Members clubs in New York are nothing new, but there are certainly new members clubs. In fact, they seem to be popping up everywhere in the city as of late — clubs for those in the arts, clubs for the wellness-obsessed, a club you can pay for with crypto. So, how exclusive are they actually, and which ones are worth the high annual price tag? To find out, I visited a few of the most popular options.
In 2018, I personally became an Every House member of Soho House, meaning I was able to visit every location of the club, save for a select few that require separate membership, such as the Malibu Beach House in Los Angeles. I first joined in anticipation for a move from DC to NYC, eager to make new connections, both personal and professional. Soho House offered a robust calendar of programming at the time, as well as several interest-specific “clubs” that met monthly.
Since I’ve been here in New York, I’ve observed an explosion of options for those seeking to rub elbows with a certain set of folks. A few years before my arrival there was Spring Place, which opened its doors in TriBeCa in 2016, appealing to the musically minded and extremely affluent, with an instrument-packed music room in addition to its workspaces, restaurant, rooftop and ’70s-style conversation pit.
Even earlier, in 2013, members club NeueHouse was founded in the space that formerly housed the Tepper Galleries. Walking up to the club for a visit this month I initially got lost, almost wandering into the office of Vested Financial PR. According to Sarita Tabarez, the vice president of Neuehouse’s New York Flagship, this is on purpose. An unassuming facade provides even more shock and delight upon entry, as the club’s double high ceilings and luxe furnishings come into view.
“In New York, people live in small apartments and are always looking for something to do or someone to connect with,” says Tabarez. “NeueHouse gives members a vibrant hub to live, work, entertain and build community. There are events constantly happening at the house, sometimes more than one simultaneously, from music and screenings to inspiring talks and networking events. NeueHouse makes it look effortless with top-tier hospitality and exclusive events you can’t get anywhere else.”
I will say that NeueHouse was, without a doubt, the most gracious host I encountered on this journey. There were several clubs I reached out to, even with a personal email provided from friends and colleagues, and received nary a response. I never heard back from ZZ’s Club, or Jean-Georges’s Chez Margaux, a new club in the Meatpacking District, supposedly offering modern French cuisine, a Japanese-inspired lounge and an intimate nightclub called Gaux Gaux. I was in contact with Maxwell, but nothing came of it; and I received the following email from The Twenty Two: “Thank you for reaching out regarding The Twenty Two New York. At this time we are unable to arrange a tour but we will be in touch.” I had a dinner set up at Flyfish Club, a members-only spot that raised $14M in NFTs before they even found a space, but that reservation was canceled after I asked several questions about their event programming and membership offerings.
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Sip on legendary cocktails in this unexpected settingThat’s the thing, though, right? Social clubs love to make it obvious that you need them, not the other way around. Their constant air of nonchalance is what makes them feel so…exclusive. Well, that and their oft-tremendous price tags.
I’m not sure how other New Yorkers are feeling right now, but to be honest I’m tired of nonchalance. If I’m paying good money to spend time in a place where I’m a member, I’m seeking hospitality. This is why NeueHouse impressed me during my time there. To be honest, it wasn’t initially on my radar for this story, as I was aiming to highlight newer clubs, but the visit there changed my mindset entirely, as Tabarez led me around their 12 stories (yes, it is that large) which included private offices, conference rooms, a full cinema (“Baz Luhrmann shows all his movies here,” she tells me), a restaurant and cafe, and the beginnings of a new, robust wellness center.
I chatted with members who told me they joined NeueHouse to find community, and that they truly feel at home in the space. While the club has a no-approach policy for celebrities and the like, many members seem to connect at their events. It makes sense, considering the club hosts between seven and 10 each day. I was invited to a screening that night hosted by actress Sienna Miller, for instance. Some members also stack their membership with other clubs in the city, like one woman who also frequents Nexus Club — located in a swanky TriBeCa townhouse. She tells me Justin Timberlake is quite involved with Nexus, a family-focused membership club with a children’s area.
Wellness seems to be the word on everyone’s lips as of late — a luxury that those with the means have typically indulged in privately. Today, that seems to be shifting, as membership clubs like NeueHouse and Casa Cipriani clue into the demand for red-light therapy, cryotherapy and NAD+ treatments, gyms like Equinox and Chelsea Piers become members clubs in their own right, and Remedy Place opens a second New York location in SoHo (their first is located in Flatiron).
“We like to say we are an inclusive club with exclusive memberships,” Remedy Place CEO Dr. Jonathan Leary tells me. “Our long-term mission is to change the way people globally approach their health and to help everyone feel better — we didn’t want to exclude anyone. To build a strong network — and a group of people who lead by example and help us accomplish our mission — within each club while adding a layer of exclusivity, we have designated only 200 memberships per location. Everyone else is welcome to reserve services à la carte.”
Unlike most other members clubs, which might focus on providing a curated nightlife experience or an elevated workplace environment, Remedy Place targets those who want to trade some of their cocktail bar hangouts for quality time spent together in a private contrast-therapy suite.
“We call this concept ‘social substitutions,’” Leary says. “We transform typical social activities into social self-care experiences. Imagine making a reservation for a date night, an after-work hangout, a Friday night out, a team outing or even a large-scale event. Instead of centering around food and alcohol, these occasions involve engaging in self-care experiences that are both enjoyable and beneficial. Your party, regardless of size, receives a private suite where you can enjoy yourself, set yourself up for success and strengthen relationships — all at once.”
