GS Hotels & Resorts is to roll out its Wren’s health and spa brand in Croatia this year following its successful launch in the summer 2004.
The privately-owned group comprises three hotels in the UK under the Wren’s Hotels brand and five in Croatia under the Adriatic Luxury Hotels brand. It launched its first Wren’s club at the Sir Christopher Wren’s Hotel two years ago.
With monthly memberships at £90 a month, the facility targets customers who want that little bit extra in a health club, claims club manager and the man responsible for the development in Croatia, Charlie Thompson. “We attract members who want a clean and tidy club with consistently good service and fitness instructors who are more experienced and tend to be that little bit wiser,” he said.
Spread over three floors, the club underwent a massive refurbishment last year following a fire. The equipment was replaced with Precor’s CV and Sygnum strength ranges and a sauna and spa were added to the facility.
The company exported the brand to its Dubrovnik Palace Hotel last summer. Smaller than its sister club in the UK, the facility has been equipped by Technogym and also boasts seven treatment rooms.
The club was initially designed for guests of the five-star hotel, but a limited membership was launched last autumn and sold out within six weeks. The company is now planning to roll the brand out to its other hotels in Croatia, starting with the Hotel Excelsior in Dubrovnik. The hotel already has a health club in its basement, which will be replaced with a new facility in April, followed by a spa in October.
The Grand Hotel Bonavia in Rijeka, northern Croatia, will also open a Wren’s health club later in the year, which will be very similar to the UK model, said Thompson.
“Our concept is unique in Croatia, because the market is currently three to five years behind that of the UK, but it won’t take long to catch up. It’s developing all the time.”
