CEO Leal updated HOTELS this week about the plodding progress of the globally recognized brand launched by Sir Richard Branson, along with some details about that first hotel in Chicago.

Raul Leal

　　Veteran hotelier Raul Leal is in charge of one of the industry’s most anticipated hotel brands. After a launch back in September 2010, the first 4-star Virgin-branded hotel was finally fully financed in December 2012 and is now under construction in Chicago with a Q1 2014 opening date.

　　While Virgin Hotels, New York City, is converting the 27-story, Art Deco-style Old Dearborn Bank Building in downtown Chicago, it is also very close to announcing a second hotel somewhere in California, and Leal told HOTELS at ALIS earlier this week that a third deal in a major U.S. metropolitan market is about 90 days off.

　　CEO Leal updated HOTELS this week about the plodding progress of the globally recognized brand launched by Sir Richard Branson, along with some details about that first hotel in Chicago.

　　HOTELS: How has the look and feel of Virgin Hotels evolved since the 2010 launch?

　　Leal: When we really started to think about the product based on the fact that Virgin has 65 million global customers about a year ago we took a step back to make sure we deliver the Virgin experience. When the doors open there will be great expectations, so we became more deliberate and slowed the process. Originally, some ideas were working, and others were not. Now we are comfortable with the design, product and experience.

　　There will be about six core differentiators in the product. We will have a different point of view on the room product as Virgin does design with a deliberate thought process and purpose. We looked at consumer pain points in the room and realized we could cure a lot of them. We will also have different point of view on technology, putting customers in control with their own devices.

　　The overall experience will be different, as we have gone to great pains to make sure we are able to translate Virgin’s cheeky tone of voice. The first hotel also serves as a beta for F&B experiences. We will have an amazing rooftop experience, a cool underground spa, a hip diner on the street for locals and the Virgin Clubhouse (the lobby experience that will have a different name at the opening) will be very F&B-focused, separated into zones based on customer preferences.

　　HOTELS: What will make Virgin Hotels unique?

　　Leal: By starting from scratch with a blank canvas we can establish the way we want to do things. We have examined consumer pain points, and will have a different point of view on things like check-in. We hope the consumer embraces it, but if not we will help them embrace it, and we will keep it simple.

　　HOTELS: What have you identified as the pain points?

　　Leal: The traditional pain points people struggle with such as check-in. Some hotels have done a great job of moving it forward like Andaz. Virgin will help cure that long-standing ill. In guestrooms on the lifestyle side, hotels have missed details like great lighting, shelf space, a comfy bed and a great work desk. We are going to give it our point of view. At the end of the day, we will be a lifestyle hotel that is very comfortable. We are going back to the basics, and comfort is still the greatest luxury.

　　HOTELS: Are you developing brand standards?

　　Leal: There is a general set of brand standards to scale and grow the brand profitably. From a design perspective, each property will be approached a bit differently with local designers designing to the spaces and making it as local as possible. But there will be things on the product, technology and experience side that will apply to all the hotels.

　　HOTELS: What more can you say about your hotel pipeline?

　　Leal: It is healthy this year, and we will be global. We are active in London, looking in Spain and Paris, and getting a lot of interest from other parts of the world. I am not sure we are going to move globally that quickly right now as we want to establish the U.S. first, and then London for sure.

　　HOTELS: How intimately involved is Sir Richard Branson?

　　Leal: He is involved with the details that matter. He and his family definitely look at designs, and they have a hand in the experience and some products. Even though they have a lot going on globally, this is important to them. They are pretty involved.

　　HOTELS: What has been the biggest challenge?

　　Leal: At the beginning, it was about finding the right product fit and stepping back to make sure we have the right experience at the end of day. We also had to overcome some consensus that Virgin hadn’t been in the business. Launching a new brand isn’t easy — even for Virgin.

　　HOTELS: What can you say about marketing plans?

　　Leal: At the end of the day, we will still go to market in traditional ways with direct sales, travel and trade shows, some consumer awareness advertising, ecommerce and web. There will also be a lot of clever social media and PR efforts made (Leal says Virgin had more than 1 billion impressions last year) as there will be a lot of anticipation. Virgin has a bit of an irreverent tone, and we will use it to get the word out. The brand will have a sense of humor.

　　HOTELS: Has this been a slower process than expected?

　　Leal: Probably for all of us, but it has been a great journey. I have been in the hotel business all my life, so to be inside a global company like this that doesn"t do hotels, understanding its point of view and translating it to the hotel business has been an amazing journey. This is a company with a different point of view on many things. It has helped me bust through some of my own paradigms and think differently. At end of the day, I hope people will say, "Ok, I like the difference."

　　HOTELS: How is the Virgin thought process different?

　　Leal: Within Virgin, there is a lot of consensus building on decisions and lots of thought-provoking conversations about why and why not, and how we break the paradigms. It is a slower process, but at the end we come away with a more deliberate product that has been well thought through.