Luxury senior living services are both an advantage and a challenge for the operators that provide them.
On the one hand, the incoming generation of older adults are bringing new wants and needs with them as they move into senior living. That is doubly true for affluent residents who may have had a taste of the finer life before they moved in.
But if senior living operators can position themselves for luxury, they can also potentially tap into a prospective resident base with the means to afford senior living. That is why senior living operators including Discovery Senior Living are launching new efforts aimed at attracting those residents.
Operators growing and evolving their luxury-focused services include Mather, Galerie Living, Aegis and Belmont Village. Leaders of all three companies believe that wellness services, tailored experiences, partnerships with local restauranteurs and stylish amenities are the among keys to luxury senior living.
At the higher end of the senior living resident rate spectrum, older adults desire numerous choices, freedom to define their next chapter, a good quality of life and wellness services, according to Patricia Will, CEO of Belmont Village.
“They’re looking for a lifestyle, albeit with care needs, that befits what they deserve at this age and stage,” Will told Senior Housing News.
Upgrading the senior living experience for luxury
Senior living operators can’t just emulate luxury for these residents, they must provide top-flight experiences that match what someone could get in an upscale restaurant or hotel, all while standing apart from their competitors trying to do the same thing.
Operators such as Evanston, Illinois-based Mather, are continuing to enhance their wellness programming to include programming in luxury spas, fitness centers and spaces for hobbies such as music or ceramics, according to Assistant Vice President of Wellness Strategies William Myers.
“There’s dedicated spaces for all of these different kinds of modalities,” Myers told Senior Housing News. “Offerings are very robust.”
Mather advertises its communities as residential wellness destinations by highlighting activities available to residents, such as equine programs or rock climbing, along with the luxury amenities available, according to Gale Morgan, Mather senior vice president of sales. The operator’s communities also showcase high-tech wellness amenities such as infrared saunas along with more eclectic activities like beekeeping and swimming while listening to symphony music.
Atlanta, Georgia-based Galerie Living is catering to residents’ adult children and prospects, who may already have an interest in dining in a familiar space with their older family members, by partnering with local restaurants already known in the company’s respective markets, according to CEO Tim Gary. Galerie’s Corso Atlanta location has partnered with local restauranteur Chef Philippe Haddad
“Instead of taking mom to the local restaurant, the local restaurant is already there,” Gary said.
Galerie’s model of co-locating communities with local restaurant chains also benefits the eateries. Galerie encourages the restaurants to offer lower prices for meals than usual at the promise of more guaranteed income coming in from residents and their families. The restaurants also gain word-of-mouth and curb exposure, potentially attracting more customers to their other locations in the process.
More generally, the company operates on the premise that luxury is not a specific product or service, but a “feeling” of being pampered. In the past, Galerie has built communities resembling quaint Parisian streets. The company also took training from the Forbes Travel Guide, originally developed for luxury hotels, restaurants and spas. Trainers teach staff how to highlight the best features of a company, such as using a fruit plate to sell the vibe of a location based on its arrangement.
Aegis Living has made a name for itself developing unique communities with amenities modeled after English Tudor homes, ski lodges and “sundrenched Capri, Italy.” The company builds amenities within easily accessible spaces both in and out of the community. Other touches include bakeries that fill communities with the smell of freshly baked bread and framed movie posters from bygone eras.
“When you compare that to thoughtful luxury design in a hotel, it doesn’t get better than that,” Burghartz said. “It’s touching on so many senses that keeps the residents stimulated.”
Aegis is seeking to break the mold further in the luxury senior living sector. In July, the company hired Dirk Burghatz, as president. Burghatz has 35 years of experience in the hospitality industry, including at companies such as Four Seasons Hotels, Arcis Golf and Starwood Hotels and Resorts.
Burghatz believes the senior living industry can even further borrow from the luxury hospitality industry he came from. For example, bringing people together and making it easier for them to find one another in more open spaces.
“In luxury hospitality, everybody talks about experiences versus the shiny novel,” Burghartz said.
Belmont Village is developing newer communities for an affluent crowd with larger resident units, art studios and large group fitness centers. The company also is partnering with universities such as Rice University and University of California Los Angeles to offer continuing education courses.
Belmont targets markets with a good number of potential residents who can afford its services, such as Rancho Santa Fe, California and Aventura, Florida. Although winning entitlements for those kinds of projects can take between five and seven years to complete alone, they are worth doing given the growing demand for those services, Will said.
Learning from luxury
Although some operators target the upper echelon of potential resident incomes, that doesn’t mean they are the only ones to dabble in luxury offerings. Recent data shows the baby boomers overwhelmingly want communities that give them a sense of independence, and luxury-oriented services can help create that feeling.
Gary believes there are opportunities for middle-market operators to convert one or two units into a dining venue for a local restaurant as Galerie does.
The baby boomers are the first “me” generation, not to mention the ones who created “self-help,” Morgan said. That gives senior living operators an opportunity to build in more unique and customized programming.
“A mid-range project can have a beautiful, multi-purpose space that can be used for different platforms,” she said. “You just have to craft the service that’s provided within your market.”
Some companies have adopted a sense of “unreasonable hospitality” for residents, meaning they go out of their way to wow and delight them. And indeed, Burghartz sees an opportunity for operators to provide “unexpected surprises” to residents in the same way a hotel or restaurant might.
“To me, [meals] are three things that residents look forward to,” Burghartz said. “For many of them that haven’t lost their appetite yet due to illness, it is a major touch point. I think whether you are a low, middle or high end community, you can work on food and beverage, and you should always strive to do it to the best of your ability.”
