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What Are Hotel Club Rooms & Are They Worth It?
Written by Nate Robinson
Complimentary canapes and cocktails, exclusive lounges and top-tier service – it’s time to join the club.
Imagine this: you’ve just landed on the Island of the Gods, and after dropping your bags at the five-star InterContinental Bali, you head out to enjoy an afternoon jam-packed with activities. On return, you visit the exclusive Club InterContinental, where you’re warmly greeted with ice-cold drinks, a meticulously arranged (and included) high tea and access to the resort’s most exclusive pool.
Or this: after a morning spent hanging ten on the legendary Waikiki break, you return to your club room at Outrigger Waikiki Beach Resort, shower, and head up to the hotel’s open-air Voyager 47 Club Lounge. Surrounded by breathtaking views over one of the most iconic coastlines in the world, you savour a complimentary Hawaiian-style breakfast and free-flowing premium Kona coffee. Tonight, you’ll return for sunset pupus (appetisers) and mai tais.
That’s the magic of a hotel club room: they offer exclusive access to carefully curated club lounges, bundled with the room price and offering bonus privileges other guests may not even be aware of. Put simply, it’s the hotel equivalent of business class, often obtained at a much lower price. The quality and benefits can vary widely by region and hotel chain.
Read on for five things you can expect from club lounge access.
1. Complimentary drinks, dining and canapes
Most club lounges offer an area, separate from general guests, to take breakfast; live cooking stations, hot a la carte menus and glasses of sparkling wine are common. Free-flow refreshments – coffee, tea and soft drinks – are also often included throughout the day, with some, like Club Sofitel at Sofitel Melbourne on Collins, also offering a complimentary light lunch and French high tea.
Complimentary canapes and sundowners, meanwhile, offer the perfect way to begin an evening; many hotels, like Padma Resort Ubud’s Club Lounge, offer a generously extended selection of craft beers, wines and cocktails. Plus, guests dining outside the club schedule are often extended a dining discount for use across the hotel’s standard restaurants, offering the perfect excuse to mix it up.
2. VIP treatment
Nusa Dua Beach Hotel & Spa Bali promises guests that they’ll ‘be treated like Balinese royalty’ while staying in the Palace Club Wing, and they mean it. Upgraded hotel club suites include private check-in and checkout, all-day refreshments and butler service on request.
Most hotel club room programs deliver similar services, with some – like the InterContinental Bali – even offering a luxury airport transfer service for suite and villa guests. Dedicated club concierges make organising day trips, booking Michelin-star restaurants or finding a good ATM a breeze, while complimentary shoeshine, clothes-pressing and turndown services add convenience to any stay.
3. Upgraded in-room amenities
With most hotel club rooms including better views and upgraded in-room amenities, it’s never been easier to sleep like a pharaoh (on thousand-thread Egyptian cotton sheets) or strut like Caesar (in an ultra-plush bathrobe). Quincy Melbourne’s Skyline rooms offer Kevin Murphy luxury toiletries; each of Carlton Hotel Bangkok Sukhimvit’s Club rooms come equipped with Nespresso coffee machines.
Discerning travellers know that it’s often the small details that matter most – if you’re the kind of person who sweats the small stuff, chances are you’ll appreciate a club room.
4. Opulent surroundings and spectacular views
Because club lounges cater to a small, elite category of guest, their design often leans towards opulence. You’ll find this more in Asia – specifically Singapore, Hong Kong, Bali and Bangkok – but it’s also true across Europe and the United States.
Outrigger Waikiki Beach Resort’s Voyager 47 Club Lounge takes full advantage of its unassailable position on Waikiki Beach, while Dubai’s Atlantis, The Palm spellbinds guests with grand chandeliers, mother-of-pearl decor and a palm-fringed rooftop terrace with sunset views over the spectacular Arabian Sea.
Travelling to New Zealand? Recognised as Oceania’s leading executive club lounge for four consecutive years by the prestigious World Travel Awards, InterContinental Wellington’s InterContinental Club offers panoramic, floor-to-ceiling views of the harbour, with plush seating set around freestanding fireplaces. Morning or evening, it’s the perfect way to spend a few cosy hours.
5. A quiet space to work, rest or wait
Need to check your emails, or have an evening flight to catch? Quiet, comfortable and typically abundant with power outlets, newspapers and magazines, club lounges offer a stress-free environment to while away a few hours (for those who need extra assistance taking the edge off, The Ritz-Carlton Tokyo often features a live harpist.)
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Featured image: Outrigger Waikiki Beach Resort’s Voyager 47 Club Lounge.
After more inspiration? Check out Private Islands to The Plaza: The World’s Most Iconic Hotels.
