Virgin Hotels, the lifestyle hotel brand by Virgin Group founder Sir Richard Branson, has announced plans to open and operate a new hotel in the Warehouse District of New Orleans. Expected to break ground in April 2017 and open its doors in early 2019, Virgin Hotels New Orleans will be developed by Dallas-based Gatehouse Capital.

Raul Leal, CEO of Virgin Hotels, commented, “New Orleans is an incredibly special city and one Virgin Hotels has had an eye on from the beginning. The history, the food, the music, the spirit – they all work together to make it a one-of-a-kind destination for both business and leisure travelers. We’re excited to bring the Virgin experience to the Big Easy because it’s a perfect fit in terms of our values and our emphasis on creating unique and immersive experiences for our guests.”

Virgin Hotels New Orleans is situated in the city’s Warehouse District at 550 Baronne Street. The up-and-coming area sits directly next to the Central Business District and is home to a growing number of new restaurants, galleries and shops. The new-build hotel will feature 225 chambers, the brand’s flagship space, The Commons Club, a rooftop pool and lounge, gym, and dedicated meeting and event spaces.

Gatehouse Capital has chosen RTKL Architects, Mathes Brierre Architects, and Broadmoor Construction to complete the hotel. Virgin Hotels’ Vice President of Design Teddy Mayer has also tapped a local design firm to bring an authentic New Orleans flair to the project.

“Gatehouse Capital, whom we are currently working with to develop our Virgin Hotels Dallas property, is an outstanding example of a partner that understands the Virgin vision and can help bring it to life,” said Leal.
Adds Marty Collins, CEO of Gatehouse Capital: “This is the second Virgin Hotel development within our lifestyle platform; and we hope to announce others in the very near future. We look forward to being an even more significant part of Virgin Hotel’s brand expansion.”

Virgin Hotels Chicago is now open and accepting reservations at virginhotels.com, with Nashville, Dallas, Palm Springs, New York, Silicon Valley and others to follow. Virgin Hotels continues to explore hotel and office conversions as well as ground-up development in cities such as Boston, Los Angeles, Miami, Austin, Seattle, San Francisco, Washington DC, and London.

About Virgin Hotels:
Virgin Hotels is a lifestyle hospitality brand that combines heartfelt service, straightforward value and a seamless, personalized hotel experience with the track record of innovation and smart disruption that Sir Richard Branson’s global Virgin Group has pioneered for over 40 years. Each property will intermix a passion for food and beverage with music and culture, fusing with the local landscape and providing a vibrant and inclusive environment for travelers and locals alike. For more information, please visit www.virginhotels.com.

About Gatehouse Capital:
Founded in 1997, Gatehouse Capital is a national real estate investment and development firm that has launched major mixed-use lifestyle developments such as the W Hollywood Hotel and Residences, W Dallas Victory Hotel and Residences, as well as hotels among the Hilton, Marriott and Starwood brands totaling more than $1 billion in development. Gatehouse Capital has a reputation for elevating brands and creating hospitality projects that resonate with their guests and their communities. By partnering with industry leaders and visionaries, Gatehouse continually validates its core mission: to deliver extraordinary projects in every sense, beginning with economic return. More information is available at gatehousecapital.com.

Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, the world’s leading luxury hospitality company, is strengthening its presence in the luxury hotel and residential space, and building on its position as the business partner of choice for luxury hotel, resort and residential projects.

With a pipeline of more than 50 projects at various stages of planning and development, the company continues to extend its global portfolio in destinations of importance to luxury travellers.

“Our aspiration is not to be the biggest; it’s to be the best,” says J. Allen Smith, President and CEO, Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts. “We are singularly focused on serving the luxury consumer. Against the current backdrop of industry consolidation and commoditisation, there is tremendous opportunity to extend Four Seasons leadership in the pure luxury space.”

“But market dynamics alone do not guarantee success,” continues Smith. “Our ability to capitalise on these opportunities is directly related to the strength of our leadership team, and the ability of our people – the most passionate and talented in the industry – to deliver an unparalleled level of personalised service.”
This commitment to service excellence extends beyond the company’s service of its guests, continues Smith. “Extending the custom character of everything we do to help property owners realise the full value of their investment and relationship with Four Seasons is a top priority for us.”

