Best-in-class Hotel Gym Designs for 2020 (urban)
our favourite gym designs in urban hotels
sir victor hotel, barcelona, spain
Sir Victor Hotel gym design, Barcelona
Not only does this design-oriented boutique hotel just off Passeig de Gracia with a youthful spirit have one of the city’s finest rooftop pool bars, it has also put some serious thought into the design of the hotel gym.
A wood-panel hung ceiling matches the wood-panel flooring with all lateral walls mirrored to bing in as much light as possible, whilst creating a warm embrace of natural materials.
Walnut wood WaterRowers are paired with vintage leather boxing bags, gloves and medicine balls for a subtle retro look while enough floor space has been left empty for movement, stretching or simply personal space - a new luxury in gyms due to the impact of Covid!
Matte black functional fitness rigs line up around the perimeter, an AirDyne bike makes a rare appearance for a hotel gym (finally!) and someone even thought to include a matte black hex-bar as well as standard Olympic bars.
This is truly a gym for regular gym-goers, people who know their way around a squat rack not just a recline bike. It is, in other words, the type of gym we advocate for and aim to design for our own hotel clients, especially given the prominent rise of a new tribe of amateur athletes out there today (see our Hotel Gym Design Trends article here).
The gym also connects with a small indoor pool, sauna and spa treatment rooms, taken together it is referred to as The Zero Space.
White City House gym , London
Soho Active gym design at White City House, London
Having been a member of Soho House for several years, we’ve had the chance to spend many a rewarding 2-hour training session in their boutique hotel gym, known as the Soho Active at White City House in West London.
This hotel gym design would work as a standalone gym in its own right, even without the members club or hotel above that ensures it does a steady trade from morning to night all week long.
It’s an expansive lower-ground space that sticks to a subdued colour palette of sleek black and dark wood throughout. Simple yet effective, urban in style with zero evidence of design frippery - this is a place to workout first, socialise later (upstairs in one of the many bars!).
The best in class hotel gym design also also warrants careful exploration as there are various functional training zones, group class studios, separate weights rooms, a martial arts space and an impressive array of the latest cardio equipment, from Ski Ergs, to rowers, manual treadmills, steppers and more.
Post-workout sessions can extend into a swim in the 18m heated pool, sauna, steam room, experience showers and relaxation areas, just be sure to finish things off by swinging by the health bar. Here you’re met by a detailed menu that incorporates everything from medicinal mushrooms to other nootropics and protein supplements.
equinox hudson yards hotel gym, new york
Equinox Hudson Yards hotel gym design, New York
This is a big opening for the world of hotel fitness and hotel gyms, the transition of the Equinox brand away from a purely gym-based business model to a “gym + hotel” strategy is, for us, a reflection of the increasing role wellness plays in the lives of successful urbanites in cities such as New York, L.A., London, Paris, Hong Kong and Sydney.
We have written elsewhere about the increasing disconnect between a luxury hotel’s gym design and the standard of gym design their guests are used to at home. The rise of boutique fitness studios and high-end gyms has completely revolutionized the market in recent years and there is no going back now!
Just as the boutique hotel revolution shook up the hotel industry in the 1990s, boutique fitness has made an indelible mark on gym design…. yet hotels have been painfully slow to sit up and take notice, focusing instead of F&B, spa, even interior brand partnerships.
Equinox stepping boldly into the hotel sector could well be the shockwave the sector needed to inject some fresh life into hotel gym design in general. Our belief is that the anonymity of most hotel gyms needs to be converted into an experience, something worthy of the phrase Unique Selling Point.
What could be even more significant about this Equinox property though is how the health and wellness component has been extended out into the rest of what they have dubbed a “high performance” guest experience, imbuing the whole visit with wellness hacks that promote sleep in the bedroom for example, or offer dialled-in nutrition in the restaurant, and so on. This is the type of joined-up thinking the sector needs and that we aim to promote to our own hotel design clients.
VIU hotel gym design, milano
HOTEL VIU GYM DESIGN, MILANO
The VIU is our go-to hotel when staying in Milano, we love their smart ‘bleisure’ concept that combines understated Milanese elegance with the exuberance of a rooftop bar and dining area, as well as this minimalist hotel gym design.
This is a city that likes to play it cool, so the all-black, designed in Italy Technogym equipment and best-in-class cardio machinery choices fit right in. Slate grey walls are left unadorned, allowing the design credentials of the equipment to take centre stage, it is so subtle it can almost feel anodyne but effective overhead lighting ensures the warm tones of the wood flooring help create a welcoming ambiance, a far cry from most soulless hotel gym designs we know of in larger hotel chains.
Floor space is somewhat lacking when there. are more than three guests using the hotel gym. simultaneously but we are usually alone for our morning natural fitness training or post-run strength training using the squat rack and kettlebells.
https://www.hotelviumilan.com/
To discuss our specialist, best-in-class hotel gym design services, contact us via email here.