Equinox Hotels Represents the Next Generation of Lifestyle Branding

New York City's massive $20-billion real estate development Hudson Yards officially opened on March 15, but it'll be at least another month until it welcomes one of its most anticipated anchors: the first-ever Equinox Hotel. The fact that Equinox, the brand best known as a luxury fitness chain of nearly 100 clubs around the world, is opening a hotel at Hudson Yards isn't entirely unexpected. Equinox is a subsidiary of The Related Companies, the same real estate developer behind Hudson Yards and nearby Columbus Circle. But the decision, on Related's part, to evolve Equinox from simply a fitness club brand into a true lifestyle brand — that also happens to now include hotels — was a process that took years in the making. And it's a process that makes for an interesting look into how a brand can change over time. "Some years ago, there was a very interesting evolution that happened when the brand moved from being recognized as a great fitness club to becoming a lifestyle bra