The Outsider Advantage: What Luxury Hospitality Can Learn From Everyday Brands

Luxury isn’t always where you expect to find it. And increasingly, the best lessons in experience design and loyalty don’t come from five-star resorts or first-class cabins, but from chicken joints, fitness clubs, and streaming services. In a world where premium expectations are rising and differentiation is getting harder, it’s time for luxury hospitality to look outward—and rethink what truly creates guest devotion.

Here are just three examples that have inspired us, offering powerful, practical lessons for hotels, airlines, and cruise lines seeking to elevate loyalty and experience in bold new ways.

Chick-fil-A: Service Culture as a Low-Cost Luxury

The Surprise: A fast-food chain with no tablecloths or turn-down service consistently tops the charts in customer satisfaction. In 2024, Chick-fil-A achieved a 99% customer satisfaction score across 165 secret shopper visits—outperforming even premium restaurant brands.

Why It Matters: Chick-fil-A isn’t innovating through tech or opulence. Its edge comes from deeply embedded service culture: every team member is trained to treat guests with warmth, consistency, and genuine care. And in 2024, while competitors struggled with labor and morale, Chick-fil-A maintained service excellence through high-touch training and culture continuity.

Lesson for Luxury: In an era of tight budgets and delayed renovations, luxury brands should double down on what costs little but delivers big: human hospitality. Whether you’re a luxury hotel with a dated room product or an upscale airline cutting back perks, service can still be your standout. Like Chick-fil-A, empower frontline teams to deliver small moments of delight—greetings by name, proactive problem-solving, personalized care. It’s the consistency of kindness that builds emotional loyalty.

Equinox 'Optimize': Membership as a Lifestyle Partnership

The Surprise: In 2024, Equinox launched "Optimize," a $40,000/year longevity program that blends biometric testing, wellness coaching, and concierge-level personalization. It’s a fitness brand crossing into the world of life design, turning loyalty into an all-encompassing lifestyle offering.

Why It Matters: This isn't a perk. It's a high-touch relationship, positioning Equinox as a life partner. Members are supported by a team of experts across sleep, nutrition, fitness, and recovery. The result is an emotional bond built around trust, transformation, and measurable progress. 

Lesson for Luxury: What if your loyalty program wasn’t about points, but personal growth? Imagine a hotel group that tracks a guest’s travel aspirations and wellness goals over time. Curating stays, treatments, and experiences to match. Or an airline that provides not just lounge access, but a long-haul health coach. The takeaway: deep personalization is the new exclusivity, and luxury brands must evolve from service providers to strategic partners in their guests' lives.

Netflix House: Experience as Entertainment

The Surprise: Netflix recently unveiled plans to launch Netflix House in 2025—100,000 sq. ft. retail and entertainment venues where fans can dine, shop, and explore immersive experiences tied to their favorite shows.

Why It Matters: Netflix isn’t just extending its IP; it’s inventing a new category: phygital hospitality. These venues turn fandom into physical experience—offering rotating immersive spaces (think Squid Game obstacle courses or Bridgerton balls), themed food, and exclusive merchandise. It’s engagement by way of emotion, immersion, and story.

Lesson for Luxury: Luxury travel brands should ask: What’s our equivalent of a Bridgerton Ball? In a world where emotional connection trumps amenities, storytelling and spectacle matter. A hotel could host immersive cultural events tied to local legends. A cruise line might create rotating pop-up suites inspired by music, cinema, or fashion. Netflix proves that experiences people can step into are the next frontier of brand loyalty and cultural relevance.

Great service isn’t always served with caviar. Sometimes it comes with a side of fries, a gym towel, or a Stranger Things maze. The world of luxury hospitality has long believed it leads the experience economy. But in 2025, it may be time to learn from those leading in emotion, efficiency, and immersion.

At Meridian Thinking, we help hospitality brands reimagine what comes next—not just for guests, but for growth. Because when you look outside your category, you often find the clearest path to standing apart within it. Chat with us today to discover how we can apply these learnings to your brand.