WSJ is reporting that hotel brands are rushing into the private members club business.

WSJ is reporting that hotel brands are rushing into the private members club business. Fascinating. And telling. Here is the problem.

Luxury hotels already have a sameness problem that most haven't solved. Walk through most five-star properties globally and you will find the same aesthetic, the same programming, the same choices, with a handful of rare exceptions. Now those same brands want to run clubs.

Operating a club is not operating a hotel. Different drivers, metrics, and operating model. You are selling belonging, and belonging is not a product most hotel operators know how to build.

The brands that can thrive in a hotel brand club wave already know who they are. Aman is the clearest example: decades of radical brand discipline and a devotee following so loyal they call themselves Amanjunkies. That is a moat. That translates. Rosewood launched Carlyle & Co. with genuine intention and cultural grounding, then made the smart and honest decision that the concept could not scale.

For everyone else, the math is enticing and also unforgiving. The global luxury club market reached $34.2 billion in 2024 and is projected to nearly double by 2033. And yet member resignation rates jumped 63% in 2023 while new membership inquiries dropped by half from their 2021 peak. A growing market with shrinking patience. Members have to not only join, but actually want to be there, and the operators who will thrive now are relentlessly focused on delivering something so rare and curated that it is undeniably unique. The experience stands above everything else available. Not just another expensive bourbon, great service, pretty space.

I was recently in a club in Dallas. Stunning space. Eye-watering price point. Empty on a Friday night.

If you are a hotel brand with a sameness problem, no experience running member-based revenue models, and a circle of advisers encouraging you toward this space, be wary of learning an expensive lesson. A club is not a side business or an amenity upgrade. It is a complete operating model built around a member experience that has to be exceptional from the first inquiry to the thousandth visit. Every touchpoint. Every interaction. Every reason someone chooses to walk through that door instead of somewhere else.