Virgin Hotels returns to the UK with two Scottish venues

20 July 2022 by

Virgin Hotels is back in the UK, this time with openings in two major Scottish cities. Here's how the brand is bringing a luxurious aesthetic to the ancient surroundings of Edinburgh's Old Town

In one of the most anticipated launches in recent years, Virgin Hotels has returned to the UK with not one, but two luxury Scottish properties.

The openings, in Edinburgh and Glasgow, mark a return to the market for Sir Richard Branson's hotel brand, which previously had a handful of hotels in the US, including in Chicago, Dallas, Nashville and Las Vegas.

Virgin's previous collection included Crathorne Hall in Yarm, North Yorkshire, and Buxted Park in East Sussex, both of which were bought by Hand Picked Hotels in 2009.

Although the brand's relaunch in the two cities may appear sentimental – Sir Richard's wife Joan is from Glasgow and his grandparents from Edinburgh – vice-president of operations for Virgin Hotels in Europe, Bryan Davern, says it was more to do with opportunity. He was appointed to the role last year, having previously headed hotels for the Press Up Hospitality Group in Ireland, and he says Scotland is "the beginning of our journey in Europe".

"The opportunities came up in these markets. Edinburgh in particular is a city that probably needed a luxury lifestyle brand. There's definitely a gap in the market there, but I think you could say the same about Glasgow," he observes. "The fact that they're close means there's economies of scale and we could get the best team possible together as well."

Both hotel general managers are Scottish, with Lanark native Scott McArdle appointed to oversee the Edinburgh property, having spent recent years working for luxury hotel brands, including Marriott's Autograph Collection, in the Caribbean and South-East Asia. General manager of the Glasgow hotel, Acorn Award-winner Tom Gibson, is from Aberdeen and joined the property from Edinburgh's Glasshouse hotel, where he was also general manager.

Having studied hotel and hospitality management in Glasgow's University of Strathclyde, "to be opening a hotel in the same city 20 years later, it's everything I've been working towards," he says.

New hotel in Edinburgh

The 222-bedroom Edinburgh hotel, situated in the Scottish capital's Unesco World Heritage-listed Old Town, has seen a transformation of the historic India Buildings in Victoria Street into a hotel with multiple dining and drinking outlets. The restoration of the properties has seen three of the four buildings that make up the hotel removed from Scotland's Buildings At Risk Register.

The hotel is undergoing a phased opening – 54 bedrooms and the Commons Club restaurant opened on 1 June, the latter under the direction of Edinburgh-born executive chef Steven Wilson, designed to feel like a modern social club with a menu showcasing seasonal Scottish cuisine. The Funny Library coffee shop, the brand's communal workspace concept, offering a collection of ‘whimsical and funny' books and games as well as local literature, has also opened.

The remaining 168 bedrooms – all-day dining space Eve, Greyfriars Hall, a 19th-century church that has been restored and repurposed as an event space and a rooftop area with unobstructed views of Edinburgh Castle – will all open at the property this autumn.

Funny Library
Funny Library

The project was delayed by more a year after an archaeological dig at the site uncovered significant historical artefacts, including siege weapons and cannonballs, and a portion of the original city walls, with some objects believed to be from the 10th century.

Despite the disruption to development, McArdle fondly says he would love to showcase the artefacts in the property if permitted, although there are no plans for this yet as they are still being analysed.

Room for rest

The ‘chambers' range from 23 sq m to 75 sq m and are split into two areas: dressing rooms, complete with sit-down vanity unit and illuminated mirror, which are separated by a sliding wooden door from the lounges, which house the bed, red Smeg mini fridges stocked with local products and the TV.

Davern says guests "don't want the same bedroom they have at home", and the layout works well, allowing room service to be delivered into a guestroom without intruding on the bedroom space.

Lighting, thermostats and TVs can all be controlled through the brand's mobile app, Lucy, which guests can also use as their key, to order room service and to check-in.

McArdle says the technology isn't meant to replace staff but make the guest experience "more streamlined" and allow them to "stay the way they want to stay".

"We're really, really proud of the seamless technology, and it's a big part of our story, but at the same time we're aware it's a people-powered business," he says. "It's the hospitality that's going to create the guest loyalty – Lucy is to enhance the guest experience but not replace it. As opposed to going through the bit we all get frustrated with in hotels, which is the standing in the queue, [guests can] bypass a lot of that and really connect with the staff, learn more about the city and what we're doing, and have all the interactions driven by hospitality, as opposed to admin."

