Virgin Hotels takes over Mondrian Shoreditch to open first London hotel

Virgin Hotels has announced it will open its first London hotel in Shoreditch on 1 August.  

The site in Shoreditch will mark the third Virgin Hotels launch in the UK and will take over the management of Mondrian Shoreditch.

Virgin Hotels has confirmed that all existing staff at the property will remain in their roles.

The hotel is opening as part of a long-term agreement between Virgin Hotels and Reuben Brothers which owns the freehold of the property. The property had been managed by Ennismore and opened as Mondrian’s European flagship in 2021. Ennismore will continue to operate the hotel until the takeover on 1 August. 

Enismore said that an announcement was imminent on a new London location for the Mondrian hotel.

The 120-bedroom hotel, located at 45 Curtain Road will now undergo a “gradual transformation” into a Virgin hotel.

The hotel will remain open during this time and will retain Dani Garcia’s Bibo restaurant, as well as its rooftop bar, pool, restaurant, the Blue Marlin private members club, gym and treatment rooms.

Virgin Hotels returned to the UK in 2022 when it opened a 222-bed hotel in Edinburgh, followed by a second hotel in Glasgow in the summer of 2023. But only four months later the Glasgow hotel closed resulting in 130 redundancies in the week before Christmas. The site has since been put up for sale. 

The Caterer’s sister title Travel Weekly spoke to James Bermingham, chief executive of Virgin Hotels Collection ahead of the Shoreditch announcement, who said London is the “most important market” and “the hardest market to get into”.

“The opening in Edinburgh was our first [in the UK] but London has always been a priority for us, particularly over the last few years. When you think about the opportunities for travel advisors to package London and Edinburgh for the North American and European markets, it’s fantastic,” Bermingham told Travel Weekly.

He added: “The first Virgin Hotel [in London] had to be a great physical asset in the right part of London. It’s a magnificent hotel, built super well and really loaded from an amenity and location standpoint. We think it’s a wonderful fit.”

Commenting on the announcement, Sir Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin Group, said: “We’re all absolutely delighted that Virgin Hotels Collection will be opening a Virgin hotel in London. Since the inception of Virgin Hotels, we’ve had our sights set on London; a place that so many of our customers either call home, or name as one of their favourite destinations – and of course where Virgin’s story started.”

Bermingham added: "This year will mark 10 years of Virgin Hotels and what a way to start the early celebrations as we announce our newest hotel in one of the world’s most famous cities."