Equinox Fitness Set to Launch Hotel This Summer in NYC

Equinox, the company best known for its chain of luxury health clubs, is planning to enter the hotel and hospitality business in a big way. The first of several planned Equinox hotels is slated to open in New York City’s massive new Hudson Yard development this June. The property promises to continue the company’s “enduring mission of life maximization” in a way that will “redefine travel as the world knows it.”

It seems the success of wellness-based accommodations such as InterContinental Hotel Group’s (IHG) EVEN Hotels, has inspired the team behind the Equinox chain of high-end luxury fitness clubs. The NYC-based fitness company will open its very own hotel in New York City’s impressive new Hudson Yard development in midtown Manhattan this summer. The company says the flagship property will be the first of many more Equinox-branded accommodations to come.

Although many of the wellness amenities featured at Equinox Hotel might sound familiar, the company is taking great pains to make certain guests understand they will be subscribing to a lifestyle rather than simply booking a room for the night – to the point of sounding more like a mystic guru than a hospitality group. The hotel refers to its rooms as “temple to total rejuvenation” and describes its dining options as an “experience that excites, indulges and restores in equal measure.” The hotel also promises a customizable in-room minibar with fresh local garnishes available on demand.

“We have obsessively pursued our enduring mission of life maximization, becoming iconic by bringing luxury to a place where none existed,” the company explains in its latest promotional materials. “Now we are redefining luxury experience once again as a seamless extension of a life well-lived, elevating fitness, culture, and community for those who rest and play as hard as they work. The result is a place that matches the scale of our ambitions and the ambition of the very people for which we built it. That place is Equinox Hotels, Hudson Yards – in the center of the new cultural crucible of New York City. This is the complete manifestation of high-performance living.”

Each Equinox Hotel property will house an Equinox club, to which guests will have access. This close proximity of the fitness club will allow the properties to offer on-call personal training, diet consultations, and yoga instruction depending on availability.

Equinox will also launch a luxury travel service in the lead-up to the grand opening of its first hotel. Starting in April, the company will offer “bespoke” multi-day domestic and international excursions for its gym members.

“Equinox is already recognized globally for transforming the lives of our members with immersive experiences within the four walls of our clubs, so our move into travel is a natural—and almost inevitable— extension of our unmatched lifestyle proposition,” Equinox Executive Chairman Harvey Spevak explains. “Equinox single-handedly invented the concept of fitness-as-lifestyle nearly 30 years ago, and now we are expanding our purview to include active, covetable experiences that empower our discerning members to connect with the world—and themselves.”

[Image Source: Equinox Hotels]