I spent time for this story at both of their locations, and can say that their new SoHo outpost is the most worth the price. Both provide the same vibes: classy, minimalist decor and very cool staff members. For context, they have a mini fridge full of glass Antipodes water bottles, and even members are only provided with one each visit. The environs are what you might imagine heaven would look like to a man whose bathroom is fully stocked with Aesop products.
During my trip to their Flatiron location, I completed a full 75-minute session of contrast therapy in a private suite, and will admit that I emerged feeling like a brand new person. I was able to play music from Spotify during sweaty time spent in an infrared sauna, and reluctantly submerged my body into 40-degree tubs of water to shock my system. It was incredible. At their SoHo location, I was massaged by a robot.
It’s called AI-powered bodywork: you lay on a massage table while your body is scanned, then robot arms from behind you descend to work out your knots. A unique profile is created, so that each time you come in the treatment is more customized. It’s the exact representation of what Remedy Place seems to offer: a highly advanced wellness experience in a modern (and sometimes a bit intimidating) setting. Other examples include a Work & Drip Suite where you can take a Zoom call while receiving vitamin IVs, and Hyperbaric Chambers that you can customize to use lying down or upright, depending on whether you want to relax or multi-task.
The club offers three tiers of membership: Preferred, Premier and All-Access, with prices starting at $9,000 per year and topping out at over $50,000.
If you think $50K for a membership is steep, there are several clubs in the city that far surpass that number. For instance, the Aman Club, established by the hospitality brand Aman Resorts in 2022, is New York City’s most expensive private members club right now. Located in the historic Crown Building on Fifth Avenue and 57th Street, joining the club will set you back a staggering $200K just for the initiation fee, and annual dues are $15K. What do you get for all that? Well, you can add up to four family members, and the membership offers access to two bars, restaurants, a private wine library, a cigar terrace, a subterranean jazz club and (surprise, surprise) a large wellness area featuring a pool, fitness center, spas and more.
It would be nearly impossible to list all of the membership clubs, big and small, pricey and pricier, that New York City has on offer. Certainly one of the trendiest, though, is Soho House. Selfishly, part of the reason I decided to write this story is because my membership there was about to renew for the year, and I was wrestling with whether or not to keep it. As an Every House member, I’ve spent a significant amount of time at all three of their NYC locations: Meatpacking (their New York flagship), Ludlow House (younger crowd) and Dumbo House (for rich Brooklynites).
Speaking also of membership cost, many have wondered why Soho House tends to attract a younger crowd. It is, in part, because they offer an under-27 membership, which means members who join Soho House before midnight strikes on their 27th birthday are offered a significantly lowered annual fee, and are able to enjoy benefits such as half-priced food and drinks on Mondays and other select times of the week. Under-27 members enjoy these benefits until they turn 30. Another popular members club, Zero Bond, offers a similar model, with different pricing tiers for those who are under 28 and under 45.
Each of the three NYC locations of Soho House have different vibes, and a different clientele. What all three provide is a large swanky space from which you can work, play and take part in a wide array of events. Meatpacking and Dumbo each have a seasonal rooftop pool, open (and packed) in the summer, and Ludlow offers a small cinema where screenings are held. While event programming has declined since the pandemic and clubs are now nonexistent, I always loved that you can bring several friends with you to the clubs. Soho House is a great option for a night out when you aren’t sure where to head next and don’t want to wait in a line, or if you have several guests in town that you want to impress for a meal or meeting.
Soho House also seems to be moving in the direction of honing in on their food and beverage offerings, with the recent opening of Brasserie Boheme, a French-inspired restaurant, located in the enclosed terrace of Ludlow House. Once a general guest space, the opening of Boheme nods to the club perhaps intending to elevate their level of hospitality — a notorious issue that they’ve been dinged on over the years. My time dining at Brasserie Boheme was markedly different from experiences I’ve had in the past at Soho House, in a really good way. The food was delicious (I recommend the duck) and the service was stellar. They also recently opened a long-term pop-up of London-based Persian restaurant Berenjak on the sixth floor of Dumbo House.
At the end of the day, members clubs are a luxury and not a necessity, though they can certainly serve as door-openers when tapped into correctly. What makes a members club “worth it” truly depends on what you are looking for. Do you want an exclusive space to bring the friends you already have? Soho House or Zero Bond are fantastic options. Do you want to take part in high-profile programming and meet successful people who aren’t all in their 20s? You may want to consider NeueHouse or Core Club. Wellness devotees will love Remedy Place, and yoga lovers will enjoy SAA in Bushwick.
As for me, I opted to cancel my Soho House membership. Not because I hated my experience there. Quite the contrary — it was a huge part of my 20s, from using them as my work spaces to attending unique events and even hosting my own sapphic cocktail pop-up two winters ago. Summers spent cooling off at the Dumbo pool will be missed. But, lately, it hadn’t been serving the same purpose for me anymore, and that was my signal that perhaps the time had come to find a new club that better aligns with my needs in my 30s. Or maybe its a signal that I should just work from my living room for a while.
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