Virgin Hotels 'at least two years away'

Sir Richard Branson has said that his much-anticipated new hotel brand Virgin Hotels is still two years away from launching.

According to reports in US media, he told the American Lodging and Investment Summit that finding sites for the new hotel chain wasn't proving easy, although he did confirm a few places where travelers will be able to enjoy Virgin's almost-legendary hospitality.

San Diego and Washington DC are likely candidates, and Branson also announced that one of the the first sites will be in New Mexico, overlooking the spaceport which will send his Virgin Galactic tourist flights into space.

He also told conference attendees that each hotel will be different, saying that putting a Virgin stamp on the hotels wasn't enough and that the goal was to be the "funnest" hotel for guests to go to.

Fans of the outlandish British billionaire who are disappointed by the wait can take solace in exciting new hotels from America's favorite businessman Donald Trump, scheduled for the not-too-distant future.

The luxury hotel brand is set to open its first properties outside of the US in the coming months - the Trump Ocean Club Panama and the Trump International Hotel & Tower Toronto are both expected in the spring.

The hotels, which will be added to the five-star portfolio of properties in New York, Las Vegas and Chicago, are built to the exacting standards of Donald and his daughter Ivanka and are both record breakers - the Panama property is the tallest and largest building in Latin America and the Toronto hotel the tallest residential building in Canada.

http://www.virginhotels.com/

http://www.trumphotelcollection.com/