While most of us won’t have access to this, American Express is opening an exclusive new club in Manhattan in the coming months, as noted by View from the Wing.
In this post:
Centurion New York opening March 2023
The Amex Centurion Card (often referred to as the “Black Card”) is Amex’s famous invitation-only card, which has an initiation fee of $10,000, and a $5,000 annual fee. While the card offers some perks, cardmembers primarily hold onto this product for the prestige.
As reported on Reddit, Amex will soon be adding another perk for those with the Centurion Card. Specifically, Centurion New York will be opening soon, and is described as follows:
Opening this March, Centurion New York is a new luxury space spanning the 55th floor of One Vanderbilt in Midtown Manhattan, designed for Centurion Members. This modern oasis will feature casual and fine-dining experiences curated by Michelin-starred chef Daniel Boulud, a lively and chic bar serving signature cocktails, and a beautifully designed salon to relax and unwind. Centurion Members will also enjoy exclusive access to private rooms, programming, and events.
Purchases in Centurion New York will only be allowed with an American Express Card or cash. Reservations will be required, and there will be a fee to cancel within 24 hours of reservation time (though it’s not known how much that fee will be).
What’s the point of Centurion New York?
While Amex Centurion Lounges are known for being airport lounges with a great selection of food & drinks, this is a completely different concept. For one, Centurion New York is exclusively available to those with the Centurion Card, so those with the Platinum Card won’t get access to this.
Furthermore, presumably food & drinks won’t be complimentary here. Much like many of the other membership club concepts we see (like Soho House), the intent is that this will be an exclusive place to see and be seen, whether you want to bring friends or conduct business.
This isn’t the first place we’ve seen Amex introduce a concept like this. For example, in Singapore there’s Centurion Haus, a similar venue for those with the Centurion Card, located inside the Raffles Hotel.
This concept is very much intended to be bespoke, and I imagine that’s a large part of the appeal. You won’t really hear anything about this unless Amex wants you to know about it.
Bottom line
Centurion House New York will be opening in March 2023, and will be an exclusive space spanning the entire 55th floor of One Vanderbilt in Midtown Manhattan. You can expect this to essentially be a social club exclusively for those with the Centurion Card.
There will be a restaurant and lounge area, and presumably everything will be available for purchase.
What do you make of the Centurion New York concept?
Do you serve Kosher meal
It should be available to Platinum members. I spend a lot of money annually with this card, However, I do not see the benefits of playing $10k a year for a credit card (Black card)
Good luck anyway
Loyal customer,
Karen
If you don’t see benefits it’s not for you.. clearly you don’t spend enough, bc if you did… you’d have a black car and not a platinum…
Boulud already has Le Pavilion on the second floor, so this is a relatively easy expansion. (Although opening a new space is never "easy.")
The location is also across the street from Grand Central; good space to get Westchester commuters.
I’ve been a charter member since the early 80’s. I ve actually only used the card once, and that was the club in Washington DC. I think it’s a necessary privilege.
What are the benefits of the Centurion card and how do they compare to the Platinum card? I wonder if it will be an Amex branded lounge on the POS machine so if you charge you'll get the 5x points like an Amex charge.
It would be a great incentive to Platinum card holders to let maybe 5 people per day in through bidding a certain amount of Membership Reward points. Still keep things pretty exclusive to Centurion members but offer us mere peasants a chance haha
It's like what one reader commented to a different article: Why do the people in first class always get the champagne and we in the main cabin don't? It's SO unfair.
Because they paid more
Rumor has it that is already the case and platinum members can call the concierge to make reservations base on a article written by Danny the Deal Guru.
Citibank has CitiGold lounges for those customers in the CitiGold or higher relationship programs. But, think of it more like a snack lounge. Not comparable in the least.
Nice move on Amex's part. Location is smart.
Sort of like the Knickerbocker or NY Yacht without any of the social exclusivity.
Private dining clubs are all the rage right now, especially in NYC. There are some that are genuinely great, and some have preposterous dues (see Casa Cruz, Aman, etc). This is just Amex joining the fad.
I'd argue NYC isn't special in that regard, considering LA has approximately 15,000 social clubs on Sunset Blvd, 4 Soho Houses, etc.
I only highlighted NYC because of the article, but you are correct. Miami, Palm Beach, and a few other cities also have lots of them popping up. I suppose it's nice to have a fallback option you know you can always go to, but the novelty of the social club is quickly wearing off.
Agreed. No idea how the market isn't already completely saturated.