Hotels Have Everything Wellness Clubs Want. They're Just Not Using It.

Wellness clubs like Saint Black in Melbourne create sophisticated social environments that blend wellness with hospitality.

Gurner Group is planning to open 20-30 wellness clubs globally by 2030. Remedy Place keeps expanding across the US. The Commons is rolling out multiple Melbourne locations.

These aren't optimistic projections. They're responses to demonstrated demand. There’s a group out there paying significant premiums for wellness experiences that extend well beyond traditional spa offerings.

But why?

I've spent some serious time visiting these facilities - not as a consultant analysing layouts and programming, but as someone genuinely trying to understand the appeal. The membership fees are substantial. The social aspect gets marketed heavily. And yet, these clubs are capturing the very demographic luxury hotels assumed they owned.

What’s clear after experiencing these spaces is that wellness clubs have identified something hotels missed. They've validated a market willing to pay premium prices for wellness as a social experience, delivered outside traditional spa hours, in environments designed for community formation.

It’s not revolutionary. Luxury hotels already possess everything needed to capture this market. They have the infrastructure, the operational capability. They have decades of brand equity that wellness clubs can't replicate.

So I can’t stop wondering - what’s holding them back?

What Wellness Clubs Understood First

Aurora Spa and Bathhouse demonstrates how communal thermal areas anchor the social wellness experience.

Luxury hotels treat wellness as a daytime amenity. Their version of wellness is something that happens in spa facilities and gyms between 9am and 6pm. It gets delivered through individual appointments and measured primarily by treatment room revenue. This model served the industry well when wellness meant relaxation and recovery.

Wellness clubs are succeeding by recognising that model no longer matches what a specific, valuable demographic actually wants. They're targeting affluent, performance-oriented people who view optimisation as part of wellness too. These guests and members want environments that signal status through exclusivity, cutting-edge facilities and curated shared spaces that can be social.

Some luxury hotels already understand this positioning. Properties that attract the same demographic - whether through design, programming or brand positioning - know how to create environments that appeal to status-conscious, performance-driven guests. Wellness clubs simply made this their entire value proposition.

It’s a strange realisation. Hotels possess every structural advantage to deliver this experience. The 24/7 operational infrastructure already exists. F&B can deliver performance-focused menus and premium non-alcoholic experiences. The brand trust that takes wellness clubs years to build comes standard with properties like Park Hyatt, Four Seasons and Rosewood. Guest rooms can integrate seamlessly with wellness programming in ways standalone clubs cannot replicate.

So it’s clear to me now that wellness clubs are operating with a different playbook. The gap is strategic, not operational. And it’s one hotels can adopt and adapt.

Where Hotels Actually Hold the Advantage

The irony of wellness clubs succeeding through membership models is that hotels already operate the most sophisticated membership system in hospitality: their guest base.

Every guest checking-in to a luxury property represents a qualified prospect. They've already demonstrated willingness to pay premium prices for curated experiences. They value brand consistency. They seek environments that signal status. Many return repeatedly to the same properties, creating the exact pattern of regular engagement that wellness clubs spend years trying to cultivate.

Hotels also possess something wellness clubs struggle to achieve: predictable daily traffic. A wellness club needs to convince members to visit regularly to justify their subscription. A hotel generates guaranteed occupancy through its core business. The real opportunity, though, lies in the local market.

Wellness clubs depend entirely on local membership for their business model. Saint Haven charges up to A$40,000 annually. Remedy Place operates on monthly subscriptions from US$255 to US$750. These aren't guest amenities, they're the entire revenue model so success requires capturing affluent local members willing to pay premium prices for regular access.

Again, it’s not revolutionary. Urban luxury hotels have successfully operated local membership models for decades through their fitness centres, spas, and F&B concepts. The wellness application simply extends this proven approach to a new category that wellness clubs have now validated at scale.

Programming That Creates Community, Not Just Bookings

Unlike most hotel wellness offerings, wellness clubs create regular rituals. Tuesday morning breathwork. Thursday evening sound bath. Weekend cold plunge sessions. Members know when to show up. They encounter the same faces. Social capital forms naturally through consistent, low-stakes interactions.

