Making Gains

Hotel wellness centres in major cities are attracting a surprising clientele: locals.

- Words: Justin Fenner Photography: George Apostolidis, Natelee Cocks, and Robert Rieger

RYAN DENEHY TRAVELS ENOUGH to have been disappointed by a range of high-end hotel gyms. Still, back home in New York, the 38-year-old entrepreneur has occasionally used the intimate wellness club at Tribeca’s stylish Greenwich Hotel. “You can actually get a stand-alone membership for just that and no one really knows about it,” the avid cyclist says. “It’s pretty much always empty.”

But fitness centres at properties around the globe are starting to fill up because they’ve recently become really good. Take Surrenne at The Emory in London, a 2,323sqm space that opened in April 2024, which offers a hyperbaric chamber, a great signature facial, and the only Tracy Anderson studio in the UK. The Sporting Club at Philadelphia’s Bellevue Hotel has a National Basketball Association-sized court, three golf simulators, and an onsite physical-therapy clinic.

As attractive as these services are to guests, the target audience is the locals who might become full-fledged members. “Where I get excited, to be honest, is where we help people with their lifestyle,” says Andrea Lomas-Gong, Mandarin Oriental’s vice president of spa and wellness operations. She calls this growing crop of facilities the best-kept secret in the hotel industry. Here, six clubs you might want to join.

FOUR SEASONS HOTEL RITZ, LISBON