HotelChatter - Tag: Virgin Hotels

Chicago: Best Hotel Scene of 2011: Chicago Is Having a Bit of a Hotel Renaissance

HotelChatter — 2011-12-30T15:35:01-05:00

<![CDATA[<img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/1425/killerviewpublicday.jpg" class="top">It's what you've been waiting all year for--<a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/tag/hotelchatter 2011 awards">The 2011 HotelChatter Awards</a>! We'll be bringing you the best and worst of the year all day today and part of tomorrow. Agree or disagree with our picks? <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2011/12/30/101223/35/hotels/Best_Hotel_Scene_of_2011_Chicago_Is_Having_a_Bit_of_a_Hotel_Renaissance#comment-block">Air your thoughts in the comments below</a>.This year marked the introduction of not one but three major hotel brands to the good ol' US of A. And the midwestern city they all chose as a launching pad? Why, <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/tag/Chicago%20Hotels">Chicago</a>! Where else? After <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2011/11/2/14057/3376/hotels/Inside_the_Radisson_Blu_Aqua_Chicago_the_First_Radisson_Blu_in_the_United_States">Radisson Blu Aqua Chicago</a> and <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/Public+Chicago/local/1704">Public Chicago</a> opened literally within a month of each other, we then got sideblinded by the news that, when it debuts in 2013, <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2011/11/7/212853/831/hotels/The_Virgin_Hotel_Chicago_Building_from_Every_Angle">Virgin Hotels</a>' first location will

Chicago: The Virgin Hotel Chicago Building from Every Angle

JetSetCD — 2011-11-08T16:48:50-05:00

<![CDATA[<img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/6193/virginhotchimn.jpg" class="top"> More than one year ago, <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/tag/virgin%20hotels">Virgin Hotels</a> launched a website. It was real, it was happening, it was the first step toward Virgin Hotels becoming a solid thing. At the time, there was a list of potential US cities for the first locationNew York, Miami, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Washington, DC and Boston. Notice what's missing? CHICAGO, the newly announced winning location for first Virgin Hotel in the world. The site at 203 North Wabash sits on the very northeast border of the Loop; in fact it's catercorner to a bend in the El tracks (here's hoping for good soundproofing) and just one block south of the Chicago River. Enough about the ideal location. Let's look

Chicago: Virgin Hotels' First Location Will Be Chicago

ASchechter — 2011-10-24T11:16:18-05:00

<![CDATA[<img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/61268/203_N_Wabash.JPG" class="top">Well, here's the news we've been waiting for for <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2010/9/22/93550/6394/hotels/Where_Will_Virgin_Hotels_Open_First_">over a year</a> now. The location of the first-ever Virgin Hotel has been announced, and it's not quite what we were anticipating: Chicagospecifically the Dearborn Bank Building in the north Loopwill welcome the brand's 250-room debut in Fall 2013. And boy have they put a lot of thought into this decision! Virgin announced this morning at 11am that Chicago was chosen because it's "economically vibrant, culturally exciting, and a sports and entertainment hub." They neglected to mention that this yet-to-be renovated building also finds itself smack in the middle of an area populated by tons of other hotels. Whether this is just a way to show their own

Las Cruces: Virgin Galactic Wants a Luxury Hotel Near Spaceport America

juliana — 2011-05-10T09:02:14-05:00

<![CDATA[<img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/1425/2011_04_25_JA___VirginGalacticFifthFlight.jpg" class="top"> While we're still waiting on an ETA for <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/tag/virgin hotels">Virgin hotels</a>, it looks like <a href="http://www.jaunted.com/tag/virgin galactic">Virgin Galactic</a>, the division of Virgin that's pioneering space tourism, is getting in on the hotel game in a way.Virgin has said the area around Spaceport America outside of Las Cruces, New Mexico--where they plan on putting their sky rockets in flight--is in need of a luxury hotel. The smaller ones already present just aren't up to snuff. After all, their passengers are folks who have forked over $200,000 for the ride to space and will need some luxury accommodations before and after their journey to the final frontier. But instead of building their own Virgin Galactic-branded hotel, Virgin is

Could You Be Bedding Your First Virgin In New Mexico?

Jennifer Kester — 2011-02-07T10:02:44-05:00

UPDATE: a tipster in the know says that although the spaceport is in the works, the first Virgin Hotel will, as planned, still open "in a major US city". They tell us to expect an official announcement "within 45 days".

We've spent the past few months racking our brains trying to guess which city will get the first Virgin Hotel treatment, and while we suspected San Francisco, we never thought that it'd be in the middle of nowhere in New Mexico. But, according to The Independent, Richard Branson is looking to begin with a property overlooking the still-under-construction Virgin Galactic Spaceport headquarters.