The Rainier Club's hand-painted bird-and-floral mural
The Rainier Club crest
The Rainier Club
Seattle, Washington · Established 1888
A submission to the 2027–2028 Platinum Clubs of America election · City Clubs
Criterion One · Universal Recognition

The room Seattle has met in since 1888

Before Washington was a state, the city's founders built a club. The Rainier Club has been the meeting place of Seattle's civic, business, and creative life for 138 years, from the same address for the last 122.

Historic photograph of the Rainier Club's brick clubhouse
Members with a model of the clubhouse, from the Club's archives
A newspaper feature on the Club's diamond anniversary and the first 1888 clubhouse

From the Club's archives.

Criterion Two · Excellence in Amenities & Facilities

A full home under one roof,
and a network beyond it

The Club caters to a Member's dining, business, wellness, and travel life without leaving Fourth Avenue, and extends the same standard of service to visiting members of clubs around the world.

A seasonal dish from the Club's summer menu
A martini served at the Beller Bar
A classic car and members outside the clubhouse at the Club's auto show
Criterion Three · Caliber of Staff & Professional Service

Service written down, trained in, and delivered

One standard of service runs through every venue in the Club, set in writing and built into weekly training.

  • A Steps of Service manual, written in the American style, sets a single service standard across the Club's dining venues.
  • Beller Bar Service Training: a four-week structured program, delivered weekly, building bar and hospitality craft across the front-of-house team.
  • A Food & Beverage Service Standards chapter and a seasonal menu give the training something specific to be trained on.
  • A team that stays: tenure here reaches as far as thirty-five years, with a strong core of the full-time team a decade or more in, a continuity Members feel in every visit.
  • An employer worth staying with: a 401(k) with a 6% match, fully vested after one year; full medical, dental, and vision; subsidized transit or parking; staff meals and paid breaks; an annual holiday gift from the Membership; and two maintenance closures a year.
  • Professional credentials across the team: an MBA and dual CHA / CHAE hospitality accreditation, advanced culinary degrees, and a Master's in Exercise Science.
A member of the Club's service team at work during an event
Club Leadership
  • Jim Campbell, General Manager
    BS, Hotel, Restaurant & Institutional Management, Drexel University
  • Philip Ireland, Chief Reimagination Officer
    BA, Simon Fraser University; B.Ed, University of Western Ontario
  • Kari Cassidy-Diercks, Director of Membership
  • Krista Cook, Senior Events Manager
    BA, Business Administration, Washington State University
  • Rachel Anderson, Executive Chef
    Culinary Arts, Art Institute of Seattle; BA, University of Puget Sound
  • Nhu Dieu, Executive Sous Chef
    Hospitality Management & Culinary Arts, South Seattle College
  • Garrett Boyd, Banquet Manager
    Grand Canyon University
  • Howard Cohen, Controller
    MBA, University of Washington; CHA, CHAE; Past District Governor, Rotary International
  • Greg Faulkner, Health Club Services Manager
    Master's in Exercise Science, University of Washington; 35-year team member
Health & Wellness Team
  • Karen Black, Pilates
    22 years' experience; certified by Pilates, Inc. (New York), with advanced training from Bastyr University; formerly of the Milwaukee Ballet and the Hartford Ballet
  • Margi Walker, Personal Training
    Physical Education, Bastyr University
  • Shaping Yin, Massage Therapy
    Ashmead College; 20 years' experience
The RC Way
Vision

Think exclusive, be inclusive.

Mission

Personalized service through an innate love for hospitality.

Values

Community, Excellence, Stewardship, Tradition, Civility.

Criterion Four · Engagement & Commitment of Membership

A membership that shapes the culture and carries it forward

Engagement at the Rainier Club is active and self-renewing. Members set the tone, sustain the traditions that fill the calendar, and personally introduce the next generation of Members.

