Virgin Hotel, excited about possibilty of coming to Palm Springs

The city of Palm Springs is in the process of reviewing a new 142-room hotel to be located in the Downtown Palm Springs Project and Virgin Hotels tells us they are interested in the Palm Springs area as a destination.

At the Architectural Advisory Committee meeting Monday, a new hotel only being called the “Park Hotel”, is being proposed for the B-1 area of the project. The proposed six-story hotel was discussed at the meeting, but no brand name behind the project was announced, in fact, it is being kept secret.

The hotel proposal includes that it will be over 112,000 sq. feet and will be located just north of the Kimpton Hotel already under construction.

News Channel 3 contacted Virgin Hotels, which is owned by Sir Richard Branson, and currently has one location in Chicago with plans to expand.

Laura Kilroy, Communications Manager for Virgin Hotels, released this statement,
“Palm Springs is a very desirable destination for Virgin Hotels and we’re excited at the possibility of opening a property there. At the moment we’re not in a position to elaborate but as soon as we are, we’ll be in touch. “

The Virgin Hotel brand lists future projects in Nashville, New York and Dallas. The company would not confirm they are the proposed “Park Hotel”, but the only project of this size being proposed in Palm Springs is the mystery project in the downtown area.

Construction is already underway for the 155-room Kimpton Hotel in the downtown project and is set to open in about a year. Another hotel project the 135-room AC by Marriott brand hotel has been put on hold, reportedly to allow Wessman Development to move forward with the “Park Hotel”.

The Committee did not vote on the “Park Hotel” project but has asked for more information and drawings of how the new hotel will look with the current project plans. That meeting is scheduled for October 12th.

Palm Springs director of planning Flinn Fagg said there is only one other hotel project in the works without a brand publicly associated with it. It’s the Dolce Project located next to the convention center.

The developer, Lauri Kibby, said over the phone, she is not working with Virgin.

Both tourists and locals we talked to were intrigued by the idea of a new luxury hotel. They liked the idea of it being Virgin, a company known for its luxury and younger appeal, even more.

“Virgin is a very good airline we love it, why not, the combination hotel and airline I think it’s great,” said Sonnia Freilich, who is visiting from New York.

“We need a younger vibe down here, I think that would be good,” said Palm Springs resident Aaron Pogue.

“If he can build something better why not? It will keep everybody on their toes to keep a high standard for all of the other hotels here,” said Jay Freilich, who is visiting from New York.

“This is where San Diego, LA people go to get away, so I think it’s nice to have a luxury hotel right in Palm Springs,” said San Diego visitor Connie Cannon.

“I think it would be interesting, diversity right?” said Ron Alexander, visiting from South Dakota.