2015 Chicago Auto Show - Virgin Hotels Provides Tesla House Car

Model S moves hotel guests throughout Chicago

MIAMI, Feb. 12, 2015 -- Starting today, Virgin Hotels will offer guests car service seven days a week to select areas in Chicago in a top-of-the-line red Tesla Model S, a premium electric vehicle that delivers an exhilarating performance with electric dual motors. The new all-wheel-drive Model S P85D is not only electric; it's also the quickest-accelerating four door vehicle ever built. For guests wishing to arrive in style, they simply need to ring the concierge and a Virgin Hotels representative will drive them to their destination.

Doug Carrillo, Vice President of Sales & Marketing, Virgin Hotels, said, "Tesla is the hottest electric car on the road right now, and we're elated to provide our hotel guests with this chic house-car service while also helping to reduce our carbon footprint. For Virgin Hotels it's important to provide services our guests desire but do so with the environment in mind whenever possible."

California-based Tesla built the world's first electric premium sedan, Model S, with a range of 265 miles on a single charge. With a rigid body structure, nearly 50/50 weight distribution and a remarkably low center of gravity, Model S offers the responsiveness and agility expected from the world's best sports cars with the ride quality of a luxury performance sedan. The Virgin Hotel's Tesla Model S P85D accelerates from 0-60 in just 3.2 seconds.

The Tesla house-car is just another step in Virgin Hotels' sustainability program. Other initiatives include an extensive green roof of live plantings, ample LED lighting sources, Energy Star kitchen appliances, daylight sensor lighting control and more. Plus Virgin Hotels Chicago underwent an extensive renovation process of the 1920's building and restored much of its original interior, bringing it back to its neo-classicism glory.

Virgin Hotels Chicago is now open and accepting reservations at virginhotels.com, with Nashville slated for 2016 and New York 2017. Virgin Hotels continues to explore hotel and office conversions as well as ground-up development in cities such as Boston, Dallas, Los Angeles, Miami, Austin, Seattle, San Francisco, Washington DC, and London.