A member in an elegant gown descending the clubhouse staircase
  • Membership begins with a Member: relationship-based introduction remains the Club's most successful source of new Members.
  • Brand Ambassadors Program: a select group of highly engaged Members, working from a seven-pillar framework built on the Platinum Clubs of America criteria, who host qualified prospects and carry every introduction through to membership.
  • Keepers of the Keys: a tiered program honoring the Members who bring others in, with dining privileges and annual recognition within the Club.
  • A committed, multi-generational membership: roughly 499 full-member-equivalents, including 380 resident, 124 non-resident, and 56 Members under 40, anchored by 23 Life Members of fifty-plus years' standing and a Fellows & Laureates category of regionally and nationally recognized artists.
  • Time-honored traditions: Robert Burns Night, Lunar New Year, the Classic Car Show, the Summer Sunset Sail, the Club Laureate Dinner, Gothic Halloween, and the holiday "Tom & Jerry" Member Appreciation Party, among many more across the year.
  • 400+ Member events hosted every year.
  • Twenty-two committees: eleven standing (Finance, Audit, House, Membership, Governance, DEI, and more) and eleven social (Wine, Literary, Arts, Scotch & Spirits, Public & Global Affairs, and beyond).
Lisa Mayfield, Member since 2011 and Past President

"I can't say enough about the Rainier Club and the important role it fills in the Seattle community. While it is a beautiful historic landmark, its true value lies in the people and the sense of connection it creates. Since joining the Club, I have experienced it as a place where members come to learn, build meaningful relationships, exchange ideas, and find respite from the demands of daily life. The Rainier Club is a rare institution that successfully blends tradition, community, and purpose, making it one of Seattle's most treasured gathering places."

Lisa Mayfield · Member since 2011 · Past President

Criterion Five · Governance & Prudent Fiscal Management

A Board that plans in years and reviews in months

The Board of Trustees governs to a strategic plan with dated decision gates, reviewed monthly against a published scoreboard, with capital committed to the clubhouse and its second century.

$285–400K
Capital enhancements budgeted for the clubhouse
FY 2028–29
Strategic plan horizon, adopted by the Board July 2026
Monthly
Board review against a published scoreboard
Criterion Six · Adapting to Changing Times

A 138-year-old club in its most active year

The Club calls it the Reimagination: a multi-year renewal of dining, service, membership, brand, and the building itself, moving from delivered to underway to ahead.

Delivered
  • Steps of Service manual, in use across venues
  • Member Test Menu, rating dishes before adoption
  • Beller Bar four-week training program
  • Complete Brand Guidelines governing every placement
  • Member app & digital services
Underway
  • Lobby reimagination
  • Thomas Rogers Reading Room, in design with capital committed
  • New membership paths: an arts category with audition and portfolio review, second-member, family, and gift of membership
  • A Group Membership pilot for organizations enrolling five or more, with consolidated billing and flexibility as teams change
  • Three strategic hires joining October 2026
Ahead
  • Member library and programming-capture pilot
  • Historic Foundation and legacy-giving program
  • Later-programming pilot and concierge service model
History United

In September 2026, the Rainier Club, founded 1888, enters an affiliate partnership with the Rainier Golf & Country Club, founded 1920, uniting two of the region's most historic private institutions and extending golf privileges to Members.

Criterion Seven · Overall Experience

What a year here adds up to

54,102
Food & beverage covers served last year
400+
Member events hosted annually
1,129
Overnight guest-room stays last year
1,800
Covers served al fresco in the historic Auto Court each summer
The historic brick clubhouse entrance on Fourth Avenue with the Club's crests
The carved Club 504 door medallion at The Rainier Club

"This club wins with its ideal location, exceptional facilities, kind staff, and a wealth of amenities. Their inclusivity comes across with diverse leadership and an approachability that screams success."

Y.D. · 2025

"A beautiful, historic, and iconic private club."

J.M. · 2024

"The Rainier Club is the kind of place that makes you lower your voice the moment you walk in. The building is beautifully classic, understated, yet quietly impressive."

Y. · 2026

Where else but The Rainier Club?