WOULD YOU STAY AT A NIKE HOTEL?
From pop-ups to race activations, experience is now the default way for running brands to connect with consumers. Could an overnight stay be the next evolution of branded hospitality?
The 46th London Marathon is imminent, and 56,000 runners will descend on the British capital from all over the world. Major sporting events are now an opportunity for a new kind of vacation—the hobby athlete’s holiday—and personal trips scaffolded around competitive fitness are on the rise.
Marathons have become a circus of branded activations; from Nike to Bandit and Adidas to Tracksmith, players big and small are travelling on world tours to capitalise on consumer appetite, foot traffic and increased visibility with a hyper-engaged customer. Independent boutique Runlimited perfectly encapsulated this incoming traffic with a short film promoting its ‘Club Lounge’ pop-up. Shot in an airline cabin about to descend into London, the plane lands into gate 26.2; Runlimited’s founder, playing an air steward, announces compression socks are “optional, but advised.” It’s tongue in cheek, it’s in-the-know, and it shows that even small players are upping their game to capture attention.
Source:
@runlimited.ldn
It’s no secret that running culture has exploded in the last five years, with over a million people registering for a ballot spot in the 2026 London Marathon. The boom in run club culture globally has created a social lens through which events large and small now operate through; Instagram and the speed of trend culture has meant that branded activations follow a distinct formula—shakeout run with free coffee and merch—which has fast become rinse and repeat. To stand out, brands need to get increasingly creative. Set builds for pop-ups are more elaborate and embellished. Marketing spends are spiralling. This one-upmanship is not sustainable. The format needs to evolve.
Brands today want to create analogue experiences that make them part of the customer’s journey. Last year, Nike’s RunTown amplified the social-led lifestyle, creating an end-to-end universe. In the store, customers could shop limited-edition merchandise, grab a complimentary Nike coffee (made using beans by Kipchoge’s coffee brand) and fuel on freshly-catered snacks. They could also enjoy a Hyperice compression session in a dedicated recovery lounge, and make posters. Everything, naturally, was kissed with a Nike tick. It was cohesive and it was cool. But just one year later, this same format would feel repetitive. Nike needs to build on the hype.
This got us thinking. Instead of spending tens of thousands on an ephemeral pop-up, brands should invest in permanent hospitality. What could that look like around a marathon or a fitness event? We concluded: a hotel.
Conceptual mock-up for editorial purposes only.
This makes sense for two reasons. A hotel is the ultimate, end-to-end hospitality experience; runners or sporting enthusiasts travelling for an event need a place to stay. Bookings at tours companies that organise runners’ bibs, travel and accommodation are booming. Considering major brands are the primary sponsors for events—New Balance in London, Nike in Chicago, Adidas in Berlin—it makes sense to capitalise on the moment with a dawn-until-dusk package that’s not only for a weekend, but can generate revenue year-round.
To stand out, brands need to get increasingly creative. Set builds for pop-ups are more elaborate. Marketing spends are spiralling. This one-upmanship is not sustainable.
Would you stay in a Nike hotel? For marathoners, the stress of organising flights and accommodation on top of race entry and training is a mental load; considerations for hotels are entirely different when you’re running a marathon than they are for fun. Nike could offer the perfect destination in Chicago; Adidas could offer the perfect destination in Berlin; New Balance could own a hotel right by Central Park in New York, which is not only where the buses to Staten Island go from, it’s where the race ends. Runners could fly in, finish the marathon and flop down afterwards without worrying about lengthy commutes—and all those extra steps generated if you stay in Brooklyn.
Fitness travel more broadly is on the rise. Hotel gyms are increasingly a focus for travellers when determining where to stay. In its 2025 report on the £2 trillion global wellness market, Mckinsey & Co reports that “demand for in-person services—spanning boutique fitness, wellness retreats, and IV treatments—has continued to rise as consumers prioritize experiences.” More than 30 percent of surveyed global participants reported purchasing intent for fitness travel, with appetite strongest in the UK, the US and Germany: hosts of four of the six major marathons. Nearly 60 percent of those surveyed who travelled for health and wellness expected to travel again for similar experiences within the year.