The hotels also provide dog beds, food and water dishes, ‘pet minibars', and information about pet-friendly locations across the city – perhaps geared to the boom in dog owners during the lockdowns of recent years?

"Rather than travelling with a pet, we want to make it a stay with your pet," says McArdle. "We're in the business of hospitality – we might as well make it as enjoyable for your pet as we do for you," adds Davern.

The Edinburgh hotel's suites, meanwhile, include ‘Richard's Flat', described as "Sir Richard's home from home"; and the Eve Branson suite, under the bell tower of the restored church and named after the Virgin founder's late mother. There is also a Moroccan-inspired Kasbah Tamadot suite, a nod to the Virgin Limited Edition sister property in the Atlas Mountains, with a Bedouin tent-style lounge space – a creative way of turning a difficult low-ceilinged area into a novelty.

Scottish hospitality

The guest profile is broad, they say, and families can be catered for with interconnecting rooms, while the wardrobes are spacious enough for longer stays.

"People are travelling in different ways, and we're open to catering for everyone we possibly can," says McArdle. The group said occupancy at the hotel had "exceeded expectations" in the first few weeks of opening and it was "pleasantly surprised" at the volume of business from international markets.

Tom Gibson, Scott McArdle and Bryan Davern
Tom Gibson, Scott McArdle and Bryan Davern

Davern insists the products have not only been tailored for the UK market but their specific cities in both look and feel. The Edinburgh hotel worked with Visto to curate its art collection, which includes Scottish tartan fashion photography and portraits with a focus on female Scottish artists and subjects. Works include Virgin Lips by Edinburgh-based Wendy Helliwell, and Queen of Dreams by Alan Macdonald, inspired by Mary, Queen of Scots. The hotel is also working with sister company Virgin Start Up to engage with small and medium-sized businesses and further incorporate local products into its operations.

"[The hotels] all have a unique design, a unique sense of place – there's nothing cookie-cutter about them," says Davern. "We describe ourselves as a luxury lifestyle brand. If you break that down a little bit, it's changed a lot. It's about community, culture; it's more relaxed, informal, personalised… it needs to accommodate both the local market as well as visitors and hotel guests."

Edinburgh locals will be happy to hear this. On the one hand, the city's hotels association pre-pandemic claimed that hotel supply was set to exceed demand. On the other hand, Edinburgh has become a victim of its own success and has been cited as one of the world's worst hotspots for over-tourism, particularly during its annual August Fringe festival. It remains to be seen whether this summer will see the staycation trend of the past two years continue and how the city and hotel will balance the needs of its tourists and residents.

"The sweet spot is when you bring everybody together, and that's really what we're trying to do in both cities," says Davern. "If you want to accomplish that, you really have to take the food and beverage experience seriously, because that's what's going to bring the local market in. What we're trying to do is create a very inclusive environment so that somebody in Edinburgh or Glasgow feels really comfortable just calling in for a coffee. If they want to work in there, if they want to go into the Funny Library and read a book – that's what we want and will encourage."

Both properties will feature the brand's signature Commons Club restaurant and Funny Library, and Glasgow in particular will showcase local music and comedy talent. "Music is a big part of what we do," Gibson points out, referring to the Virgin Group's origins as a record shop in the 1970s.

The road to Glasgow

The 240-bedroom Glasgow hotel, overlooking the River Clyde, is due to open in November and will also have a brasserie nodding to the city's Italian community and the brand's sister properties in the States.

The artwork in Glasgow's Funny Library will feature local comedians, while the mezzanine will be home to Highyard, a lounge with a 1930s luxury cruise liner-inspired design overlooking the river. At the front will be a terrace as well as a whisky bar.

Gibson says a lot of custom in the city is still domestic, and it is "reassuring" opening at a time the property can ride the staycation wave. He adds: "A lot of airlines are announcing new routes into both cities, which is even more promising and bodes well for the future."

Davern adds that corporate travel is "starting to come back" and that organisations are looking for longer, more differentiated company get-togethers than they used to.

"They don't necessarily want to be in just another boardroom, they want an experience. Virgin is an experience-driven company, that's a really great opportunity for us. We've got some really great meeting and event spaces that are a lot more creative than your average boardroom."

Despite the industry's widely reported staffing problems, both general managers say recruitment is going well. Davern says people buy into the Virgin culture, which he describes as unscripted, allowing people to be themselves.

