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A private beach, dining, spa, and 12 Har-Tru tennis courts on Gordon Drive — the neighborhood’s social heart since 1959, available to Port Royal owners by voluntary membership.
Photography coming soon — branded placeholder while we shoot the Club.
Developer John Glenn Sample financed the Port Royal Club in 1959 — a roughly $1 million private beach club on Gordon Drive — to give his new waterfront neighborhood a social center. More than six decades later it remains exactly that: a private Gulf beach, dining, a spa and fitness center, and a deep tennis program, all a short drive or golf-cart ride from the surrounding estates.
The important thing for buyers to understand is that membership is voluntary. The Club is a separate organization — joining it is a choice, not a requirement of owning a Port Royal home — but the eligibility to join is tied to the property and time-sensitive, so it pays to understand the window before you close.
verify Membership terms and fees are set by the Club and change over time — confirm the current process and pricing directly with the Port Royal Club before relying on the figures below.
Eligibility to join the Club is attached to qualifying Port Royal properties.
Join as a full member (joining fee + dues), or put down roughly 25% to hold eligibility for later.
Decline entirely and you can lose the right to join — reactivating later may require a substantial buy-in (reported ~75%).
Hurricane Ian destroyed the original 1959 clubhouse in September 2022 — and the membership chose ambition over repair, voting for a roughly $100 million ground-up rebuild. The new clubhouse is about 62,000 square feet in a West Indies style by Hart Howerton with Champalimaud interiors: a Gulf-front infinity pool, multiple dining venues, a wine cellar, banquet space for 150-plus, and new spa and fitness facilities. Construction began in summer 2024 after the City of Naples cleared the final approvals in October 2024, with opening targeted for late 2026.
For buyers, the rebuild matters twice: it is the amenity story of the neighborhood’s next decade, and local brokers project the opening will further support the premium that Club-eligible homes already command (estimates run 15–20% today). If eligibility is part of your purchase thesis, the timing is working in your favor.
Club eligibility attaches to specific deeded parcels — it transfers with the land, not the owner. The commonly cited boundary: properties south of 21st Avenue South carry Resident eligibility, plus a handful of Little Harbour parcels along Gordon Drive; addresses north of the line are Port Royal geographically but not Club-eligible. An Associate (non-resident-property) category is reported to be capped in the dozens and often waitlisted.
Two identical-looking estates can differ seven figures on this one attribute — which is why, on any Port Royal purchase I handle, written confirmation of the parcel’s eligibility status from the membership office happens before contract, not after. See also our guides to buying privately and how quiet sales work in Port Royal.
Don’t confuse the Club with the Port Royal Property Owners’ Association (PRPOA). The PRPOA is a civic association that enforces Port Royal’s original deed restrictions — home appearance, docks, and new construction — through its Architectural Control Committee. It does not charge a typical recurring HOA fee; sales usually involve only a modest one-time transfer fee (reported around $500–$1,000) dedicated to deed enforcement. The Club is the optional amenity; the PRPOA is the standards-keeper that protects everyone’s value.
No — membership is voluntary, not mandatory. The Club is a separate amenity, not a condition of owning a home. That said, only Club-eligible Port Royal properties carry the right to join, and new owners have a limited window to act on it.
Eligibility is parcel-linked, not personal — it attaches to specific deeded lots and transfers with the land. The commonly cited boundary is properties south of 21st Avenue South, plus a handful of Little Harbour parcels on the Gordon Drive stretch; addresses north of that line are "Port Royal" geographically but not Club-eligible. Membership is capped around 700 by the finite parcel count. Brokers report eligible homes command a meaningful premium (estimates around 15–20%). Always get written confirmation of a specific parcel’s status from the Club’s membership office before contract — it can move the value seven figures.
Within 90 days of the deed recording on an eligible property, a new owner chooses one of three paths per the Club’s published policy: join fully; preserve eligibility for up to five years by depositing 25% of the current joining payment and paying 25% of annual dues each year; or do nothing — in which case eligibility is suspended and reinstating later requires a fee of 75% of the then-current joining payment. Terms evolve — confirm the current membership plan directly with the Club before you close.
Broker-reported figures (the Club does not publish pricing): a joining payment of $315,000, announced to rise to $400,000 effective January 1, 2026, with annual dues around $16,200 plus tax. For perspective, joining was reported near $100,000 as recently as 2016. These figures change — verify current joining fees, dues, and availability directly with the Port Royal Club before relying on them.
Hurricane Ian destroyed the 1959 clubhouse in September 2022, and members voted for a ground-up rebuild of roughly $100 million rather than a repair. The new clubhouse — about 62,000 square feet in a West Indies style by Hart Howerton with Champalimaud interiors, including a Gulf-front infinity pool, multiple dining venues, a wine cellar, banquet space, and spa and fitness — began construction in summer 2024 and has been targeted to open in late 2026. Local brokers expect the opening to further support eligible-home values.
The PRPOA is a civic association (separate from the Club) that enforces Port Royal’s original deed restrictions — home appearance, docks, and new construction — through its Architectural Control Committee. It does not charge a typical recurring HOA fee; instead, sales usually involve a modest one-time transfer fee (reported around $500–$1,000) dedicated to deed enforcement.
The Port Royal Club is on Gordon Drive (2900 Gordon Drive), within the Port Royal neighborhood in the City of Naples (34102).
Membership and its eligibility window can materially affect a Port Royal purchase. I’ll help you confirm the current terms, factor them into your offer, and point you to the homes that fit. Explain everything, sell nothing.
Sources & notes: the Port Royal Club, the Port Royal Property Owners’ Association, and the Port Royal deep-research report. Membership terms, fees, and dues change — verify current figures directly with the Club before relying on them.