Virgin Hotels Glasgow closes four months after opening

Virgin Hotels Glasgow has closed, just four months after opening.

The 242-room luxury property launched in August and was the second UK hotel for the Virgin brand, following an opening in Edinburgh in 2022.

Its future had been uncertain since Lloyds Developments Ltd, the company which owned the building and had a management contract with Virgin Hotels, collapsed into administration on 1 December.

Virgin Hotels Glasgow had continued to trade but staff were told today (19 December) it would close.

It is understood the company which operated the hotel, V Hotel Glasgow Ltd, had insufficient funds to continue.

A Virgin Hotels spokesperson said: “Lloyds Developments Ltd – the owner of Virgin Hotels Glasgow, which Virgin Hotels has a management contract with – has financial problems and on 1 December its lenders put it into administration.

“As a result, the directors of V Hotel Glasgow Ltd, the employer and operating company in respect of the hotel, are being advised by FRP Advisory LLP as they place that company into liquidation. These financial issues mean that the hotel cannot continue operating and now has to close.”

Virgin Group said it had offered to buy the hotel to keep it open and retain all staff jobs, but its bid had been rejected.

“Unfortunately, the lenders have not accepted Virgin's offers and intend to pursue a sales process with the hotel closed,” a Virgin Hotels spokesperson added.

“Virgin Hotels is very disappointed by this decision after the hard work everyone has put into the hotel and because of the impact it will have on the team that works there.”

Unite Hospitality tweeted that staff were unclear whether they would be paid for hours worked.

However, Virgin Hotels said it was “committed to ensuring employees are paid for every day they have worked this month”.

Interpath Advisory, which is handling the administration of Lloyd's Developments Ltd, said it was working to sell the building.

“The Virgin Hotels team continues to have great ambitions for managing the hotel in Glasgow and looks forward to re-opening once a new owner is in place,” a Virgin Hotels spokesperson said.

The first Virgin Hotels property opened in Chicago in 2015 and there are now six sites across the US.

No other Virgin hotel is impacted by the closure and the other properties remain open as normal.

Bryan Davern, vice president of operations for Virgin Hotels in Europe, told The Caterer in 2022 the company had "quite a lot" of hotels in the pipeline and was looking at opportunities in London.

Image: richardjohnson / Shutterstock