Whether corporate, recreational or wellness, the club concept in hotels is a smart business strategy for ensuring steady revenue, attracting a loyal clientele and creating an exclusive brand identity for the property By Sudipta Dev
Hotel companies in India are increasingly understanding the advantages of engaging with corporates in the city and the local elite crowd by introducing the club concept through attractive membership benefits. While the corporate members look for business meetings/ conferencing venues, the families are happy with the usage of facilities like swimming pools, fitness centre, etc. From corporate lunches to Sunday brunches, F&B becomes a major factor for both these segments, with the hotel restaurants assured of a steady stream of guests. The fact that this revenue is not dependent on the rooms occupancy gives a fillip to the business even during the lean season.
Executive club
Earlier this year, Renaissance Mumbai Convention Centre Hotel and JW Marriott Mumbai Sahar jointly launched ‘Sphere’ – a by-invitation-only executive club programme catering to discerning guests who seek to do business in style. “Sphere offers great business space to the elite corporate heads in Mumbai for meetings and business networking in the well spread out Executive Lounge areas with breath taking views with one nestled in the scenic Powai and the other at walking distance to the international airport, making it convenient for them,” says Megha Ajgoankar, director of sales & marketing, Renaissance Mumbai Convention Centre Hotel. She believes that with the corporate scenario continuing to grow in Mumbai, many luxury and lifestyle hotels see the opportunity of providing the finest business space to senior corporates to having their meetings, network better and get some leisure time out. “CMDs and CXOs find these hotels as perfect addresses to be in and so it becomes an ideal business proposition,” adds Ajgoankar. They get special discounts on food and beverage, spa, room reservations and suite upgrade, business centre and Platinum Elite Marriott Reward membership.
Currently while the Sphere is limited to the JW Mumbai Sahar and the Renaissance Mumbai Convention Centre, based on the feedback and response in Mumbai, it will be considered extending to other Marriott properties as well.
Recreational hub
While standalone recreational clubs often take great pride in their distinguished legacy, clubs in hotels provide more extensive facilities to its well heeled and discerning clientele. Waterstones Club at Waterstones Hotel in Mumbai has close to 300 members across 28 nationalities, out of which, 70 per cent are expats. “The clientele that we cater to at the club is very niche and belongs to the crème-de-la-crème crowd of Mumbai. These are people who don’t just have the money but also have a taste for class. And that is exactly what Waterstones is all about. It has its own peculiar style which is classy and very different from any other property. When you have such a beautiful property adjoining your hotel, it is definitely a big plus for the hotel. Also the kind of audience that we cater to at the hotel and at the club is very similar in terms of profile,” mentions Saket Gupta, head of sales and marketing, Mars Enterprises. Guests have access to an Olympic sized swimming pool and sports facilities like squash, tennis, basketball and badminton courts. There is a gym with state-of-the-art facilities and professional trainers. “One can choose to have a fun weekend by watching a movie at the movie lounge or just pampering oneself to some soothing therapies at our spa and salon. There is 24-hour coffee shop and a bar. We also offer an exclusive dining for four in a glass chamber at ‘Room with a view’. It is meant to celebrate special occasions and only accessible to club members,” informs Gupta.
Club membership is a status symbol, however the guests want to experience luxury without always spending exponentially. According to Amit Kumar Sahu, general manager, operations and sales, Club Orchid, The Orchid Pune, there is a constant growing demand within the age group of 35-65 years where they regularly look out for social joints to celebrate their moments of glory and achievements. “Foreseeing this trend, we initiated this concept termed as Club Orchid at The Orchid Pune. This club membership concept allows the members to access the property on regular basis and avail some amazing benefits and offers which include stay and dining options at the properties. To acquire the membership, the guests initially have to pay a certain fixed amount depending on the category chosen i.e. Individual/ Family / Corporate Membership. The membership period can be of one year only,” he says.
Wellness focus
Fitness facilities is one of the biggest draws for members joining hotel clubs. A property like Four Points By Sheraton Navi Mumbai Vashi focuses on creating a balanced lifestyle environment within the hotel vicinity – a perfect place to relax and rejuvenate. “Rooms and F&B being the basic required faculty, we provide a well equipped fitness centre, a unique blend of outdoor swimming pool, kids pool and jacuzzi, spa and salon,” says Subhabrata Roy, GM, Four Points by Sheraton Navi Mumbai. The hotel offers three months/ six months/ 12 months membership facility for gym and swimming pool with personal trainer facility. Members get discounts on F&B and spa facilities. The property also organises free seminars and events for them. “Healthy lifestyle is the need of the hour. In this era of being surrounded with technology, work pressure and stress in every aspect of life, it has become essential to walk on a healthy track and give time to yourself. Such club facilities play a significant role in promoting and maintaining the well-being,” states Roy.
