When Soho House Mumbai opened doors in 2018, it brought a much-needed airy breather from the stuffy five-star city banquets and suites that played host to several meetings and interviews. It brought along abundant sunshine, beautiful indoor and outdoor spaces, refreshing sea breeze from the neighbouring Juhu beach, and an equally refreshing young and creative vibe to work, rest and network. And of course, a legit status symbol of sorts.
The pristine white 11-storey townhouse brought down all the familiar Soho House components—a rooftop pool, gym, lounges, 32-seat screening room and the au courant brunch hotspot, Cecconi’s, that serves finger-licking specialities to members and non-members. An exclusive place for creative minds, if you have visited the different spaces spread across the eleven floors at Soho House Mumbai, you are bound to find a strong design aesthetic running through the brand, where they combine local creativity to match their international standards. No wonder why the Soho House Mumbai houses more than more than 200 artworks of artists based in India or of Indian descent such as a sculpture by Subodh Gupta or a bindi painting by Bharti Kher.
Boasting of a long wait list and famous members globally such as Amy Adams, George Clooney, and more famously Prince Harry and Meghan Markle (who apparently had their first date at the Soho House London) what’s impressive is the inherent Soho House vibe that has stayed true to being a club for creatives only!
The 2018 Mumbai launch marked the 23rd outpost of Nick Jones’s ever-expanding global empire set in London, and the first launch in India (and Asia). Cut to 2024, the members-only club for creatives has recently announced the launch of Soho House Delhi (Mehrauli) and a Soho House South Mumbai. The launch dates are not officially announced yet. As part of its expansion plans in India, the brand has also announced its ‘Cities Without Houses’ (CWH) format in India for “creative individuals” across six new cities including New Delhi, Jaipur, Goa, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Kolkata. So you are a globe trotter, jet setting around the world, you can avail the Cities Without Houses membership that is currently available in 80 cities including North America, UK, Europe, other Asia Pacific, African, and Latin American countries and also gives members full access to Soho Houses globally when they travel. All this for annual all-access membership cost of Rs 3.1 lakh.
If you have travel plans coming up and want to align with some of the biggest upcoming CWH events around the world, here are some: a One Night Affair with Tomo Koizumi in Tokyo, Salone del Mobile One Night Only Dinner in Milan, Arco Art Party in Lisbon, VIVID Sydney Under The Tunnels, and a Milan Fashion Week party.
To know more about Soho Houses around the world and in India, we spoke to Dominique Bellas, Membership Director, Cities Without Houses to know more.
Edited excerpts
1. With two new Soho House launches in India, is India your key focus market and how do you plan to keep this market excited?
After five years in Mumbai, we’ve learnt so much about the local creative scene and what our India-based members want, so this next chapter of our story feels like a natural next step. We are pleased to launch membership in six cities in India – New Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Goa, Jaipur and Kolkata and we will start to do events in those cities for our members, as well as connecting with the community of creatives in each city that travels and wants to spend time in our global Houses.
2. With the rise of several private clubs all across the world and in India, what is the key differentiator of Soho Houses?
We don’t judge by wealth or status but want to attract members that are kind, interesting, diverse and creative-minded. Our first Soho House opened in London almost 30 years ago, and our first US outpost 20 years ago and the group has now grown to include 43 Houses in the UK, Europe, North America, Mexico and Asia Pacific with more to come. Our members value having a home away from home when they travel, which is something fairly unique to Soho House members.
3. Define the classic Soho House vibe around the world.
Our spaces are relaxed and informal, and the service and design of our Houses reflect that. We want our members to use our Houses as a home away from home—whether it is a workout in the morning, a lunch followed by meetings and working, then finishing the day with an event, dinner and a party and then staying over. Primarily, we are a home for creatives, and our membership reflects that and we are very grateful to have loyal members that have stayed with us for many years, often creating their own memories in the Houses- whether that be meeting a business partner, making new friends or simply having a community to belong to.
4. Give us a glimpse into what kind of activities and experiences will the new Cities Without Houses program offer in India?
Throughout both our CWH cities and our Houses, we spend a lot of time listening to what members want to see in the event program and what they value in each of the cities, as well as understand the opportunities to support existing cultural moments in a city. Whether that is tickets to a local artist’s latest exhibition, a Soho House One Night Only Dinner or a live music performance by an artist in town; we hope to cater to the needs of our diverse members.
5. What kind of indoor and outdoor spaces can we expect from Soho House New Delhi and Soho House South Mumbai?
We want to create Houses for Delhi and South Mumbai that our local members will be proud of and we are listening to members feedback to shape our House member spaces.
6. What does the event roster look like for Soho House Mumbai in 2024?
We host a dynamic range of over 30 events at the House every month including panel talks, wellness events, live performances with local and international DJ’s, intimate in-conversations and cultural celebrations with special dining experiences for Eid and Onam.
Our members value our film events offering and in addition to the 20 films shown each month in our screening room; we also host Q&A’s with film, talent, previews and events. This summer we will be hosting our first film school for our members’ children aged 5-15, which will include a week-long programme of film/ acting workshops and talks led by actors, directors, documentary makers.
7. Can you recommend other new Soho House launches around the world?
We recently opened our first House in Latin America, Soho House Mexico City, which is set in the heart of Colonia Juárez in a baroque-inspired casa, formerly a private residence. It has a bar dedicated entirely to Tequila and our largest pool in North America as well as beautiful Mexican influenced interiors. We’ll soon be opening our second House in Latin America and our first House in South America, with Soho House São Paulo opening early summer. The House is situated in a historic hospital building and will feature bedrooms, a gym, spa, rooftop pool bar, restaurants and club spaces for members. Our creative communities in both Mexico City and São Paulo began as CWH cities, and it’s been exciting to see the incredible talent in both places thrive.
8. When will the Soho House Delhi and South Mumbai open their doors?
Soho House Delhi and Soho House South Mumbai are both confirmed to open in the coming years as our second and third Houses in India. Since we opened Soho House Mumbai five years ago, we’ve loved seeing members support other members as well as support emerging talent, and are looking forward to further building our creative community in India.
9. Soho House Delhi is supposedly going to be massive, tell us more.
Soho House Delhi will open in the historic area of Mehrauli. The area is a vibrant creative hub and we’re thrilled to be expanding the experience for our Delhi-based members here.
