The New Trend in Gay-Exclusive Hotels

Photo by NHM

Time magazine recently reported on several new hotels opening that cater exclusively to gay and lesbian clientele. The article discusses a few big names in gay travel, including the Lords South Beach Hotel, which opened in Miami last month.

Describing the 62-room boutique hotel as looking like any other “higher-end Miami resort,” the article goes on to say that the destination is not just gay-friendly, but gay-exclusive – targeted specifically to upper-class gay men.

As Fort Launderdale’s Royal Palms reopens as another one of these 62-room gay (clothing optional) hotels for men, Out NYC – a 90,000-square-foot “urban resort” – welcomes gays near Times Square, and G Worldwide, an LGBT “megaresort,” hits Florida and New York next year, does this mean LGBT travelers are looking to be less inclusive and more exclusive?

As tourism groups strive to attract gay and lesbian travelers – a boon as far for bottom lines at hotels, bars, restaurants and shopping destinations – the courtship seems to be getting much more serious as hotels specifically rethink ways to attract mostly gay men with plenty of money to spend on luxuries. Not only are these tourism hubs looking to polish their image in the eyes of LGBT travelers, but they are succeeding all over the world.

Time calls Axel Hotels a “trailblazer” in gay lodging thanks to its stylish properties in Berlin, Buenos Aires and Barcelona, where the hospitality group is based. Instead of calling itself “gay-friendly,” the chain goes as far as to say it’s “hetero-friendly.” And it’s reported that about one-third of guests are “straight,” according to the article.

But as Axel gears up to take the reigns of Out NYC’s 127-room hotel (which is also expected to boast a disco, high-end eatery and men’s spa for starters) what makes a destination gay or straight? And is it truly progressive to want to “ghettoize” oneself based on sexuality?

Money talks. If not for the financial windfalls these straight-friendly hotels are wrangling, they would most certainly go the way of the dodo, right? But in reality, more and more travelers (particularly gay men with expendable income) are proving that just like the gay cruises of years past that collect thousands of gays on ships bounds for exotic locales – and exclusively so – LGBT travelers are also looking for destinations that cater to their every need … or at least their every gay need.

In Gay and Lesbian Tourism: The Essential Guide for Marketers by Jeff Guaracino, vice president of communications for the GPTMC here in Philly, the author stresses just how lucrative the gay dollar can be when it comes to tourism. Guaracino was on the team that created Philadelphia’s LGBT tourism campaign – one of the largest in the U.S. at the time. But rather than pigeonhole travelers, Guaracino and his team included everyone by introducing gay and lesbian travelers to the region’s rich history both in and outside the Gayborhood. That’s partly what made the campaign so smart, successful and progressive.

On a local level, what seems to make Philadelphia so rich with gay culture is the fact that it’s not marginalized. Sure, there are gay bars and gay-friendly shops and restaurants. And there are certainly hotels that are more heavily favored by LGBT travelers (like Loews and Kimpton – and on a smaller scale, The Alexander Inn and Independent Hotel), but for the most part cultures (and sexualities) collide in this, the sixth-largest city in the United States.

As neighborhoods like South Philly become more diverse – and tolerant of same-sex couples – more gays and lesbians are settling there just like generations of Italians, Poles and Vietnamese have before them.

For Philly’s sake, it seems a bit more modern to live side by side (gays and straights alike) than to exist exclusively in gay ghettos (clothing options, be damned). And no, it’s like that too many of us would turn down a summer vacation in gay resorts like Fire Island or Provincetown any time soon, but would a gay-exclusive destination in Philly really make us more gay-friendly? Or less so?

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