“Here’s a great story about how Richard (Branson) works with his companies, in this case ours,” Raul Leal, CEO of Virgin Hotels, tells me. “We picked this building (the former Old Dearborn Bank Building in downtown Chicago) to build out as the future flagship of Virgin Hotels three and a half years ago. I told Richard ‘this is the place!’ He said, ‘well, if you say that it’s the place, then I say it’s the place – I trust you; you’re the hotel guy.’ “So, we get a couple years into the buildout” [an unusually involved buildout, as the building is a designated Chicago landmark with impressive architectural bones, many of which Virgin was required by statutory and aesthetic considerations to not only keep but restore to their original 1926 splendor] “and Richard came to visit. He told me, ‘Raul, you must have more imagination than me because I just don’t quite see it yet, but I know when you’re done I will be delighted.’”

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