Richard Branson, Not Satisifed with Dominating Airspace, Wants to Open Virgin City Hotels

March 26, 2008 at 9:15 AM | 0 Comments

Richard Branson pokes his nose into everything and has sticky fingers in every business pie. Now we hear he's got his beady eyes on a skyscraper hotel in Manchester.

If the deal comes off, there'll be a shiny Virgin City Hotel sign on a 44-storey skyscraper on Aytoun Street, Piccadilly. The four-star hotel would only take over 23 floors of the building, and the rest would be taken up by whatever brings most profit to the Albany Crown developers - offices and shops mostly.

Virgin City Hotel is a baby brand and has not actually yet signed any deals with any hotels anywhere. But if it follows the Virgin style, we can imagine the hotel - fluffy bathrobes, hot-tubs, shiny glass-and-steel décor in the bar, dark red sofas and seats, and hopefully working Wi-Fi.

The Manchester Skyline
Is there a market for Virgin-style comfort in Manchester? Seems so, if we look at the success of the luxury Great John Street Hotel with its rooftop hot-tub and the 5-star Lowry Hotel.

And a skyscraper would look pretty nifty in Manchester. Most British cities won't allow them on the grounds they'll spoil the quaint skyline, but Manchester's a bricked-up industrial metropolis with a growing economy and nightlife scene, and a shiny tower would fit in nicely with the urban landscape. So good luck to you, Branson.

Branson's not a complete virgin in the hotel business - his new ski lodge at Verbier in Switzerland and his fantasy land on Necker Island are just two of Virgin Limited Edition's hotel projects.

Global Entrepreneurs in the Hotel Business
None of them are run by Branson, of course. Just Branson's money and name. And that's what we're slightly worried about. This growing trend of global entrepreneurs lending their reputation and financial backing to projects in which their interest is purely financial.

Gordon Ramsay is doing the same - he's opening up a 10-room boutique hotel in Camden but he won't actually have anything to do with the running of it.

Stelios of easyjet fame is doing it too, with some rather revolting orange-coloured Easy Hotels around Europe.

Proof of the Pudding
The proof of the pudding is in the eating, so let's see if the hotels to which Gordon Ramsay, Stelios and Richard Branson have lent their names turn out to be any good. Tell us what you think, and we'll keep you posted.

[Photo: Jaunted]

Tags: Richard Branson / Virgin / Hotel News / Virgin Hotels / Hot Hotelier News

by femmefatale

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