The first property under Richard Branson’s Virgin Hotels brand opened Thursday in Chicago.
The hotel is
touting a mobile app named Lucy, which guests can use to make reservations, check in, adjust room
temperature and control in-room audio-video systems.
The property was redeveloped out
of Chicago’s Old Dearborn building and includes touches such as the property’s
original 1920s Cigar Bar repurposed as the hotel’s front desk. The hotel
includes a restaurant helmed by Chicago chef Rick Gresh and will add four more
restaurants and bars by April.
A guestroom at the Virgin Hotel Chicago.
Virgin Hotels last fall detailed
many of the hotel’s amenities, including in-room chambers divided by sliding
doors, free WiFi with no bandwidth restrictions and adjustable beds.
Branson announced the Virgin
Hotels brand in 2010, and the Chicago property was acquired a year later. The
brand is planning its second property in Nashville in 2016 and a New York hotel
in 2017.