Sir Richard Branson Opens Virgin Hotels New York City

On Tuesday, April 4th, the big apple turned a new shade of red as Virgin Hotels New York City celebrated its official opening with a full day of festivities. Of course, Sir Richard Branson was on site to ring in this occasion as opening a hotel in New York City has been a longtime dream of his.

The day kicked off with Sir Richard Branson welcoming the big crowd on 30th Street to introduce Colton Ryan, the lead from the new Broadway hit musical New York, New York. Colton and crew took over the hotel’s front entrance (on the corner of Broadway) to perform the iconic song “New York, New York.”

The performance was followed by a ribbon cutting ceremony with Sir Richard Branson, Colton Ryan, Virgin Hotels’ CEO James Bermingham, General Manager Candice Cancino, hotel owners John Lam, Hung Luk, and other members of the Lam Group, complete with a confetti drop.

Spectators helped Richard countdown from 10 to cut a Virgin Hotels-branded red ribbon with huge gold scissors and officially open the hotel.

Later in the evening, the party continued with an unforgettable grand opening event spanning multiple floors of the hotel. The night commenced with an incredible Chinese Lion Dance in Everdene, the entertainment-anchored culinary space that occupies the hotel’s entire third floor, followed by a lively welcome from Sir Richard Branson and hotel owner John Lam of the Lam Group. Guests including fashion designers LaQuan Smith, Carly Cushnie, Natalie De’Banco, DJ Shaun Ross, Actress Ana Villafañe, Bravo stars Dorinda Medley, Lindsay Hubbard, Carl Radke, Andrea Denver, Chris Leoni and more explored the hotel’s 3rd and 4th floors to find tarot card readers, live painters, stilt walkers, jugglers, and performers in larger-than-life sized martini glasses, a Tyra Banks’ Smize Cream ice cream cart, and signature drinks curated by Tequila Don Julio including a Spicy Blanco Margarita.

Party goers were then invited to the 38th floor event space, where they continued to dance the night away against a backdrop featuring spectacular views of Manhattan from the Empire State Building to the Statue of Liberty.

Guests were treated to a surprise, exclusive preview performance from the newest Virgin Voyages show, followed by a series of epic DJ sets from the likes of DJ Lovie, DJ Stretch Armstrong, Natasha Diggs, Eli Escobar, and DJ Moma.