Summing It Up
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By incorporating outdoor living trends into patio design, clubs and resorts can offer members and guests more options and a causal environment.
Taking a cue from homeowners who are transforming their outdoor spaces into luxurious additional rooms, clubs and resorts are increasingly using patios to cost-effectively expand their facilities. In fact, today’s patios are taking on a life and personality of their own.
“We’re finding that patios are becoming more multi-dimensional in terms of use as great places for intimate meetings or large groups,” says one architect. “Patios are also becoming cost-effective for clubs that cannot necessarily afford [to build] a larger building.”
According to this architect, building outdoor patios can range from $30,000 to $50,000 on the modest side, to $500,000 or more than $1 million, depending on finishes and intricacies. Yet patios are less costly operationally, because they don’t require as much cooling or heating (and often none). Additionally, creating functional outdoor spaces that can be used for special events and banquets can, ultimately, increase club and resort revenue.
Year-round Use
In the past, outdoor spaces put clubs and resorts at the mercy of Mother Nature. But today’s properties are finding ways to keep the weather at bay. Using climate-control sources such as heat lamps, fire-pits and outdoor fireplaces often extends the use of outdoor areas well into the off-season—and in some cases, to every day of the year.
The recently-renovated patio outside of Bogie’s, the sports bar at Pinehurst Country Club in Denver, is now the most popular of the club’s four dining rooms—and it is used year-round. Despite Denver’s cool climate, the patio is typically packed well into snow season. It has a poured concrete floor, with trees and plantings strategically grown out of the ground. A canopy covers about one-fourth of the patio area. “Most of it is not covered, which our membership prefers,” says Cheryl Rook, General Manager. “They don’t like to be closed in; Colorado people like to be outside and look at the stars at night.”
To make the patio winter-friendly, the club utilizes movable propane heaters. Pinehurst has enjoyed a 30 percent increase in food and beverage sales at Bogie’s since reopening its outdoor areas. The only time the patio is vacated is on a day when Denver gets buried in snow. But in the near future, the club plans to deal with that, too. “One of our next capital projects will be to look at canvas walls that can drop down in the canopied areas, so it would even be usable on a day [when we get a lot of snow],” says Rook.
“The patios have added tremendously to who we are.” — Ron Cioppa, General manager and COO, redding country club
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Covering Up
Other clubs and resorts have made more substantial renovations and overhauls to turn outdoor patios into four-season spaces. They’ve found ways to cover them and sometimes enclose them, without losing the outdoor charm.
For example, Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield, N.J., originally had an outside patio with an awning, which the club took down every winter. “We had to rely on perfect conditions to use it,” says Kevin Vitale, General Mana-ger/COO. But, when the club did its long-range clubhouse Master Plan, transforming the patio into a four-season space was a top priority.
Thus, the Terrace was born. The once-open patio now has a full roof and is enclosed on three sides; the open side has a retractable glass wall system. In five minutes, the glass wall can be completely retracted to leave the space wide open, or slid closed to protect members from any inclement outdoor elements. “Now it is a room that can be used anytime,” says Vitale.
Although the room is mostly enclosed, it seems to be one with the outdoors, given its views of the landscape and golf course, plantings and flowers, earth-toned décor and the glass wall. “The glass wall system opens it all up,” says Vitale. “It is tremendous; you feel like you’re completely outside. However, you don’t have those obstacles where the sun may be too hot, or it’s too cold, because we can monitor it with heat and air conditioning.”
The $600,000 renovation has led to a 35 percent increase in usage of the space. The Terrace is now used for banquets, dining, holidays, weddings and meetings. “It is our busiest room in the club,” says Vitale. “It has been a great value point for the members, and they’ve been really happy with the results.”
The Pieces of Success
Building a successful patio often relies on decorative details, such as furnishings. Clubs and resorts must consider outdoor materials that are functional in any given climate, along with pieces that complement the overall ambiance of the property.
The veranda at the Redding Country Club in West Redding, Conn., is filled with wrought-iron Adirondack chairs and tables, which are relatively low-maintenance and resilient to the weather. Furnishing this area cost about $25,000 for all new tables, chairs, umbrellas and bases.
At Baltusrol, the goal for furnishing the Terrace was to balance the indoor and outdoor elements. “We wanted to keep the open-terrace feeling to it, but give it a little more design and a more permanent look,” says Vitale. The Terrace boasts ceramic tiles and earth tones to capture the essence of the outdoors. The chairs are a combination of wood and fabric in neutral tones.
Overall, the furnishings and architecture create a laid-back vibe that better defines the club today. “Clubs are clearly going to casual dining, and the Terrace fits that profile,” says Vitale. “It gives members that outside view and the experience that they are looking for.”
Setting the Mood
One of the biggest trends in the hospitality industry as a whole is the shift to a more casual, family-friendly ambiance. The patios at Redding CC have helped it maintain this casual environment. The laid-back design on the patio creates a comfortable mood at the club, enhanced by the outdoor staff dressed in khaki shorts and polo shirts, rather than the traditional, formally attired waitstaff inside.
“Formal dining has gone by the wayside or has really been reduced,” says General Manager and COO Ron Cioppa. “The membership has been requesting casualness and a family-friendly format, and the outdoor dining area provides that experience. The patios have added treme
ndously to who we are.”
Similarly, Tumble Brook Country Club in Bloomfield, Conn., has seen a significant increase in family dining since adding three new patios throughout the property. “Outdoor dining at the club was typically an adult phenomenon, but now we see a lot of families doing it,” says Ara P. Daglian, General Manager. “We have been able to expand family dining, because people feel like there is less pressure for their children to conform.”
Measures of Success
Many managers report that outdoor patios are the most popular places on the property. But measuring a patio’s success is subjective.
For example, Redding CC’s F&B revenue has increased $100,000 per year over the past four or five years. While the club credits some of this to the addition of the new patios and the popularity of outdoor dining, menu changes and periodic price increases are other factors to consider. “In season, the patios have definitely added to the dining experience and the dining revenues; there is no doubt about that,” says Cioppa. “I wouldn’t say they have paid for themselves yet. But they have really added to the experience and attractiveness of the club.”
After the Tumble Brook CC added patios to its operations, the club saw a 10 percent increase in F&B. But it’s even happier about the effect the patios have had on member satisfaction.
“Our goal was to offer our existing members more dining options, as opposed to bringing more people to the club,” says Daglian. “We’ve done that. We’ve also been able to increase traffic, because people who otherwise might not come to the dining room now have another alternative when thinking of dining choices.”
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