Understanding Virgin Hotel Chicago’s Quick Rise to Consumer Favorite
Photo Credit: A promotional image of Virgin Hotels' Chicago property, which has fast become a consumer favorite. Virgin Hotels
Skift Take
It's really rather simple: Treat your guests well and offer them a great product.
Colin Nagy, head of strategy at Fred & Farid, a global advertising agency, writes this opinion column for Skift on hospitality, innovation, and business travel. “On Experience” dissects customer-centric experiences and innovation across hospitality, aviation, and beyond.
After being formally open for under a year, the Virgin Hotel Chicago recently won Conde Nast's Readers Choice poll of 300,000 travelers.
The other best-of categories can be easy to game if you have a slick public relations firm and some word-of-mouth, but reader's choice is a solid barometer of what is actually resonating with travelers in the market. For a first-year hotel to win it with a new concept is significant and its worth unpacking the elements that are working well.
I caught up with Raul Leal, CEO of Virgin Hotels, to discuss their approach, why the brand attempted to go several levels deeper than other so-called lifestyle hotels, a
