Most amenity ideas reach a general manager the same way: a member suggests one, a committee member saw it at another club, or a vendor makes a pitch. The harder question isn’t whether it’s a good idea in the abstract. It’s whether it makes sense for this club, with this space, this staff and these members.
This guide is for the management team making that call. It isn’t a list of amenities to copy. It shows how to sort an idea, test the need behind it, work out what it would take to run, find out whether members are interested, and prepare the case for the people who have to weigh in. It ends with a one-page checklist you can use on any idea.
The Kinds of Amenities a Club May Consider
Sorting an idea by what it asks of the club helps, because a new pool and a monthly speaker series put very different demands on management. Amenities generally fall into three groups. This is a practical shorthand, not an industry standard, and many ideas combine more than one.
Facilities
Facilities are physical places: a pool, courts, a renovated fitness center, a practice area. They are the most visible kind of amenity and usually the most capital-intensive, with design, construction and long-term upkeep to plan for. In its June 2025 Board Brief, CMAA reported survey findings from club leaders showing that dining, golf and pickleball projects dominate what clubs have started, completed or plan to undertake soon. Once built, a facility still has to be staffed, scheduled and maintained.
Programs
Programs are things the club organizes: a clinic series, a wine-dinner calendar, junior camps, a member-guest event. They need little or no construction, but they depend on people’s time. Someone has to plan, promote and run them, and keep them going after the first season.
Services
Services are delivered to individual members, usually by appointment: fitness training, massage, club fitting, or assisted stretching, to name a few. They tend to need a space and a schedule more than a building, and they often depend on practitioners with specific skills. Some are delivered by the club’s own employees. Others are delivered by an outside provider under an agreement with the club. That distinction gets its own section below.
Most real ideas blend the three. A wellness offering might be a room (a facility), a class series (a program) and one-on-one sessions (a service). Ask which part is heaviest for your club, because that is where the operating questions will concentrate.
Start With the Member Need
Before you talk about space or cost, write the need down in a sentence or two. “Members have asked for a second restaurant” is a solution. “The grill room is full every Saturday and members can’t get a table” is a need. The same need can be met several ways, and the first idea isn’t always the best fit.
Three questions keep the discussion honest:
- What need or experience are we trying to address? Say it in plain terms, without naming the amenity.
- Which members does it affect? Everyone, or a segment such as golfers, families, juniors or social members? A few vocal members and a broad need can look alike from the manager’s chair.
- What evidence do we have that the need exists? Requests at the front desk, committee input, survey responses, or how members use what you already offer. Be candid about how strong it is. A few requests are a signal to follow up, not a mandate.
Be wary of adding something only because another club has it. That amenity exists in the context of its own members, space, staff and budget. Its presence is a reason to look into the idea, not a reason to adopt it.
Evaluate the Operational Impact
A good idea can still be a poor fit for a club’s actual operations. Work through five practical questions before going further. None needs a spreadsheet yet. They need honest answers.
Space
Where would it go? Does it need a room of its own, or can it share one? What does that space do today, and who loses out if it’s used differently? A room that’s empty on a Tuesday morning may be the busiest in the club on Saturday, so think about peak times, access, privacy, noise and storage.
People and staffing
Who will deliver it, and who will manage the people delivering it? Existing staff may have capacity, or they may not. A new offering usually means hiring, retraining or working with an outside provider. Ask who covers when someone is out, what skills the work requires, and who answers when a member has a question or complaint.
Cost categories
At this stage you don’t need numbers, but you do need to know which kinds of cost are involved: construction or renovation; equipment and upkeep; payroll for any new staff; payments under an agreement with an outside provider; supplies; member communication; insurance; and management time.
Then ask who bears each one (the operating budget, a capital budget, the members who use it, or some mix) and what happens if use turns out lower than hoped. Don’t borrow another club’s figures. They depend on its size, location and arrangements.
Administration
Every amenity creates routines: booking, member sign-up, how charges reach a member’s account, usage rules or waivers where appropriate, insurance, record keeping, and reporting back to whoever approved it. Decide early whether your existing systems can handle the new offering.
Who operates it
Someone has to own it day to day. Name the person, whether a department head, a fitness director or an activities manager, and be realistic about their time. An amenity without a named owner is hard to run and harder to review.
