ website, with a projected 2026 opening. Like London, Miami is a strategic market for Virgin. Bermingham admitted that the financial landscape makes it difficult. “It’s extremely challenging to raise capital; in particular, debt,” he said.
Virgin Hotels isn’t the only hotel arm under the Virgin banner. Virgin Limited Edition, founded in 2009, includes nine luxury, resort collection properties, most in exotic destinations, from African safari camps to the lapping waves that cozy up against Necker Island, Branson’s 74-acre island in the British Virgin Islands. Average room rates across Limited Edition are around $2,000 a night. In May 2024, Virgin Limited Edition added Finch Hattons Luxury Safari Camp in Kenya, joining its other Kenyan outpost, Mahali Mzuri, as its ninth property.
It hasn’t all been smooth. Last September, Morocco was rocked by a powerful earthquake that hit the High Atlas Mountains in western Morocco. It caused significant damage to Kasbah Tamadot, Branson’s retreat, which sits at the top of a valley with views of Mount Toubkal and boasts accommodations from Berber tents to riads. Following an extensive post-earthquake restoration, the hotel reopened in October of this year.
Though both Virgin Hotels and Virgin Limited Edition remain separate, in 2023, they were coupled under the Virgin Hotels Collection with Bermingham at the helm. They were also joined by Virgin Residences. The move came with the departure of Jon Brown as CEO of Virgin Limited Edition. Both still have their own websites and booking platform.
