Virgin Hotel Glasow closes

So is Richard Branson involved with this hotel?

I have never heard of Virgin Hotels until this posting.

In Austin, Virgin Airlines has had to permanently cancel flights. I do not know if they have had to cancel all flights to and from Austin but it happened abruptly after a short time of operation.

Is the Virgin Brand in trouble?

Bostonphil, Virgin Airlines discontinuing flights from Austin to London had nothing to do with a hotel it does not even own and everything to do with the soft traffic it was getting in Austin.

Hi Mardee,

I looked up Virgin Hotels since I had never heard of this hotel brand until this posting and it is owned by Richard Branson. (just like Virgin Air and Virgin Voyages)

So why was this hotel forced to close so soon after opening?

Recently I read a review about a Virgin Voyage Ship by someone in the Travel Industry. She had not been impressed with the cruise and so she was invited back for a second one after improvements were made. I can not remember if she liked the second one better.

I am wondering if there is a problem with the Branson Brand.

bostonphil...you need to reread what I wrote in the original posting. All your questions will be answered.

But I'll make it easy....

Virgin Hotels has no affect on Virgin Atlantic Airways or Virgin Voyages.

Virgin Hotels is a managment company that operates hotels for other people under the Virgin Brand.

The Virgin Hotel Glasgow closed because the owner of the hotel--not Richard Branson--went into bankruptcy.

Branson is doing fine.

bostonphil- this local news article may help to shed some background on this closure, due to a particular set of circumstances isolated to that hotel (hoping it's not geo-restricted- will cut and paste if it is)- https://news.stv.tv/west-central/hospitality-businesses-rally-to-help-axed-virgin-hotels-glasgow-staff-ahead-of-unite-the-union-protest.

Virgin Voyages from all the blogs and reviews I've seen is something of a Marmite thing- you either love it or hate it, with little middle ground.

I admire the very different way of cruising the brand promotes- which seems to be at polar opposites to mainstream US lines (in the same kind of way as MSC is at the other end of the market).
It is probably not my style but hey, if I lived in Florida I would probably give one of the short 3 or 4 nighters a go. I don't think I would fly from the PNW to try it out though.
The brand got off to a bit of a bad start with the adult toys in each cabin (soon rectified) and it does grate on me that the Passengers are known as 'Sailors' which is a bit silly. But those are niggles.

Thank you everyone .

I was afraid that I might get in trouble by responding to this post I read your post more than one time Frank II and even just read it again.

But I have also gone back to Virgin Hotels and came across this on Wikipedia"

"Virgin Hotels is a brand of hotels created by Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Group, launched in 2010" And it goes on to list Virgin Hotel Glasgow as falling under this umbrella.

But it seems that the problem with Virgin Hotel Glasgow was a management problem and not an ownership problem.

From the Glasgow Times:

*V Hotel Glasgow Ltd is the operating company for the Virgin Hotels Glasgow and the hotel has ceased trading following the property owners, Lloyds Developments Ltd, entering into an insolvency process earlier in December.

The directors of both V Hotels Glasgow Ltd and Lloyds Developments Ltd are Richard Diamond and Rishipal Singh.*

It is an ownership problem and not a management problem.

I'm done.

Branson and the Virgin group don't usually completely own or directly operate their properties, they use existing companies in the sector and put the Virgin brand on top.

For example -

Virgin Atlantic 51% Virgin, 49% Delta airlines

Virgin Australia owned by Bain Capital of Boston MA

Virgin West Coast Railway (used to work the UK West Coast route from Euston) was 51% Virgin, 49% Stagecoach

Virgin East Coast Railway (briefly worked the UK East Coast route from Kings Cross) was only 10% Virgin, 90% Stagecoach

Virgin Cross Country Railway (predecessor to Cross Country which criss cross the UK with train routes) was 51% Virgin, 49% Stagecoach

Virgin Trains USA never took off

In most hotel chains the brand is franchised to different owners who must meet the franchise specifications, much like very few McDonalds are company owned.

Just because it says something on the name doesn't mean that that's who owns it.

That's what happened in Glasgow - the owner went broke and it closed. The owner was not Virgin group.

Thank you Nigel and everyone else who has tried to explain to me but this is all beyond me.

I am thinking of Donald Trump because I know that he appeared to own many different kinds of businesses but often only his name was on the business and he had no to very little ownership. Some one or group had leased or bought his name. It was put on the business but Donald Trump did not really own the business.

And in saying that, my brain does not comprehend.

See you all in another discussion.

Virgin is very much a brand now. Pay a few aurar per krona or whatever currency is being used for the branding and run the business. Franchising, some businesses are great at it, some not, a previous job of mine has some odd history. For a few years my post Uni job was births, deaths, and marriages of cows.

That the branches of Clydesdale Bank are now 'Virgin Money' is causing some to change bank. Some. Stats suggest you are more likely to change a life partner than a bank.

Very few hotels are actually owned by the hotel group. Even though Hyatt may say they have 10,000 hotels they probably own less than 10%.