Should It Be In-House or Contracted?
Once you know what an amenity needs, the next question is who will run it. In-house means the club hires, trains and manages the people involved. Contracted means an outside provider supplies and manages them under an agreement with the club. Many clubs use both, hiring for some roles and contracting for others.
Neither choice is right for every club or every service. The better answer depends on the service, who is already on staff, how much control the club wants, how the work will be overseen, and what the club’s advisers say about contracts, insurance and employment. A separate guide compares the options side by side, with questions to ask a provider and questions to settle inside the club first: Fitness and Wellness at a Private Club: In-House, Contracted, or Blended?
Gauge Member Interest Before Committing
A request tells you that someone wants something. It doesn’t tell you how many members would use it, or whether they would use it enough to justify the effort. There are several ways to find out before the club commits:
- Surveys. A questionnaire sent to all members, or to the group the idea is meant to serve.
- Focus groups. Small, guided conversations with members from the group you want to reach.
- Town halls. Open meetings that reach whoever attends, which may not be a representative group.
- Interest lists. A simple sign-up for members who want to hear when something becomes available.
- Open houses and demonstrations. A chance for members to see or try an offering before the club commits.
- Member events. Adding the idea to something already on the calendar and watching how members respond.
As one example, a 2026 CMAA Idea Fair entry describes an open house at Baltimore Country Club where members could try demonstrations of golf fitness and wellness services. The club’s fitness and golf departments ran it together, with a program offer attached. That is one club’s own account of one event. It illustrates a format; it is not evidence of the participation or results another club should expect.
Keep in mind what each method measures. A survey response, a seat at a demonstration or a name on a list shows initial interest. It doesn’t predict ongoing use, so treat the results as one input among several.
These methods are for your current members. They differ from the trial memberships a club may offer prospective members as a sales tool, and words like “open house,” “demonstration” and “member event” keep the two from being confused.
What to Have Ready Before Presenting the Idea Internally
Who needs to weigh in, and in what order, depends on your club’s bylaws, policies and the size of the decision. It may involve a department head, a committee, the board, the membership, or some combination. For larger facilities projects, a CMAA Board Brief article notes that members are often the ones who approve or disapprove. Find out how your club’s process works, and ask what the people who weigh in will want to see.
Whatever the path, a short, honest package makes the conversation easier:
- The member need. One or two sentences, and the evidence behind it.
- The proposed amenity. What it is, in plain terms, and what it isn’t.
- Space. Where it goes, when it’s available, and what it displaces.
- Operating model. Who would run it (in-house, contracted or a mix) and who at the club would oversee it.
- Cost and economics questions. The categories involved, who bears them, and what you still don’t know. Resist presenting guesses as numbers.
- Stakeholders. Who is affected or will be asked, including your insurance carrier and legal counsel for anything involving an outside provider.
- Evidence of member interest. What you gathered, how, and how much weight it can bear.
- A proposed next step. The smallest sensible one: gather more feedback, hold a demonstration, ask advisers to review a draft agreement, or bring back a fuller proposal.
It is better to name your open questions than to hide them.
A Simple Amenity Decision Checklist
Copy this into a document and fill it in for any amenity idea. If you can’t answer a line, that is useful: it tells you what to find out next.
| Item | Questions to answer | Your notes |
|---|---|---|
| Member need | What need or experience is this meant to address? | |
| Target member or group | Which members is this intended to serve? | |
| Space requirement | Where? Shared or dedicated? What happens at peak times? | |
| Staffing requirement | Who delivers it? Who covers absences? What skills? | |
| Operating model | In-house, contracted or blended, and why? | |
| Cost categories | Which apply, and who bears each? | |
| Administrative owner | Who owns booking, sign-up, billing, insurance and records? | |
| Member-interest evidence | What did you gather, and how much can it show? | |
| Internal stakeholders | Who needs to weigh in or be informed? | |
| Open questions | What don’t you know yet, and who can help answer it? | |
| Proposed next step | What is the smallest sensible step, and who owns it? | |
| Review date | When will the club look at how it’s going, and what will it look at? |
When you decide an amenity is worth exploring, one of the next questions is who should run it. If you’re weighing your own staff, an outside provider or a combination of the two, continue with Fitness and Wellness at a Private Club: In-House, Contracted, or Blended?