"Service is more intuitive now, you want your team members to be able to read the guest, to be curious," he says. "That was one of the fundamental things we were looking for – people who were curious, asking questions and wanted to learn more."

McArdle continues: "The brand comes with a set of expectations – when I would ask people the question, ‘what brings you to us today?', many of those who are working with us now said they were looking for something different – that entrepreneurial spirit, that ability to be creative and think outside the box."

Gibson agrees: "People identify with the brand. They see Virgin and they know what it's about. They know it's a culture they want to be a part of… I've been really impressed with the calibre of applicants I've seen. We expected there to be a lot of interest – it's a new opening and an edgy brand in a vibrant market."

He adds: "Employers are having to adapt how they play the game to make it an environment that people want to be with, and we've got a good opportunity to get the culture right from the start because we've got a blank canvas."

Greener pastures

People also increasingly want to know they're working for a company with a solid ESG strategy. Virgin Hotels is aiming for net zero by 2030, part of which will involve the hotels setting up ‘green initiative committees' and committing to zero waste to landfill.

Once the properties are at the minimum possible carbon emissions, the group will then offset the rest, focusing on the areas affected by its operations, such as farming, agriculture, and construction.

Sustainability is also given a nod at the Edinburgh hotel through the artwork of Arthur Mamou-Mani – a chandelier measuring three metres wide in Greyfriars Hall is one of the world's first bioplastic 3D-printed sculptures of its scale. Meanwhile, Lālla London has provided Moroccan rugs for guestrooms that support women's weaving co-operatives in the Atlas Mountains.

The Edinburgh hotel will be working with transition to work programme Project Search along with Edinburgh College to offer apprenticeships to people who have learning difficulties or are neurodiverse, welcoming up to 10 students to work as operational staff for six months.

Gibson, meanwhile, is particularly passionate about engaging with hospitality graduates in Glasgow to keep them enthused about the sector: "When I was trying to get on graduate programmes, there wasn't as much guidance and support as I felt there could have been," he says. "If we can get in there beforehand and provide mentorship to some of these students, help them with their interview techniques and confidence in that environment, that's huge, because you just lose so many people when they graduate.

"In my year at the Scottish Hotel School, of the 70 or 80 of us that started, maybe a dozen or so are still in hospitality. What can we do to keep those people engaged and provide an environment where they can develop? They're the general managers of the future as the company begins to grow."

As for future expansion plans, Davern says there are "quite a lot" of properties in the pipeline, especially in the US. The group is also looking for opportunities in London and "a number of other cities" – although he adds that the focus will be on "quality rather than the quantity".

City of Edinburgh Council archaeologist John Lawson

"We're committed to understanding and preserving the story of this great city, and it's been a fascinating excavation and project to be part of.

"At this site we've been able to unearth deep and complex sequences of well-preserved archaeological remains, in parts waterlogged, charting the development of Edinburgh's Old Town from its early medieval origins, formal formation as a burgh in the 12th century through to the 20th century.

"The excavations are turning out to be not only one of most significant urban archaeological excavations undertaken in the capital but also in the UK. While the analysis of the artefacts is still at an early stage, and being undertaken by RPS and Headland Archaeology, the items will help provide insight into some of the earliest chapters in Edinburgh's story, its development and lives of its inhabitants.

"The scale of artefactual and environmental evidence has been helped by the waterlogged conditions, which has allowed for the preservation of organic material comparable with discoveries from York and London. We have looked at over 1,000 years of history on this site, from house posts predating the formation of the burgh in the 12th century; a large medieval tannery; pottery from England, France, Germany and the Low Countries; all the way through to tokens and pins from late Victorian tailors. Items reveal the domestic and industrial life of medieval inhabitants as well as artefacts from episodes in Edinburgh history including potentially the siege of Edinburgh by Edward I.

"The site is a microcosm of Edinburgh's history and will help chart the development of this site. Through the further analysis I look forward to the stories that will emerge."

Virgin Hotels' UK properties

Edinburgh

Opened: 1 June

General manager: Scott McArdle

Bedrooms: 222

Starting room rate: £320 for chambers and £850 for suites

Owner: Flemyn

Asset manager: Siggis Capital

Design and architecture: ICA Studio, Four-by-Two and Joelle Reid Interiors

Glasgow

Opening: November

General manager: Tom Gibson

Bedrooms: 240

Starting room rate: £170 for chambers; £270 for suites

Owner and developer: Silk Property Group

Asset manager: Siggis Capital

Architecture: 21st Architecture

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