Most hotels are 'owned' by the property owner and have to keep up certain requirements to fly a specific hotel brand's flag. That's often why you see hotels change brands over the years. It may not make financial sense to keep being a Marriott Marquis but instead fly a Courtyard Marriott flag.

jojosie

At first I had a horrible time understanding this discussion but it seems that things might be improving. I actually think that I am beginning to understand.

So how do you know who owns a hotel? Would it be an individual or a group? And do they rent or lease the name Hyatt or Marriott, etc?

But the owners still have to adhere to certain rules and obligations to use the name Hyatt or Marriott or other hotels. I am only using Marriott nd Hyatt as examples.

What does the hotel group get for partnering with the true owners?

When you book a room at a Hyatt or Marriott, how do you know that you are truly staying at a Hyatt or a Marriott?

This is new to me.

So how do you know who owns a hotel? Would it be an individual or a group?

What does it matter? It's usually an investment group you've never heard of. The owners would either contract with the hotel company or an outside management company to run the hotel. As a guest you shouldn't be able to tell the difference.

And do they rent or lease the name Hyatt or Marriott, etc?

Do you understand what a franchise is? That's what most hotels are like. Just like McDonalds and Burger King don't own most of their restaurants, most hotel chains don't own most of the hotels with their name on them.

But the owners still have to adhere to certain rules and obligations to use the name Hyatt or Marriott or other hotels.

Yes, there are brand standards that the operators of the hotels must adhere to.

What does the hotel group get for partnering with the true owners?

Money.....they get a fee for the use of the name and what comes with it. (Advertising, reservations systems, etc.) They also usually get a percentage of sales.

When you book a room at a Hyatt or Marriott, how do you know that you are truly staying at a Hyatt or a Marriott?

Because the name is on the building.

What does the hotel group get for partnering with the true owners?

Money.....they get a fee for the use of the name and what comes with it. (Advertising, reservations systems, etc.) They also usually get a percentage of sales.

and they sell the hotel the signature beds, uniforms, bedding, furniture, signage, paperwork, software, office equipment, advertising, booking system and pretty much everything else that identifies that brand as that brand - just the same as McDonalds.

Hello Frank

"So how do you know who owns a hotel? Would it be an individual or a group?

What does it matter? It's usually an investment group you've never heard of. ........"

I was just asking out of complete curiosity.

And yes, I know what franchises are but I had no idea that many hotels, if not most, are franchised. Until your discussion, I thought that if a hotel had the Marriott name on it, then Marriott hotels owned it outright

This is new information to me so I am asking a lot of questions and somewhat confused although I now understand much more so than I did so the beginning.

so Nigel, let me ask you something.

Let's say that you, Frank and I bought or built a building and we wanted to go into the hospitality industry.

We decide to partner with Marriott. So we sign an agreement with Marriott. We have to adhere to certain standard. We can use their name but then we also have to buy this and that from them.

And hopefully we make a profit. Then can the profit be split 100% between you, myself and Frank or do we also have to give the Marriott Group a percentage of the profit.

I've seen small, framed signs at hotel reception desks indicating that the property is owned and operated by XYZ Hotel Group. Perhaps they are always there.

I've been living in hotels full time for over 9.5 years. I stay in many chain hotels. In most cases, I don't know who owns them nor whether the people running it are from the brand or a third party management company. It doesn't matter.

What matters is that if I check into a Hyatt (or Marriott or Hilton or others) I expect to get everything Hyatt promises to its guest. It's a Hyatt hotel. It has to be run to Hyatt standards. If it's not, and people complain, the owners could lose the brand and the name will be taken off the building.

A Hyatt in Austin or Boston or Singapore may all have different owners. But they will all be run the same because they are run by Hyatt's rules.

It's the exact same as if you were eating in McDonalds. If you order a Big Mac in Austin, then fly to Boston and go into a McDonalds there and order a Big Mac, it's going to be pretty much the same. It's almost guaranteed that the owners of the two restaurants will not be the same. But because they have to operate the restaurants under McDonald's standards, the burgers are pretty much the same.

And hopefully we make a profit. Then can the profit be split 100% between you, myself and Frank or do we also have to give the Marriott Group a percentage of the profit.

Marriott has to make money. You will be using their name, their reservation system, benefit from their advertising campaign. Marriott will charge us a fee--usually a percentage of the revenue. It varies depending on the individual brand of the hotel. A full service Marriott will have a different deal than a Fairfield Inn.

Thank you Frank II

Until you posted this discussion,. I had no idea that hotels were franchised. It has come as a big surprise.

I know about franchises such as McDonald's but I sort of see McDonald's in a different grouping than Marriotts.

That is why I was so confused about your posting early on and why i ask a lot of questions, sometimes. I like learning and I like understanding.

For some reason, I was under the impression that the Mormon Church owns Marriotts. I never researched this because it was never that important until now so I might go do some research.

EDIT: I did some research. J W Marriott who began Marriott Worldwide was a devout Mormon and some members of the family are still large shareholders but the Mormon Church itself does not own Marriotts.

You now know why every Marriott has both a Gideon's Bible and the Book of Mormon. (Some international locations only have the Book of Mormon. And I don't mean the musical.)

Hilton used to put a copy of Conrad Hilton's autobiography in every room. He founded the company. I think they stopped in the 1990's.