Something odd is happening in private clubland: venues are bursting with members on paper but half-empty on a Tuesday night. Enter startups like Contra, which vet applicants — 64,000 have applied, only about 5 percent get in — then send this hand-picked crowd along to member-only venues that need the room filled. It's a digital twist on the old nightclub promoter. The company claims partnerships with New York spots like Ludlow House and Maxwells, though San Vicente Bungalows owner Jeff Klein says Contra misrepresented itself and has banned it. Rival Rumor, backed by Pete Davidson, plays the same game.
Why the demand? Oversupply. Knight Frank reported that in the four years after the pandemic, more private clubs opened in major markets than in the three decades since the Groucho Club rewrote the London template. The new wave comes with eye-watering price tags: Aman New York asks $200,000 to join plus $15,000 a year; Colette wants $125,000 and $36,000 annually; ZZ's Club, Surrenne in Belgravia, Celeste, Chez Margaux and The Battery all pile on. You could sink half a million dollars before your first overpriced cocktail.
Yet consultancy GGA Partners found 56 percent of club leaders report a waitlist, averaging 59 names. People are joining — they're just not showing up. Insiders sort members into five types: networkers, collectors, butterflies, travelers and FOMOites, the last of whom join and quit like Netflix subscriptions, chasing whatever's buzzy. As one expert put it, the smart play is to be warm for a decade rather than hot for 18 months.
Consultant and Soho House alum Jamie Caring offers a useful rule for anyone tempted: never join more than three. One club for daytime business and meetings, one for evenings or weekends, and one built around a passion — 67 Pall Mall for wine, say, or wellness-focused House 120. And if a new club tempts you, ditch an old membership first.
There are blind spots on the map, too. Paris's labor laws — caps on weekly shifts, premiums for late-night and Sunday work — have kept the club boom at bay, while Los Angeles remains brutally hard. Chateau Marmont shelved its members-only pivot amid union disputes, and one famous club that did open in LA found only agents and managers signing up. The stars wouldn't join for a revealing reason: they feared rejection by the membership committee. The club resorted to offering them instant iPad sign-ups.
For travellers, the takeaway is simple: that waitlist at a glamorous new club may be more marketing than reality, and if you're joining for trips abroad, pick one club that genuinely fits how you travel rather than chasing whichever opening just made headlines.