Business Partner of Choice
One way the company is actioning this priority is through the appointment of Michael (Mike) Crawford to the newly created role of President, Portfolio Management and Owner Relations. Crawford, who joined Four Seasons in 2014 as President, Asia Pacific, moved into his new position in late 2016.

With global responsibility for design, construction and procurement, Crawford coordinates the intricate process of bringing development projects to fruition, including new builds, strategic conversions and adaptive reuses of historic buildings, working cross-functionally across the organisation and in collaboration with the company’s individual hotel owners. Crawford is also responsible for leveraging the company’s well-established leadership and expertise in branded residential – a key area of growth that includes more than 4,000 residential units in 17 countries around the world.

“Long-term partnerships with hotel owners are at the core of our business model, and just as each Four Seasons property is unique, so too is each individual hotel owner,” says Crawford. “Having a clear eye on the unique vision and objectives of each hotel owner and applying the same level of customisation to these relationships as we do with our guests continues to be a key competitive advantage for Four Seasons.”

Further articulating what it means to be a leader in this regard, Crawford says, “Building strong relationships with hotel owners is fundamentally grounded in trust, the same trust that our guests place in us to deliver the highest standards of product quality, design and service. I look forward to continuing to build on the strong relationships we have with our hotel owners, offering even greater attention and customisation, and putting dedicated resources in place to prioritise this effort.”

Targeted Growth: 2017 and beyond
Today Four Seasons opened its 9th hotel in China in Tianjin, and will extend its presence in several key markets in 2017 with the addition of second hotels in both London (Ten Trinity Square) and the Seychelles (Desroches Island), as well as adding a fourth property in Florida (Surfside). The company also plans to open hotels in new destinations including Kuwait, Megève, and Tunis later this year.

Four Seasons has previously announced plans for hotels, resorts and residences in: Montreal, Los Cabos, Bangkok, Madrid, Philadelphia, São Paulo, Bengaluru, and Kuala Lumpur, as well as second properties in both Boston and Tokyo.

These developments build on 2016’s momentum, when Four Seasons added nine properties to its global portfolio: Four Seasons Hotel Dubai International Financial Centre, Four Seasons Hotel Bogotá, Four Seasons Hotel Abu Dhabi at Al Maryah Island, Four Seasons Resort O’ahu at Ko Olina, Four Seasons Hotel Jakarta, Four Seasons Hotel New York Downtown, Four Seasons Hotel Kyoto, Four Seasons Resort Anguilla, and Four Seasons Resort The Nam Hai, Hoi An, Vietnam. Four Seasons also introduced the first private island experience in the company’s portfolio – Four Seasons Private Island Maldives at Voavah, Baa Atoll – the world’s only exclusive-use UNESCO hideaway located in a World Biosphere Reserve.

About Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts
Founded in 1960, Four Seasons continues to define the future of luxury hospitality with extraordinary imagination, unwavering commitment to the highest standards of quality, and the most genuine and customised service. Currently operating 103 hotels, resorts and residences in major city centres and resort destinations in 43 countries, and with more than 50 projects in development, Four Seasons consistently ranks among the world’s best hotels and most prestigious brands in reader polls, traveller reviews and industry awards. For more information and reservations, visit fourseasons.com. For the latest news, visit press.fourseasons.com and follow @FourSeasonsPR on Twitter.

Source: Four Seasons

Arizona is well known for its natural ruggedness, dramatic mountain spires and panoramic desert scenery and the brand new hotel openings are just as inspiring. With British Airways announcing an increased summer service to Arizona in 2017, adding a second flight three days a week from Phoenix Sky Harbor to London Heathrow Airport, it looks like the state is set to welcome even more Brits this summer, and now has an array of new hotels for travellers to lay their heads. Ranging from artistic boutiques to luxury havens that invite visitors to unwind and relax after an intrepid day’s adventuring in the great outdoors.

