The Port Royal Club's application to the City of Naples set aside Monday, November 16, from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. to put up tents at 2900 Gordon Drive. That makes room for tonight's Welcome Back, scheduled from 5 to 10 p.m. for about 500 people, with amplified sound and parking on site. No street closure was requested, so Gordon Drive stays open while the party runs.
The event opens the club's first season in its rebuilt clubhouse, and the building is very different from the one Hurricane Ian destroyed. The old club was a single story with one restaurant. The new one is a series of rooms, each with its own rules, starting at a beach deck where swimsuits are fine and ending in a dining room where men wear a sport coat. The City of Naples regulated the music the same way, with rules that depend on whether the music is indoors or out and what time it is.
What the Rebuild Replaced
In a 2024 staff report, the city described the old beachside clubhouse as a single story with one restaurant, a banquet hall and a pool. The tennis courts and pro shop sat across Gordon Drive. Gulfshore Business reported that the original building was 65 years old and 32,000 square feet. The same outlet named Suffolk Construction as the builder and Hart Howerton as the designer, and put the reconstruction estimate at $100 million. Florida Weekly reported that Champalimaud Design was hired for the interiors.
The 2024 final-design filing called for a two-story building with four restaurants, event space, a pool, gardens, terracing and a two-story garage. During the rebuild, members got by with much less. The tennis and fitness building on the east side of Gordon Drive survived Ian and stayed open for daytime tennis and fitness. Temporary permits allowed food, beverage and restroom trailers, and the city renewed them in April 2024 to cover demolition and design. In September 2024, Council turned down a separate plan for a 130-seat dining tent, according to Gulfshore Business.
For four seasons, dining at the club meant trailers and the surviving tennis building. The new clubhouse has four venues.
Four Rooms, From the Sand to a Sport Coat
The club's public guest information page lists four dining venues, each with its own dress code. In order from most relaxed to most formal:
- Sand Bar & Beach Deck. Men may wear shorts-style swimsuits, T-shirts, athletic wear and hats, as long as they wear a shirt and shoes. Open-toed shoes are fine. Wet swimsuits, sleeveless shirts and brief-style suits are not allowed. Women need shoes and a cover-up or resort-casual clothes, and cover-ups can't be sheer or have large cutouts.
- Sunset Bar & The Café. The rules are almost the same as the Sand Bar's, with the same ban on wet swimwear and on towels worn as cover-ups.
- The Privateer. Men need a collared shirt, and T-shirts, swimwear, athletic wear and hats are out. Knee-length shorts are fine at lunch all year. The dinner rule changes with the season. From November 1 to May 15, men need long pants, and open-toed shoes are not allowed at dinner.
- 29 Hundred & Piano Bar. Men need a long-sleeved collared shirt, dress pants, dress shoes and a sport coat. A quarter-zip, V-neck or turtleneck works only if worn with the jacket. Jackets may come off only on the 29 Hundred outdoor veranda and in the Piano Bar. Women wear dresses, skirts or evening club attire, and shorts, hats and very revealing outfits are not allowed.
The seasonal switch at The Privateer is the rule most likely to catch someone out this month. Long pants have been required at dinner since November 1, so a member who wore knee-length shorts to dinner in October can't do the same now.
The South Entrance Ties It Together
Because the casual and formal rooms share one building, the club separates people by route. Anyone in swimwear is asked to use the South Entrance, not the Main Entrance, and to put on a cover-up when leaving the pool or beach. Swimsuits belong at the pool and beach only. Shoes are required inside the clubhouse and in every outdoor dining area.
The same page covers the rest of the house rules. The fitness floor requires closed-toe athletic shoes, and Croc-style shoes are not allowed. Tennis players need shoes made for tennis, and men can't wear sleeveless tops on the courts. Phones stay on silent or vibrate, and speakerphone calls aren't allowed. Smoking and vaping are not allowed anywhere on the property. Pets aren't allowed either, and service dogs must be registered in advance.
These rules matter most for members hosting family over the holidays. The club is private and members-only. Guests must be sponsored and registered in advance by a member, and day guests stay with that member during their visit. Non-members can't make reservations themselves, so the member handles every arrangement. Guests flying in for Thanksgiving should know which room they're headed to before they pack.
The City Drew the Same Lines Around Sound
On September 2, 2026, Naples City Council voted 7-0 on three Port Royal Club measures. Resolution 2026-15946 added 4,370 square feet of ground-level outdoor dining with 18 tables, 72 chairs and 26 chaise lounges. The club's petition placed that space in the middle of the property, toward the Gulf. The petition said the request came from members and the growing popularity of outdoor dining. It added to the outdoor dining Council approved on August 21, 2024.
Resolution 2026-15947 covers live entertainment. Council approved amplified indoor and non-amplified outdoor live entertainment seven days a week in multiple locations. At the September 2 meeting, staff read the conditions into the record. They set limits by where the music is played and when:
- Indoor amplified entertainment only with doors and windows closed, 7 a.m. to midnight, Monday through Sunday.
- Outdoor non-amplified entertainment, or indoor entertainment with doors and windows open, 9 a.m. to 10 p.m., Monday through Sunday.
- Entertainment only in the locations, and with the number of performers, shown on the approved life safety plans.
- Standardized AV equipment, a sound limiter and decibel meters at the property lines.
- Permanent speakers aimed toward the property, with volume controls in one locked location that only the manager on duty or a designee can reach. A manager or designee must be on site whenever music plays.
Condition 10 calls for a staff report six months after occupancy on any violations, nuisance or code citations. After that report, Council can hold a hearing and change or revoke the permit. At the meeting, Council changed the condition so that the six-month clock starts when the certificate of occupancy is issued. From 10 p.m. to midnight, live music is allowed only indoors with the doors and windows closed.
Special events go through a separate approval. The five events below each needed Council's sign-off because they use amplified sound. They were on the September 16 consent agenda, which passed 7-0.
A Calendar That Builds Toward December
| Event | Date | Hours on the application | Expected attendance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Welcome Back | Thursday, Nov. 19, 2026 | 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. | 500 |
| Grand Opening | Thursday, Dec. 10, 2026 | 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. | 500 |
| Santa Brunch and Nutcracker | Sunday, Dec. 20, 2026 | 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. | 250 |
| New Year's Eve | Thursday, Dec. 31, 2026 | 6 p.m. to 1 a.m. | 400 |
| Seafood Extravaganza | Thursday, Jan. 14, 2027 | 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. | 500 |
All five applications list parking on site and no street closures. Santa Brunch is the only one held without tents. The Grand Opening setup is booked for Monday, December 7, and takedown for Friday, December 11. An Evening on 5th takes place on Fifth Avenue South the same night as the Grand Opening, and the city's Special Events Committee said the two would not conflict.
Gulfshore Business lists The Café, the Sunset Bar, à la carte and casual dining, a ballroom, a pool with sundeck cabanas, a fitness center and spa, tennis courts, a pro shop and a private beach among the club's offerings. The article notes that membership is open to owners of residences in Port Royal. The same piece quotes Rebecca Maddox, founder of The Maddox on Bayshore Drive:
"When it opens, it's going to be one of the finest clubs in the United States."
If the club's return changes how you use Gordon Drive this winter, or has you thinking about your place in Port Royal, the Laurel McGarel Group is glad to talk it over. Schedule a private consultation and we'll go through it with you, from the Sand Bar to 29 Hundred.