Fancy Getting Into Bed with Virgin Hotels?

Meet the brightest minds and smiles behind the Virgin Hotels. As leaders in the hotel development industry, our team strives to shakeup the industry with every guest experience and each and every stay.

James is responsible for delivering Virgin Hotels’ global growth, operational excellence, multi-award-winning customer experience, and unique culture. With over 35 years of hospitality experience, James began his career in his hometown of Dublin, Ireland, followed by ten years in London, England, including executive roles with ITT Sheraton Corporation and the Luxury Collection. His career then led him to the United States, where he held prestigious General Manager roles at the St. Regis Hotel in Houston and the Montage Laguna Beach. Since 2008, he served as Executive Vice President, Operations for Montage International, where he oversaw all aspects of operations for the award-winning Montage and Pendry Hotel brands seven hotels and resorts, including owner relations, culture development, and sales and marketing.

James has served on many not-for-profit and hospitality industry boards and committees, including Chair of Visit CA, Preferred Hotels & Resorts Advisory Board, and Forbes Travel Standards Advisory Committee.

Harris is responsible for the brand’s financial impact as it relates to growth investments and new management contracts. Additionally, White helps to set the growth agenda and outline the financial vision for the Virgin Hotels brand. Before joining Virgin Hotels, White held a leadership role at Sage Hospitality, where he oversaw all aspects of finance, accounting and technology functions for Sage Hospitality’s 75 hotels and 12 restaurant concepts nationwide. White has worked with a number of established brands such as The Wellbridge Company, Morgan Keegan & Company, and more. He earned his dual Masters of Business Administration in Finance and Accounting from Vanderbilt University Owen Graduate School of Management.

In his role Doug leads the brand marketing, sales and revenue management for Virgin Hotels. Doug has more than 30 years of experience in the hospitality industry. His background includes senior executive level Sales, Marketing and Revenue Management positions with Morgan’s Hotels Group, Desires Hotels, and Carnival Hotels and Casino.

In his capacity at Morgan Hotels Group he was directly responsible for overseeing the sales, marketing and revenue management disciplines for Delano, Shore Club and Mondrian South Beach. Prior to joining Morgan’s Hotel Group, Doug was Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing and a partner at Desires Hotels. Throughout his tenure, he developed a robust sales and marketing platform and solutions for e-commerce and revenue management that led to significant REVPAR premiums across the portfolio. In 2002, he co-developed Desires Hotels, and helped grow the portfolio from 4 to 35 modern boutique hotels. In 2009 he received the prestigious “Adrian Award” from HSMAI for website design and was honored as one of the “Top Twenty Five Sales & Marketing Minds”.

Doug graduated with a Bachelors of Science in Hospitality Management from Florida International University.

Clio Knowles is the Chief People Person for Virgin Hotels, which launched its first property to great acclaim in Chicago in 2015. Clio’s primary focus has been to develop a company culture that focuses on the Virgin Hotels brand values and celebrates their people. This incorporates not just employee engagement and communication, but also focuses on the Virgin Hotels purpose, that everyone leaves feeling better. Virgin Hotels believe that their teammates are the key to an amazing customer experience and believe in recognizing and rewarding that in all teammates. Previously, Clio held the role of VP, Global Human Resources at Kerzner International, which at the time owned and operated the Atlantis, Paradise Island in The Bahamas; Atlantis, The Palm in Dubai; Mazagan Resort in Morocco and seven luxury resorts globally, under the One&Only brand.

Clio is passionate about people and creating an environment where teammates work hard but also have fun. She is a Global Professional of Human Resources, SHRM and has a Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Arts from Barry University, Miami, Florida.

Todd is a seasoned hospitality professional with over 25 years of hospitality experience. In his role, he oversees the day-to-day operations and works closely with the senior leadership team to develop and execute the strategic plan to drive growth and profitability. Most recently, Todd was the Managing Director of 1 Hotel Toronto where he was responsible for the opening of Toronto’s newest luxury hotel overseeing all aspects of pre-opening construction, operations, and training, including developing cutting edge sustainability initiatives for the eco-conscious brand.

Previously he was Regional Vice President and General Manager of Delano for SBE and oversaw the other SBE portfolio of hotels in Miami. Prior to SBE Todd was General Manager at Montage Laguna Beach and Montage Beverly Hills, both Forbes five-star hotels, and has also held leadership roles at Loews and Starwood Hotels. He is a graduate of the University of Arizona, where he holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Communications and Finance.

