NEW YORK — There are four factors that Virgin Hotels Collection Chief Development Officer Greg Doman considers when deciding whether to add a new hotel to the company's portfolio.
"I call it the four-legged stool. If you don't have one of the legs, the stool is going to fall down," he said in a video interview with CoStar News Hotels at the 2026 NYU International Hotel Investment Forum.
Those four factors include having the right product, the right market, the right partner and the right terms that work for Virgin Hotels Collection.
This strategy led Virgin Hotels Collection to the Atlanta and Denver markets, where the company will open new-build hotels next year with its Virgin Hotels brand.
The hospitality industry has shifted more toward converting existing hotels rather than ground-up development. This makes conversion opportunities more competitive, however, Doman said.
"When ground-up development slows, it's supply and demand. Where are the opportunities going to be? It's going to be repurposing existing real estate or reflagging hotels," he said. "And that's quite competitive when you're going up against some of the bigger publicly traded companies."
It can also be difficult to find an existing building that fits the mold of a heavily curated brand such as Virgin Hotels, Doman said. But the company has done that as well, including the Virgin Hotels London-Shoreditch, which the brand took over in 2024.
Future markets that the company is targeting for hotels include Orlando and Miami, where there would be a lot of synergy with other Virgin Group companies.
"The fact that we fly there, the fact we sail there, that's a key strategic market," he said.
To hear more from Virgin Hotels Collection's Greg Doman, watch the video above or listen to the podcast below.