These scheduled experiences build belonging through repetition, something appointment-based treatments cannot do. A guest books a massage for 2pm Thursday. They arrive, receive the service and leave. No community forms because no repeated exposure occurs. The programming model optimises for treatment room revenue rather than social connection.

So how hard is it for hotels to introduce group programming into their existing facilities? A morning meditation session. Evening stretching classes. Guided cold therapy experiences in hydrotherapy areas. This type of programming isn’t uncommon at luxury resorts, but it’s rare at urban properties despite requiring minimal additional infrastructure.

SAINT Black demonstrates this by deliberately activating during evening hours - serving cocktails and increasing music volume Thursday through Sunday after sunset. They've positioned wellness as evening entertainment. Hotels possess the exact same capability through their existing F&B operations and wellness spaces. Most simply haven't tested programming outside conventional spa hours.

I think the 6pm to 11pm window is a particularly compelling opportunity. Hotel wellness facilities typically wind down in the evening hours when guests seek more traditional experiences. Wellness clubs capture this timing by offering environments where moderation or sobriety becomes the social norm. Hotels can deliver the same experience, they’re just lagging behind.

Wellness clubs design spaces that encourage repeated social interaction and use group programming to create community through regular rituals.

Designing for Connection

Walking through wellness clubs, the spatial decisions become obvious. Communal thermal areas anchor the experience. Large saunas accommodate 8-12 people. Cold plunge pools create shared vulnerability. Relaxation lounges encourage lingering.

The Commons in Melbourne illustrates how differently wellness clubs approach space. Their thermal loop connects sauna, steam, and cold plunge in a continuous circuit designed for small groups. Members move through the sequence together. The architecture creates natural congregation points. Compare this to hotel spas where thermal experiences often require booking separate appointments in isolated rooms.

This creates an interesting question about luxury positioning. Luxury hotels often assume their guests demand complete privacy. Wellness clubs are proving that these same people will pay premium prices for shared experiences when those experiences are properly curated. The exclusivity comes from who has access, not whether the space is private.

To be fair, new and upcoming properties are catching on as progressive owners, intrigued by biohacking and wellness trends, think about how to capitalise on this shift in guest behaviour and build wellness into their core offering. Their spa facilities typically include substantial relaxation areas designed for lingering. The spaces encourage guests to arrive early and stay after treatments. Some properties position these communal areas with views, natural light, and sophisticated design better than any throughout the rest of the hotel.

The question of scale matters here. Wellness clubs generally operate more compact facilities than hotel spas, which forces efficient use of every square meter. Hotels often have larger wellness footprints but lower utilisation rates. The wellness club spatial model demonstrates how smaller, more intentionally designed communal spaces can generate higher engagement than larger, more private facilities.

The design challenge centres on creating optionality. Guests seeking private experiences need that option. Those wanting shared wellness need accessible paths to social engagement. Properties can dedicate different spaces and time blocks to serve both needs. Morning hours might emphasise private appointments for hotel guests. Evening programming could activate communal spaces for both guests and local members. The same facility serves multiple use cases through thoughtful scheduling and design flexibility.

The Positioning Question

Progressive luxury hotels like Six Senses London are integrating wellness club concepts into their properties.

Hotels face an interesting challenge here. Their wellness facilities carry decades of association with traditional spa services. Guests arrive expecting certain experiences based on established spa positioning. Repositioning these facilities toward social wellness requires more than programming changes and demands a shift in how properties communicate wellness entirely.

The membership component adds another positioning layer. Hotels introducing local membership need to communicate value propositions to two distinct audiences. Hotel guests need to understand how wellness enhances their stay. Local members need reasons to choose hotel-based membership over standalone wellness clubs. The positioning must serve both without compromising either.

Wellness clubs succeed partly through positioning themselves as something other than spas. The language matters. "Social wellness club" signals differently than "luxury spa." "Performance optimisation" communicates differently than "relaxation and recovery.” I’m convinced hotels can adopt similar positioning, but as wellness clubs expand globally and build brand recognition, they'll also establish market positions that become harder to displace. The emphasis falls on who you'll encounter, not just what equipment exists. Luxury hotels need to catch on.