David Moth started his hospitality career in Australia sorting linen in the basement of a hotel – as part of his high school work experience program – and immediately fell in love with the hotel business. After graduating from Ryde College in Sydney, David left Australia to broaden his horizons. That ongoing adventure has had him working in the UK for Trusthouse Forte, Virgin, and Malmaison; the Caribbean where he was Assistant Manager at Richard Branson’s Necker Island, Resident Manager at Rosewood’s Little Dix Bay, Resident Manager at Jalousie Plantation Resort and Spa, and General Manager of Nisbet Plantation Beach Club.

In 2001, David moved to the United States to manage the famed Tides Hotel in Miami Beach before spending over six years with Desires Hotels/Trust Hospitality in several General Manager roles including the Sagamore, the Strand and the Betsy hotels in Miami Beach, then becoming Vice President of Operations overseeing all hotels in the Trust Hospitality portfolio until coming back to the Virgin family as VP of Operations at Virgin Hotels.

Bryan is joining us after an extensive 20-year career in hospitality. His most recent role with Press Up Hospitality Group, which includes seven lifestyle hotels in Dublin, Cork, Galway and Westmeath and the biggest hospitality operator in Ireland. There he held the position as Head of Hotels for five years, more than tripling their number of hotels during that time.

Bryan started his career with Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts holding various management roles in both the US and Ireland. He went on to manage both independent and branded hotels in the UK and Ireland. Bryan studied hotel management in Shannon College and holds a master’s degree in Strategy and Innovation from Maynooth University.

Rory will work directly with senior leaders to drive profitability at Virgin Hotels and provide financial leadership for all forthcoming openings. Prior to joining Virgin Hotels, Rory worked for Two Roads Hospitality, where he previously served as Vice President of Finance overseeing Canada and the Eastern and Central United States. Prior to his years with Two Roads Hospitality, Lowe held several finance and food & beverage leadership roles with both Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants and Marriott International. Lowe holds an MBA from Cornell University.

As Vice President of Design Teddy oversees the vision and execution for how the Virgin Hotels brand comes to life in the hospitality design environment. Teddy spent seven years as the senior director of design and development at Morgans Hotel Group where he focused on the expansion of the Delano, Mondrian and Hudson Hotel brands. On the agency side he began his design career at Skidmore Owings & Merrill in New York where he focused on hospitality interiors projects for brands such as W Hotels and Resorts, Capella and The James to name a few. Most recently Teddy worked for Gensler in New York as the regional director of hospitality interiors. He was responsible for establishing a hospitality interiors studio and developing the regional practice. Teddy has a Masters of Architecture, a Bachelor of Architecture and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Interior Design from the University of Idaho.

Guy Lindsey brings extensive experience with strategic lodging development and renovation projects to the role of Vice President of Construction for Virgin Hotels, where by he will support current efforts in the design area and streamline opening processes as the brand continues to grow.

In a career that has spanned more than 35 years, Guy has been involved in all phases of construction management, including hotels, residential, mixed use and office building projects. In addition to serving as one of the industry’s most valued consultants, Lindsey previously held the position of Senior Vice President of Design & Construction at Park Hotels and Resorts, a company born out of Hilton Worldwide, where he developed and supervised the internal and external project management and engineering team. He also served as Senior Vice President of Design & Construction at Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc., where he worked on projects that include the Marriott Wailea and Hyatt Regency San Francisco. Throughout his career, Lindsey has had direct experience with $3 billion worth of renovation, conversation and repositioning projects across all major brands and property types. A graduate of Auburn University with a Bachelor of Science in Building Science, Lindsey will be based in Miami, FL.

Alex oversees Virgin Hotels expansion in Europe and will work closely with capital partners and strategic investors to acquire new and existing properties in cities across Europe. Hoping to acquire two or three properties per year, the brand is keeping options open, targeting cities from London, Paris and Rome to less-predictable locations like Manchester, Edinburgh and Dublin.

Alex’s most recently served as Vice President of Development for YOTEL, focusing on Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Prior to this, he was Director of Montpelier Hotels Ltd., a hospitality investment and corporate finance advisory firm and Director of Development for Bridgehouse Capital, a private equity company with total assets in excess of $1 billion. More recently, he spent five years with Orient-Express Hotels Ltd. where he managed more than $500 million of acquisition, financing and dispositions of non-core assets. He successfully executed third party hotel management agreements for OEH in London and North American (Cadogan Hotel, Durley House and The Inn at Perry Cabin).