Clubs offering various forms of health and wellness options have been popping up everywhere, each claiming to be more unique and special than the ones preceding. Whatever you believe in, you are sure to find a club for that, especially in bigger cities.
Going to the gym can mean so many things now, not just the hard-driving exercise and scary-looking equipment. Wellness is a term that can be interpreted in a wide variety of ways but clubs offering it feature calming and elegant designer surroundings that include infrared saunas, steam rooms, meditation rooms and educational areas where everything from spa treatments, yoga, oxygen therapy, cryotherapy, massage and nutritional advice can be enjoyed for a monthly membership fee.
We Work’s Rise By We, New York-based The Well and Chillhouse and many others are capitalizing on the lifestyle change that puts wellness and balance ahead of just mere fitness.
In addition to specialized wellness clubs, hotels such as W Hotels, Ritz-Carlton, Shangri-La and many others have also opened wellness clubs in some of their hotel sub-brands.
In West Hollywood, the recent opening of Remedy Place attracted much media attention, not just for its PR claims of being the first “social wellness club” but also for its darker-toned interior that differs from both the sweaty industrial look of fitness clubs and the dreamy spa vibes of typical wellness clubs.
Los Angeles-based interior design firm Bells + Whistles was in charge of creating the moody environment for the 4,000 square-foot (371 sq. metre) space.
The club includes three lounges of which one is outdoors, a bar offering healthy local food and non-alcoholic drinks, a plunge pool, three saunas, a meditation room, 18 treatment rooms and a spacious change area.
Dark furnishings include custom-upholstered velvet loungers and leather arm chairs, with materials such as dark slatted wood screens, natural stone, smoked glass and concrete adding to the overall restrained and subtle darkness. Vibrant greenery and the elegant lighting scheme ensure that the overall vibe is smartly muted rather than gloomy. Tuija Seipell
Photography: Madeline Jean