Cambria Hotel & Suites, Chandler
For those wanting shaded sanctuary from the outdoors and feel that a spot of retail therapy is required then Cambria Hotel & Suites is the ideal property. Set to open in spring 2017, as part of a larger development, this hotel includes chic décor, flexible spaces for meeting or socialising and impressive ‘standard’ rooms that feel first class. Of course, booking a room at the Cambria gives guests the opportunity to stay on the doorstep of a shopping mecca, Chandler Fashion Center. However, if it’s practicalities that impress, then the Cambria includes no less than 136, a pool with cabanas, fitness room, lounge area and 1,300 square feet of meeting space.

FOUND:RE Boutique Hotel, Downtown Phoenix
For the artistically inclined there’s the recently opened boutique property, FOUND:RE, located in downtown Phoenix. The defining feature of this hotel is to treat guests to an ever-changing art gallery, surrounded by varied and amazing talent of all kinds, created and donated by local artists. This unique combination of local creativity is amplified in MATCH Cuisine & Cocktails, the hotel’s wood–fired, taste-bud-tantalising restaurant. The menu is inspired by global street food with a commitment to local sourcing and top-drawer quality. The hotel suites and interior exhume an industrial, bronze cast, post-modern feel that is impossible to experience anywhere else in the state. The hotel and restaurant are close to stadiums, convention venues, cultural epicentres such as the Phoenix Art Museum, Heard Museum, Arizona Opera and, of course, the downtown Phoenix foodie epicentre.

Mountain Shadows, Scottsdale
In early 2017, Westroc Hospitality, which owns Hotel Valley Ho and manages Sanctuary on Camelback Mountain, is rolling out the red carpet for a new resort located in Paradise Valley. Mountain Shadows is taking over the former spot of Marriott Mountain Shadows Resort, nestled between the magnificent Camelback and Mummy Mountains. The original resort at this location was built in 1959 and set the bar for southwest luxury, attracting Hollywood royalty such as John “The Duke” Wayne. Elements of the original resort remain, such as sunscreen blocks, postcards and vintage photos. The exterior of this strikingly unique build will be just as reminiscent of that golden era – a blend of current style and mid-century modernism. An abundance of floor-to-ceiling glass will also be intertwined with classic design and neutral colours. This 183-room boutique hotel will have a lounge, restaurants and a 5,000 square-foot fitness centre. The project even includes the redesign of neighbouring Mountain Shadows Golf Club for gentlemanly sports enthusiasts. Also expect a strong fitness component to the Mountain Shadows’ ethos including guided hikes of Camelback Mountain, a juice bar and a 5,000 square-foot, high-tech fitness centre.

Andaz Resort and Spa, Scottsdale
The Andaz Resort, Scottsdale pays homage to some of the formidable architects and famous artists who helped shaped Scottsdale: names such as Frank Lloyd Wright, Alexander Girard and Paolo Soleri. Opening at the end of 2016 the resort features mid-century desert-inspired interior and features indigenous art, culture and cuisine. The Andaz has also announced a partnership with Cattle Track, a Scottsdale artistic compound just minutes from the resort and downtown. Cattle Track has and continues to be home to some of Scottsdale’s greatest minds, including the founder of Phoenix Art Museum, Phillip C. Curtis, who lived there for 53 years before his death in 2000. Hotel guests can expect to see live art demonstrations from Cattle Track tenants, and they’ll be invited to tour the offsite studios of the exclusive art compound. Additionally, Cattle Track artwork is featured throughout the property and goods from the local creative hub and other local artists are available for purchase in the Andaz’s gift store.

Courtyard by Marriot Sedona
Veteran hotel developers Marriott opened the doors to their brand new Courtyard Hotel in October 2016 in Sedona, home of the majestic Red Rock. With a keen eye for flexibility and a focus on tailor made accommodation packages this hotel takes seriously its ability to bend to the needs of the guest’s itinerary. The latest room layouts offer multi-functional areas designed either for sleeping, relaxing or preparing for the Arizona outdoors. Soft lighting, multi-plugins and handy luggage drops use technology to ease the headache of travelling logistics. But hotel-tech isn’t the only convenience of this new-build. Uptown Sedona, five minute drive away, offers a diverse shopping experience, restaurants and art galleries. Uptown is also the gateway to Arizona outdoor activity bookings and Tlaquepaque Arts & Crafts Village- the starting block for 300 miles of hiking trails.

Source: Arizona Office of Tourism