Hospitality firms from Soho House to Aman and the Proper are amplifying wellness offerings; Siro in Dubai and Montenegro has made fitness its USP, while Equinox is also expanding into overnight hospitality. “There are opportunities for travel players (including hotels, cruise liners, and travel planners) to attract new customers,” reported McKinsey. There is also ample opportunity for sports brands. Many of these hotels have in-store boutiques; retail and brands are already part of the landscape. Instead of being an add-on, brands could turn hospitality into a powerful expression of experience.
Indeed, customers are increasingly aware of what branded hospitality looks like. Satisfy has perfected this. Within the brand’s world, from its Sunday LSD run series globally to its invite-only press days, everything the light touches, from food to limited-edition drinks and menus, have been branded by Satisfy and riff of its distinct typeface and labelling system. Last year, it took its athletes and two journalists (Grace Cook, author of this article, and Chris Black, of How Long Gone) to The Ranch for an all-hands company retreat; they were given Satisfy-branded disposable cameras that were encased in the brand’s signature packaging. It was a powerful metaphor that this trip was to be seen, literally, through the lens of Satisfy.
The trip generated huge ROI and visibility for the brand on social media: the limited-edition ranch merchandise inspired envy within running Reddit threads, across Substack and Instagram. Satisfy’s company retreat was proof that end-to-end experiences are hyper-potent. The brand could sell that trip as a training camp and sell it out tomorrow.
Similarly, if Nike were to do a marathon hotel instead of a pop-up retail store, it could control the entire experience. The snacks in the minibar would be Nikefied; the store would be filled with Nike marathon merch; the cafe would serve Kipchoge’s coffee and offer runners a carb-heavy breakfast. There could be mobility workshops in the gym, recovery sessions in the spa, and pre-race fuelling sessions; there could be meet and greets with the brand’s athletes, and shakeout runs that commence in the lobby.
The brand has already tested the concept in Japan. Beyond’s insights director Nicola Strange spoke to runners from across Japan recently; the runners referenced a Nike takeover of a local WPU hotel for the Tokyo marathon. Fifty rooms were reserved for domestic runners of the Tokyo Marathon; guests were given a Nike-branded towel. Beds sold out.
Satisfy’s Ranch retreat was proof that end-to-end experiences are hyper-potent. The brand could sell that trip as a training camp and sell it out tomorrow.
Conceptual mock-up for editorial purposes only.
Beyond an event weekend, a hotel could offer any sports brand year-round ROI if the positioning and pricing was executed with a clear strategy. For customers, it’s a persuasive sell: guests would be able to check in, knowing that they are able to be easily active in a way that’s true to a brand’s DNA. Nike’s fitness offering would be distinct from what a lululemon hotel would offer. Where Nike could skew heavily towards sports performance, lululemon might offer aerial yoga, Win Chun, and other forms of meditative movement that align with the brand’s identity. There’d be other, compelling reasons for guests to stay, perhaps through access to exclusive game or match tickets through a concierge, behind-the-scenes looks at forthcoming launches.
For brands. a hotel could offer ample opportunity for test and learn, gaining real-time customer and market feedback. Effectively, this hospitality hub could enable any brand to have its ear on the ground constantly with a tuned-in demographic. The right strategic partners can help funnel those learnings into tangible action, responding to customer needs faster than boardroom visions. A hotel as a hub would offer brands constant access to their zeitgeist.
If Nike were to do a marathon hotel instead of a pop-up retail store, it could control the entire customer experience—and be at the core of a guest’s race memories.
There are vast opportunities beyond running. Lacoste’s hotel could have extensive outdoor courts and athlete retreats where guests could learn from the best. This type of trip is already happening, only, sports brands are not in the game—yet.
At Beyond, we think that hospitality is the most potent form of brand expression. We want to leave you with a thought: let’s have a discussion around what your hospitality offering would look like. Get clear on every inch of your universe as a tool to move forwards with clarity when speaking to your customers. Remembering that guest experience is paramount is a North Star when it comes to everything, from product launches to pop-ups. Emotion is the most powerful way to create legacy. Hospitality is the purest way to unlock that.
Beyond is an insights and strategy company based in London and Los Angeles. They partner with brands like Nike, The LEGO Group, Netflix and The National Gallery, helping them to decide what to create, what to say or where to win next.
By Grace Cook and Nicola Strange. Graphics by Liam Kay/Otto Studio. image credits: Pinterest, @adidasgermany, @runlimited.ldn , New Balance, SATISFY. Images are used for editorial purposes only; all rights belong to their respective owners.