In London, it’s out with the old and in with the new. The Mondrian Shoreditch, one of TPG’s best new hotels of 2021, has officially been reflagged as Virgin Hotels London-Shoreditch.
You might be shocked to learn that England’s capital was void of one of Sir Richard Branson’s iconic hotels — until now, that is.
But don’t expect a full-fledged Virgin Hotels experience just yet. Though the name officially changed as of Thursday, the hotel is actually starting a “gradual transition” to bring the former Mondrian property fully into the world of Virgin.
Virgin Hotels London-Shoreditch is the popular lifestyle hotel brand’s eighth location (following success in cities like New York, Las Vegas, Nashville and New Orleans) and the third U.K. property alongside Edinburgh and Glasgow in Scotland.
“The UK is where the Virgin story all began, so it’s incredibly exciting to have another foothold in the city,” Virgin founder Sir Richard Branson said in a statement. “Virgin Hotels was created to do things differently, and Virgin Hotels London-Shoreditch is no exception.”
Set in trendy Shoreditch, the hotel has 120 rooms and suites, or “chambers,” as Virgin Hotels calls rooms. For now, those chambers are essentially untouched from the hotel’s Mondrian days, with white brick walls, beds with large headboards, sconced night-lights, huge banks of windows and an overall more elevated aesthetic compared to Virgin Hotels’ playful rooms at other properties.
Virgin’s signature multifunction beds, which at other locations have a backrest on one side of the bottom, are notably missing from the chambers, along with the brand’s signature red Smeg minifridges. But, according to a statement from Virgin Hotels, those “custom-designed patented” beds, along with Sir Richard’s flat (think of it as the presidential suite) and the brand’s Lucy app, are on the way.
Another Virgin Hotels staple, Commons Club, a lobby bar and cafe, will be introduced as a pop-up experience before transforming “into an exciting new space later in the year.”
Though a lot is changing, it seems Virgin Hotels is keeping a lot of what was already working, including the Spanish restaurant BiBo by celebrated chef Dani Garcia, Marlin’s Mediterranean restaurant, and Blue Marlin Ibiza London, a membership club that’s open to guests and features a rooftop pool and lounge, a Mediterranean restaurant, workspaces, a gym, and a spa.
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Playing with various dates around the opening, it looks like most rooms start around $344 per night. Right now, the Grand Opening Offer includes a food and drink credit of 75 British pounds (about $95).
To celebrate the opening of Virgin Hotels London-Shoreditch, current members and new members of the hotel’s loyalty program, The Know, can earn double Virgin points on stays from September through December by linking their The Know account to Virgin’s rewards club, called Virgin Red. Members will earn 14 Virgin points per pound spent on nightly room rates. Award bookings will be available at a later date.
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