Despite many companies implementing the pandemic-proof strategy of subscription services in recent years, their eagerness to strengthen their commitment to customers is evolving towards membership models. In this regard, private clubs and members only models are beginning to take off in hotels as a way of attracting specialised minorities and connecting people with the same interests.
New members clubs reflect people’s ever-changing consumption behaviours. It’s an effort to “overhaul its image by adopting the opposite of a masses policy,” as Madeline Kraft, spokesperson of the Kimpton Cottonwood and The Beatrice, explains. Now, hotels are looking to add members only clubs to their offerings.
The desire to dedicate time to oneself is growing and, in turn, so is the eagerness to enjoy spaces that significantly connect with the culture and atmosphere of the city itself. “We believe people want to feel they belong to a community that’s dedicated to helping them unwind in a safe, welcoming environment with people of a similar mindset,” says Wendy DeLucca, members manager at Carillon Miami. “After a couple of years of feeling disconnected and scared, people are ready to reconnect and renew their outlook. Being a part of an exclusive club allows them to access the outdoors, fitness, wellness experiences, healthy foods, events and, most importantly, community.”
The uncertainty caused by the economic situation, combined with technological developments, is driving hotels to explore new ways of building brands with a view to forging more intimate and fruitful connections with their clients. According to Ipsos, a market research multinational, people with high income spend more than 46 hours a week relating to luxury brands through different mediums (social media, magazines or websites), while Highsnobiety, a global fashion and lifestyle media brand, has discovered that 56% of luxury buyers are active members of online communities that offer services and products based on their interests.
The impact the health crisis has had on tourism has seen many hoteliers search for new income models that diversify their offer and are also capable of attracting tourists with greater purchasing power.
The data indicate that the hospitality sector has a lot of options when it comes to strengthening its community creator role, bringing together people with similar interests or statuses, building expectation, and connecting with consumers digitally as well. Through exclusive access to events and services, hotels are broadening their offerings with members clubs to encourage client loyalty, while they also receive information and comments about their preferences and requirements.
Thus, many hotels are being transformed into members clubs, with scaled access levels offering various benefits and services, whether it’s through different types of experiences or early access to new or tailored products and services. However, between the classic hotel model and super-exclusive members clubs, there’s a huge range of gradations where mixed models can be found. Spaces that open their doors to the city’s inhabitants, thereby creating new meeting and socialising spaces.
Hotels are bolstering their options with communal spaces, meeting rooms, social clubs, cinemas, gymnasiums and more. These spaces attract another type of clientele that gives more importance to these services that orbit around the hotel than their own room.
The new clubs are bright, open spaces filled with vegetation and modern design pieces. They reject the conventional features of members clubs: dark, masculine spaces decorated with antiques. Instead, they strive to be more in harmony with the tastes of the new type of consumers they’re aimed at.
Despite the consumption recession, consumers are still looking for ways of escape and hedonism. The return to socialising and the pleasure of getting dressed up are filtered into the hospitality design, with throwbacks to the Roaring Twenties that are marked by a new age of style and sophistication.
Hotels are merging with a particular subject and theming their interiors based on their members’ interests, whether it’s in the form of art galleries and bookstores, spas and wellness spaces, or cultural event spaces like clubs and nightclubs.
