Le Haus - The End of Exclusion

Conviviality Over Status — Belonging as the New Badge

The End of Exclusion

I have never been a follower of trends. Never once owned an iPhone even when I was gifted one by Apple, I immediately re-gifted it. People have looked at me in disgust when I remained the [only] person still using a Blackberry long after its demise. I don’t know what it is – but perhaps, I have never felt compelled to conform or seek approval. Don’t get me wrong, like most of us, I still fear(ed) criticism and that shortcoming has hampered progress in some respects.

This trend of inhabiting and not merely exhibiting: curated proximity - we actually started it a long time ago when Apartment 58 partnered with Apple. A start-up membership club partnering with one of the largest and most successful companies in the world! Sadly, I or we did not realise what we had stumbled upon and its full potential. Way before WeWork was a thing, we had already created it and not just that, Apple sponsored it and Apple as you know do not sponsor things!

But we were so focused on what we already knew that we completely missed what was right in front of us. We continued to host parties and bring people together, but lost out on the fact that we had just created a whole new business model and category of members club.

This reflection has made me hyperaware of opportunities, I now take a more birds eye view approach, working hard to see the full picture and to maximise the full potential of any venture.

We have been breaking moulds since the very inception of my entrepreneurial life. Working to change perception, hyper focused on adding a layer of purpose and value to all the ventures. And part of that is making things more accessible, more inclusive. The velvet rope. The black card. The private table no one could book. Luxury was once built on exclusion — on telling people they weren’t part of it.

But in today’s culture, the badge that matters most isn’t exclusion. It’s belonging.

This is why Soho House thrives worldwide. Everyone thought that when they went public, for sure their stock and value would plummet, but it didn’t. Do you know why? Because, even though they opened up to the public and pretty much anyone could sign up (through a vetting process) they managed to engineer perceived exclusivity through belonging.

It is the same reason why Jacquemus beach pop-ups succeed from St. Tropez to Seoul. Why Bulgari Hotels attract global travelers and locals alike. You see people wearing hats and caps and t-shirts from their favourite spaces around the world from St Barth’s to the Amalfi Coast and why is that? They don’t trade in exclusion; they engineer conviviality.

I did say it before and I will say it again, not everything is for everyone. So yes I understand that there is a level of exclusion that comes in the form of pricing or barriers to entry. In a world with circa 8 billion people, there is room for everyone but just not in every room.

People want to feel a part of something and that something becomes a badge of honour they carry around with them. Come to think of it, owning an iPhone has become like that for those that do, carrying it with pride and feeling pressured to get the next version up every 6 months. I mean it’s silly, but it works!

At Le.Haus, we understand all of that but we want our product and service to embody more depth, more value.

“At Le.Haus, your badge isn’t a logo — it’s your laughter in the memory.”

Peligoni: The Inspiration

The Peligoni Club in Greece is a glimpse of this principle in action: a clubhouse by the sea, paired with villas in the hills. A place where community is designed, not accidental.

But and this is where Le.Haus takes you further, Peligoni is seasonal. Fleeting. Le.Haus expands that model into the entire Caribbean and anchors it for life. Instead of belonging for one summer, Le Haus offers belonging forever, with an inheritable membership that passes through generations.

Belonging at Le Haus

·       Founder Beach Clubs: Living rooms by the sea — spaces designed for conviviality, where rituals of food, sun, and music create connection.

·       Sybarite salons: Intimate cultural conversations that echo the salons of 1920s Paris — curated conviviality, not coincidence.

·       Seamless hospitality: Airport pickups and transfers ensure the feeling of community starts the moment you land.

Comparison

·       Core Club in New York charges $50k–$100k annually for entry into a single Manhattan hub. Belonging is rented, not owned.

·       Exclusive Resorts and Hideaways Club offer access to homes, but not to people. Conviviality is incidental, not curated.

Le Haus offers something more: a life of conviviality, designed and permanent.