Hotels are welcoming over-50s desperate for a break between Christmas and New Year, driving latest holiday trend
The period between or ‘between’ Christmas and New Year – now called Twixmas – is fast becoming a time when those in their 50s and 60s, caught between caring for children, grandchildren and their own elderly parents, can escape for some relaxing mini vacation .
The latest data from airports and travel companies shows that Brits are prioritizing holidays over other expenses, and the rise of Twixmas shows that a short Christmas break is seen as an essential tonic for a growing number of this ‘sandwich generation’.
A new market is being created for the more affluent among this group, with chains such as Warner Leisure, owned by US private equity giant Blackstone, offering holiday gift boxes.
Warner reports that on December 27, several thousand people from the sandwich generation will pack their bags – and their happy rags – and head to one of sixteen adult-only hotels.
This chain almost exclusively provided the silver set. Now she is leading the way in targeting and delivering on the demographic that is still working, or has only recently retired.
In 2019, only 52 percent of Warner guests were under the age of 65.
Festive: Warner Leisure’s Cotswolds hotel Heythrop Park
Now they represent 65 percent of the customer base and Warner is trying to secure its lead with an offer that is based on a lot of comfort, but also on a lot of entertainment.
The company has its own group of actors and musicians. It also hosts shows and concerts at its hotels, featuring stars including Katherine Jenkins, Gareth Malone, Russell Watson and tribute bands including Bjorn Again. Some guests took to the dance floor.
Entertainment includes Strictly Come Dancing nights, where you can samba with the professionals. There are DJ sessions with stars like Sara Cox and Vernon Kay on the decks.
For Warner CEO Paul Pomroy, Twixmas can be the most wonderful time of the year.
In mid-November, bookings were 33 percent higher than a year earlier at Heythrop Park, Warner’s Cotswolds hotel housed in an 18th-century mansion. Twixmas stays there start at £519 per person for three nights, including breakfast and dinner.
But as Pomroy points out, for this clientele Twixmas needs an interior similar to boutique hotels in London. This market wants elegance with a contemporary touch, because taste is now less age-related than in the past.
As Pomroy puts it, “People are younger in every way these days.”
One day in late November, in the lounge of Warner’s Runnymede hotel at noon, I noticed a group of guests who had slipped away to recharge their batteries before the holidays.
From the windows you could see the Thames passing through this corner of Surrey.
Around the tables, guests reclined after leaving to enjoy their pre-Christmas getaway.
Pomroy tells me that many of his clients are so eager for the party to start that they come for lunch while they wait for their room to be ready.
There are a number of expensive vehicles parked outside, highlighting the savings and retirement wealth of this baby boomer cohort. The average occupancy rate at Warner hotels is 90 percent plus.
Pomroy, who stepped into the role in March this year, is the former boss of McDonald’s UK. In that role, he improved the appearance of the fast-food chain’s restaurants, but also addressed myths about the dishes (such as there was no chicken in chicken nuggets). At Warner he is the mastermind behind £200m of investment in the hotels and it is clear he has been involved in every detail of the bedrooms.
At Runnymede the renovation cost around £20 million. The money has been spent on bars, dining rooms and lounges of various sizes, suitable for people who want to socialize and for those who want some peace and quiet.
The blue of the Warner logo is reflected in the soft furnishings and wallpaper, the style of which is high-end chic, rather than gloomy hotel-minimalist beige.
The chic feeling continues in the choice of champagnes and food, but also in the glasses and crockery, providing plenty of inspiration for guests giving their own home a makeover in 2025.
Warner is just a small part of the Blackstone empire – the $148 billion (£120 billion) company manages $1.1 trillion in assets worldwide. But it embodies one of Blackstone’s bigger bets on post-Covid spending.
Holidays of any length are a must and new excuses – like Twixmas – to get away from it all are a source of joy for hotels and their guests.
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