The extensive Six Senses Spa at Jaypee Greens Golf & Spa Resort, Greater Noida covers 90,000 sq ft area across three floors. The facilities include state-of-the-art fitness centre, changing rooms, juice bar, yoga studio, aerobics pool surrounded by an indigenous herbal garden, 18 treatment suites, steam sauna, experience shower, ice fountain and private pools. There are also private nap suites, relaxation areas, specialist treatment suites for Ayurveda, Watsu, colonic hydrotherapy, Thai therapies, male and female hammams, meditation cave, and Ladies Club. “The guests may also benefit from personalised advice from the wellness consultants, get in shape with qualified personal trainers or just simply enjoy some time out. Whatever the guests are looking for, the hosts will always exceed expectations of the visitors to ensure that the time they spend at Six Senses is truly memorable,” states SM Azmat, president, S&M, Jaypee Hotels.
Two types of memberships are offered – spa membership and fitness membership. Azmat informs that in both memberships, the guest is allowed to use all facilities and attend wellness classes like yoga, fitness or aqua sessions. “Spa members have an edge over the fitness members as their package includes complimentary treatments, if they take membership for a year. They also get special discounts on various spa services. We strive to exceed the expectations of our guests through our bespoke and highly differentiated services,” states Azmat.
Revenue benefits
It is a known fact that a club significantly enhances the revenue of a property. If a property has the space then investing in a club has long term benefits. Gupta avers that a club is an independent property by itself and generates revenue by selling memberships. He reminds that a lot of hotels offer recreational facilities like gym, salon, spa in the hotel itself. However, there is no focus on these services since they do not contribute much to the hotel’s revenue. But an independent club offers a lot more than just the basic services. “Obviously, since you treat this as an individual property, your club members expect you to offer these services. But what this also does is it allows us to offer a whole range of services to our hotel guests. At the same time, business guests who attend workshops and conferences at the hotel do not really have the liberty of time to enjoy these club facilities. In such cases, we offer a ‘no-club access package’ which is priced lower. Thus it works out well for all our guests including the club members,” adds Gupta.
It is a win-win situation for both the property and the guests. While the hotel gets regular business from the guests, the latter are able to take advantage of the best available discounts as members. “Having club membership in the property has definitely worked out for us and brought more business by getting new customers where the revenue is already collected at the start of the membership. These customers in turn become my repeat customers as to avail the facilities which were entitled to them at the time of enrollment such as stay, F&B, swimming pool, spa, etc,” states Sahu, adding that this helps in giving a fixed business apart from their regular membership fees. For example, every guest visiting a restaurant will get the fixed discount which is availed to them for their membership, but rest amount is adding to the hotel’s profitability. “We also get regular events from our members celebrating special occasions or private parties and corporate events,” he adds.
Growing network
Not just the organised hotel sector, even standlone properties are today understanding the business advantage of having a club. Kamat Hotels plans to start similar club facilities within its network properties where all the properties have similar club plans available to their guests. “This will definitely help our corporate guests who constantly on the move to enjoy and experience same facilities at our other properties as well. Thus, it gives more weight age to the membership program,” says Sahu, adding that at The Orchid Mumbai, they are practicing a different concept such as ‘Orchid Rewards’; which earns guests petals (points) and which can be redeemed at any of the other group properties under the brand Kamat Hotels.
Guest demand is one of the factors for upgrading the facilities or adding new features. According to Gupta, Waterstones get a lot of requests for conferences as well as social events at the club. Consequenly, they launched a new banquet hall called ‘Moon Girl’ at the club to help them cater to a few more requests. “On a monthly basis, we try to organise some special workshops for the members. In the past few months, we had Bollywood dance workshops, yoga workshops, Zumba workshops etc. We are open to guest feedback and change our offering based on that,” he says, adding that there are no plans of replicating the model in any of their other properties as the club concept fits well for the Waterstones Hotel but may not do so for the other properties.