Naples · Florida
Inside the $100 Million Port Royal Club: Naples’ Most Exclusive New Beach Club, and the Only Way In
After Hurricane Ian swept away a 60-year-old landmark, one of America’s wealthiest neighborhoods spent $100 million building it back bigger, bolder and far more beautiful. You cannot buy a membership. You can only buy the house that comes with it.
In a town known for beautiful addresses, Port Royal is the one people lower their voices to say. The waterfront neighborhood at the southern tip of Naples is a quiet grid of canals, private docks and estates that regularly trade for tens of millions of dollars, and at its heart, right on the Gulf, sits the Port Royal Club. For more than six decades it was where the neighborhood gathered: for sunset dinners, tennis mornings and long afternoons on its private beach. Then, in 2022, Hurricane Ian destroyed it.
What has risen in its place is something else entirely. The new Port Royal Club is a roughly $100 million reinvention, more than twice the size of the original, and it is set to become one of the most extraordinary private beach clubs in the country. There is just one catch, and it is the most Naples thing imaginable: there is no application, no waiting list and no membership for sale. The only way in is to own a home in Port Royal.
You cannot buy a membership. You can only buy the house that comes with it.
The New Port Royal Club by the Numbers
- About $100 million to rebuild.
- 77,000 square feet, up from about 32,000.
- 5.5 acres on the Gulf of Mexico.
- 3 signature restaurants and 4 bars, with Gulf views.
- 9 Har-Tru clay tennis courts and a 10,000-square-foot fitness center.
From hurricane loss to a $100 million comeback
The original clubhouse at 2900 Gordon Drive was a modest one-story building that had served Port Royal since the late 1950s. When Hurricane Ian made landfall on September 28, 2022, it was destroyed, and for the next two years members dined and gathered in temporary structures while plans took shape. The design went through months of member input and city review, and 93 percent of members voted in favor of the final plans. Construction began after the city’s final approvals, with completion scheduled for late 2026.
The new building is elevated and built to current codes, a clubhouse designed, as one of the club’s building leaders put it, for today and for generations to come.
West Indies glamour on the Gulf
The new Port Royal Club was designed by Hart Howerton, the architecture firm also behind the new Olde Naples Hotel just up the road, in a timeless West Indies style, the island-born architecture known for its deep verandas, crisp facades, shutters and generous shade, all oriented here toward the water. Naples-based Outside Productions created layered, colorful landscaping to wrap the grounds, and Suffolk Construction is building it. The result is a clubhouse that feels as if it has always belonged on this stretch of beach, even though every inch of it is new.
Dining, a beachfront pool and a private beach
Life at the new club revolves around the Gulf. There are three signature restaurants with indoor and outdoor dining overlooking the water, four bars, a coffee shop and a banquet venue for the neighborhood’s celebrations, plus a wine gallery and grand gathering spaces. A Gulf-front pool sits steps from the club’s pristine private beach, so a morning swim, a lunch in the shade and a sunset cocktail can all happen without ever getting in a car.
Wellness and tennis, at resort scale
The club’s wellness offering rivals a five-star resort. A 10,000-square-foot fitness center hosts yoga, Pilates and spin classes, a serene spa offers treatments, and the tennis center features nine Har-Tru clay courts and a 1,300-square-foot pro shop. For many members, the morning match followed by breakfast by the water is the whole point of living here.
The only way in: a home in Port Royal
Membership in the Port Royal Club is tied exclusively to property ownership in Port Royal, which makes the club one of the most powerful forces in the neighborhood’s real estate market. Waterfront estates here routinely list in the tens of millions, with new-construction homes on wide water and western exposure among the most coveted in Florida, and many listings now highlight immediate club eligibility and the short walk or bike ride to the new clubhouse. It is part of a remarkable moment for luxury real estate along this stretch of coast, from Port Royal’s estates to Olana Naples Residences, the $32 million beachfront estates on Gulf Shore Boulevard. With the club’s debut approaching, buyers are effectively purchasing two things at once: a house on the water and a front-row seat at one of the finest private beach clubs in the country.
Port Royal’s appeal goes well beyond the club, and so does Naples; see our guide to the 5 reasons to visit Naples, Florida. The neighborhood sits minutes from the shops and restaurants of Third Street South and Fifth Avenue South, its canals lead out to Naples Bay and Gordon Pass, and the Gulf sunsets are among the most beautiful anywhere on the coast.
Port Royal Club — At a Glance
- Where
- 2900 Gordon Drive, Port Royal, Naples, Florida
- Opening
- Scheduled for late 2026
- Investment
- About $100 million
- Design
- Hart Howerton; landscaping by Outside Productions
- Size
- About 77,000 square feet on 5.5 acres
- Amenities
- Private beach, Gulf-front pool, 3 restaurants, 4 bars, spa, fitness center, 9 clay courts
- Membership
- Exclusive to Port Royal property owners
Plan Your Visit to Naples
Explore Naples, from Third Street South to the beaches of the Gulf, and discover the luxury homes and residences shaping Southwest Florida.
Explore Luxury Homes & ResidencesFrequently Asked Questions
What is the Port Royal Club?
The Port Royal Club is the private beach club of Port Royal, one of the most exclusive waterfront neighborhoods in Naples, Florida. Set on about 5.5 acres on the Gulf at 2900 Gordon Drive, it is being rebuilt as a roughly $100 million, West Indies-inspired clubhouse with Gulf-view dining, a beachfront pool, a spa and fitness center, and tennis.
When does the new Port Royal Club open?
The new Port Royal Club clubhouse is scheduled for completion in late 2026, with the club targeting the fall of 2026 for its debut.
How do you become a member of the Port Royal Club?
Membership in the Port Royal Club is tied to property ownership in Port Royal. The club is open only to Port Royal residents, so the way in is to buy a home in the neighborhood; many listings note that membership is available with the property.
Why is the Port Royal Club being rebuilt?
The original one-story clubhouse, which had served the neighborhood for more than six decades, was destroyed by Hurricane Ian on September 28, 2022. The new clubhouse is elevated and built to current codes.
What amenities will the new Port Royal Club have?
Plans include a Gulf-front pool, a coffee shop, three signature restaurants with indoor and outdoor dining overlooking the Gulf, four bars, a banquet venue and a private beach, along with a 10,000-square-foot fitness center, a spa, and a tennis center with nine Har-Tru clay courts.
Who designed the new Port Royal Club?
The new Port Royal Club was designed by the architecture firm Hart Howerton, with landscaping by Naples-based Outside Productions and construction by Suffolk Construction.
How big is the new Port Royal Club clubhouse?
The new clubhouse grows from about 32,000 square feet to roughly 77,000 square feet, more than doubling the size of the original building.
This article may contain sponsored or partner content and affiliate links; see our Editorial Policy & Advertiser Disclosure. Opening dates, plans and amenities are subject to change.
