Ritz Carlton Club & Spa.

Adjacent to Jack Nicklaus' The Bear's Club, The Ritz-Carlton Golf Club & Spa Jupiter resides in a Florida hotbed of golf tradition. The development represents Ritz-Carlton's first community with a predominantly residential component, and the brand clearly is a new force to be reckoned with in the golf industry. "The project has been highly successful to new members who have two, perhaps even three homes, and who may even belong to multiple clubs," explained Linda Blair, principal of Image Design, whose team created the interior design elements of the community's clubhouse.

The property boasts a Jack Nicklaus signature golf course and contains 57 fractional ownership Club Homes, and three additional residential options: Estates, Residences, and Villas. Fractional members buy 35-day interest in a Club Home for prices starting at $237,000 and are eligible to purchase a golf membership for use while in-residence.

"Fractional members view the club as a resort experience," explained Craig Martin, vice president for private clubs and general manager of the Ritz-Carlton. "Club Home members view their time here as a true vacation experience; therefore, they spend a great deal of time in the spa and restaurants. I would say 60 to 70 percent of the spa usage comes from our fractional ownership members."

Although many clubs attempt to infuse a new clubhouse with the feeling of "old tradition," The Ritz-Carlton Golf Club & Spa draws upon its own tradition, which is service-centric. The Mediterranean-inspired, 68,000-square-foot clubhouse is a natural fit for a residential community in South Florida, and interior finishes and decor are clearly contemporary. "Although members often search for a sense of tradition in golf clubs, it is hard to capture that in a new club," Blair said. "Tradition at The Ritz-Carlton is all about service, and drawing upon their own strength has served them well."

A fully amenitized, 15,000-square-foot spa complements a fitness facility, aerobics studio, and freeform outdoor pool, complete with waterfalls and tropically inspired lagoons. "After the first two seasons, the serene appeal of spa and state-of-the-art cardio and movement studios have proven to be a draw for those seeking exclusivity in South Florida," Blair said. The massage programs are more popular than wet treatments, perhaps because the majority of the members have extravagant Jacuzzis in their own homes. The high use of the spa and fitness center has made the spa fitness component as much a social center of the community as dining and golf. "This exciting growth within two years of opening is indicative of the spa-fitness-wellness trend we see in the club industry today," Blair noted.

"We try to think outside of the box and create valuable and memorable experiences for our residents and members," explained Martin, referring not just to the structure of the club, but to the innovative ways that the Ritz-Carlton is packaging spa and fitness services. Memories, rather than treatments, are what people are looking for."

DESIGN VERDICT:

The understated Mediterranean design captures the best of Ritz-Carlton's strengths that guests respond to and are familiar with, and converts a hospitality brand experience into one of membership exclusivity. Its spectacular success comes as no surprise--who wouldn't want their very own Ritz-Carlton home?

PROOF OF SUCCESS:

65% of fractional units are sold, even before the development is finished. Usage of the club has so greatly exceeded the developer's expectation that expansion is already planned for spa, fitness, and all dining areas. As a result of its phenomenal success, the brand plans to develop additional Ritz-Carlton golf communities in the next decade.

MANAGER TO MANAGER:

Don't underestimate the usage of your fitness spa program, and remember that this is about creating memories for people, not just treatments ... You will build a lot of value in your club by creating a well-amenitized, lifestyle-driven spa program.

TYPE: Residential Community with Clubhouse, Golf Course, and Spa

SIZE: 68,000 Square Feet

ARCHITECT: Nichols Brosch Sandoval

INTERIORS: Image Design, Inc.

Architecture and Design Writer Dafna Zilafro has covered over 40 clubhouse design articles for Club Management. She works in a fulltime capacity as the director of marketing for SPF: architects (www.spfa.com), an award-winning California-based architecture firm.