Luxury hospitality brands have long leveraged personalized offers as a strategy for strengthening brand loyalty among consumers. Today, however, that sense of tailored exclusivity is seeping beyond rewards programs and into high touch design. Through subtle design cues, hospitality owners and operators can hint at the select nature of guest experiences. Venues can use design to set expectations for exclusivity and build upon that promise by adopting other luxury hospitality trends.
Immersive Design Turns Venues into Insider Experiences
For decades, golf and country clubs have provided guests with a sense of belonging through membership. Hotel brands borrowed this approach with the launch of loyalty programs that incentivize membership by offering insider privileges, attentive service, and adherence to consumers’ preferences. However, hospitality guests today are looking for deeper immersion into more personalized experiences. Research company Medallia has found that 61% of consumers agree they would be willing to spend more for a personalized hospitality experience. They expect brands to know them, anticipate them, and design with them in mind.
Hotels and clubs are exploring several fresh directions for this luxury hospitality trend. For example, AI-driven concierge services and guest profile tracking are becoming industry differentiators. However, the most progressive hospitality venues are meeting this demand for personalization by offering invitation-only experiences and private club experiences within their venues.
From All-Access Hotels to Members-Only Clubs
Today, member-only tiers and speakeasy-style experiences are appearing in hospitality spaces that were once all-access. Venues are using design cues to reinforce the selectivity of these private on-property experiences. This “velvet rope” design aesthetic uses architectural nuance, materiality, and spatial flow to evoke the allure of an exclusive, invitation-only experience. Designers can use cues like subtle flooring thresholds, rich materials, mood lighting, and discreet signage to elevate the atmosphere and signal luxury status among guests.
Baker Hotel Curates Exclusivity through Design
The Baker Hotel & Spa in Mineral Wells, Texas, infuses modern luxury into every facet of its revival—rising above the town as a reimagined icon of exclusivity.
The ongoing renovation of this historic venue is the result of a broad team of investors committed to revitalizing downtown Mineral Wells. The investors tasked their designer team with creating a space on the property where business conversations can take place away from guest activity. Nowhere is this more evident than on the private, 13th floor club, a refined retreat where every material, view, and detail was designed to speak to the discerning tastes of its, “by-invitiation-only” members and their guests.
Unlike the grand, luxuriant experience greeting visitors to other floors, guests exiting the elevator on the 13th floor will find a relatively unassuming hallway and unembellished doors. This space is meant to feature nondescript signage and finishes more similar in tone to back-of-house fixtures to act as a deterrent to anyone not “in the know.” Crossing the threshold of the 13th floor speakeasy reveals an experience specifically curated for invitation-only members. Stepping within the space reveals higher end materials and greater personalization. Personalized liquor cabinets and food and beverage programming that reflect the hotel’s unique history all work to curate this in-demand experience of exclusivity.
Let Thiel & Team Help Set the Tone
Hospitality patrons have consistently demonstrated through their purchasing decisions that they prioritize experiences. As brands go bigger with personalization, it becomes imperative for hospitality owners and operators to speak to the specific expectations of their targeted guests. An experienced design partner can help hospitality owners and operators engage with guests and members around the luxury hospitality trends that matter most to their end users.
This is an area where Thiel & Team can help. We’ve been curating exceptional hospitality experiences for nearly three decades. Our design team leverages design and amenities to create unique experiences that speak to guests and members, all within owners’ budget and site constraints. To learn more about how we can create a fresh experience for your asset, reach out to one of our experienced team members today.
