As consumers continue to become more health-conscious by the day, we’re looking into why hotels should add a fitness and leisure aspect to their venue in order to keep up with the demand.
“There are people who will not book a hotel unless it has a gym.”
With more people seeing physical and mental wellbeing as a priority in their lives, hotels must present a selection of services that place health at the centre. Now, guests are keen to maintain their daily fitness routine whilst abroad and, for many, travelling allows for a greater chance to reconnect with the mind, body and soul, and hotel offerings can certainly aid this.
Parklane’s Director of Lifestyle, Paris Kounoudis, explained how the venue works to keep up with this heightened demand as guests who travel to Parklane know they’re able to access elevated fitness programmes.
Paris told us that over the past three years, Parklane has noticed an increased demand for dedicated fitness programmes which is why the hotel has launched its first six-day Parkfit programme, specifically curated to increase physical and mental strength and endurance.
“To elevate guests’ fitness levels, the programme includes a choice of four sessions of high-energy activities such as 1:1 personal training at the hotel’s Parkfit gym, and outdoor or indoor yoga or Pilates, as well as private tennis coaching on either clay or lawn tennis courts and football lessons on the hotel’s mini-football pitch. Each programme is tailored to suit fitness levels, ensuring those starting their fitness journey have all the support they need to succeed.”
With rest and recovery being essential to any fitness journey, the Parkfit programme goes above and beyond as it includes one sports massage, one healing therapeutic massage and two Thalassotherapy experiences over the six days. The latter takes place in Parklane’s Kalloni Spa, home to four thalassotherapy pools.
Paris added: “The world of fitness is constantly changing, so it is important for hotels to keep up with current trends and respond to guests’ needs. Now, fitness and wellness spaces within a hotel must go above and beyond the expectations of guests.”
“If you can create unique experiences combining the local environment and culture, then that can make the stay even more memorable for guests. Guests return years later and will still be talking about our treetop yoga at sunrise.” Said Kate.
As we’ve all been through a very challenging time in the last three years, wellness now plays a bigger role in our lives than ever before.
At Middle Eight in Holborn they boast a beautiful gym available to guests, but that’s not all they offer in terms of mindfulness. Christian Graf, General Manager at Middle Eight said: “Our concierges can recommend a host of local walks. The Balcony is a very reflective space where people can read a book or a magazine, or simply relax alone or with loved ones.
“Wellness has become an increasingly important part of everyone’s life. Having somewhere people can continue their fitness regime when they are away is key. Some of our guests, particularly those in the suites, stay for an extended period of time and so it is important they don’t have to go off-site to train.”
Naturally, introducing a gym to an overnight stay venue will help you appeal to a broader audience and Christian agrees: “There are people who will not book a hotel unless it has a gym. Our guests also value the one-to-one PT sessions we offer.”
These days, more and more travellers are looking to maintain their fitness levels whilst away on business or holiday, making a leisure facility a key part of any hotel. Euan Miller, Head of Sales and Product at Primal Strength, recognises that not only does this make the hotel’s offering more appealing, but if they open a membership base it can add to the overall income.
“As the benefits of strength training become more widely known, people now expect to be able to train this way when they are away from home. We are seeing more hotels incorporate strength equipment into their gyms as a result.
“We have noticed that the ‘traditional’ hotel gym will no longer ‘cut it’for their guests. They are having to invest to match industry trends, upscaling the gym to allow all types of gym-goers to train.” Said Euan.
Trip Advisor has noted that over 52% of travellers will source a hotel with a gym. This proves that people are basing their decisions on whether a hotel has a gym and therefore if you can provide that, you are broadening your market appeal.
“Primal Strength’s full turn-key solution is perfect for hotels. We offer design, supply and fit and have ranges perfectly designed for hotel use; everything from space saving dual machines, flooring and free weight equipment.” Added Euan.
General Manager at Windjammer Landing Villa Beach Resort, Lindon Lovell, sees that having a gym in a resort is not enough anymore, people want the whole wellness package. Windjammer Landing has facilities that you wouldn’t necessarily expect when you think of traditional fitness: “We combine mind, body and soul into our offering. For example, we have a juice bar so guests can fuel their bodies after their workout, a relaxation room where guests can go to meditate and de-stress, a steam room which helps remove toxins from the body. This is in addition to our wellness classes and spa.” Said Lindon.
“Guests want variety.” Added Lindon. Having a gym and a spa is a basic expectation now. Guests want the full spectrum, a variety of fitness and leisure facilities. Lindon has noticed there has been an increased demand for taking wellness outside and away from just the gym – providing a unique experience.
“We have introduced stand up paddleboard yoga which combines the peacefulness and tranquillity of floating on water with the meditative nature of the yoga postures, and results in a relaxing but fun class.” Lindon said.
One of Windjammer Landing’s most popular classes is ‘Hummingbird Yoga’ which is a yoga class that takes place in their beautiful gardens surrounded by nature, adding a totally different concept to wellness offerings.
It’s clear that keeping fit is so important to a vast amount of guests, so, by having added fitness and leisure features at your venue you will appeal to a much broader audience.
