The Port Royal Club returns this season at more than double its former size. Its first months are already on the City of Naples calendar, from a Welcome Back evening in November through a Seafood Extravaganza series that runs into March. How those evenings will sound, where people will sit and when the pool closes were decided well before the first event. Most of it was settled in a long hearing in the summer of 2024, and the approvals added in 2026 extend that rulebook without relaxing any of it.
A Calendar Already on File With the City
The club has filed five private-event applications with the city. Each one lists amplified sound, which is why each needed City Council approval. Council passed the consent agenda containing them 7–0 on September 16, 2026, according to the city's preliminary voting record. The special events packet gives these dates:
- Welcome Back: Thursday, November 19, 2026, 5:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., with about 500 guests expected and tents on site
- Grand Opening: December 10, 2026, 5:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., also for about 500 guests, on the same night as An Evening on 5th along Fifth Avenue South
- Santa Brunch and Nutcracker: December 20, 2026
- New Year's Eve: December 31, 2026
- Seafood Extravaganza: January 14, February 15 and March 11, 2027
The timeline has slipped once already. In June, the club's outdoor dining application described reconstruction as "nearing completion" and expected a grand opening in October 2026, ahead of the clubhouse's inaugural 2026–2027 season. The formal Grand Opening is now set for December 10.
The House Rules Came From the 2024 Hearing
The club has stood at 2900 Gordon Drive since 1959. That year Glenn Sample hired architect John Volk to design a gathering place for Port Royal families and their guests, at a time when Naples had few restaurants. Hurricane Ian came ashore on September 28, 2022, and the city issued a Substantial Damage Determination for the beachfront clubhouse. Rebuilding became the only path forward.
The replacement is a three-level, elevated clubhouse designed by Hart Howerton with West Indies influences and built by Suffolk Construction. Naples Press reported that it grows the clubhouse from 32,000 square feet to 77,000 and adds a Gulf-front infinity pool, at a cost of about $100 million. City Council approved the plan on August 21, 2024, after about 10 hours of hearings that focused largely on noise. Port Royal residents sent about 100 letters and emails urging approval.
That hearing produced the conditions that will shape an ordinary evening at the new club. Naples Press listed them at the time, and among them:
- The pool is open from dawn to dusk.
- The sliding doors of the second-level sunset bar, which faces south, close once the bar reaches 50 percent occupancy.
- The south-facing balcony of the third-level after-dinner lounge is enclosed.
- An 11-foot landscaped wall runs 150 feet along the southern property line, with no signs, speakers or lights attached. It then steps down to 6 feet for another 425 feet.
- The private beach path that had linked the south parking lot to the beach since 1959 is to be eliminated.
- If Code Enforcement confirms three noise violations within 12 months, the club must go back before Council.
The pool also sits 80 feet from the southern property line, up from 10 feet in earlier plans. At the September 2, 2026 Council meeting, the club's representative confirmed that every condition imposed in 2024 remains in effect. Anyone requesting the club's conditional-use file will receive all 19 original conditions together with each later amendment, as the meeting video records.
What the 2026 Approvals Add
Two years later, the club went back to City Hall to fill in operating details, and the new approvals build on the 2024 conditions. On September 2, 2026, Council voted 7–0 on three Port Royal Club resolutions covering parking, outdoor dining and live entertainment.
The outdoor dining application describes member demand for more open-air seating. It adds 4,370 square feet at ground level, centrally located and oriented toward the Gulf, with 18 tables, 72 chairs and 26 chaise lounges. The application anticipates service from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., depending on outlet hours and seasonal demand. Council's approval caps the area at about 4,300 square feet in the layout approved by the Fire Marshal and requires any future expansion to return for review. The extra seating also raised the club's required parking from 318 spaces to 325. The club is providing 343.
The live entertainment approval is where the rules become most specific. It covers seven locations, all on the clubhouse side of Gordon Drive and none on the recreation parcel to the east.
| Setting | Approved locations | Sound | Hours, seven days |
|---|---|---|---|
| Indoors, doors and windows closed | Ballroom, the Privateer, coffee shop, after-dinner lounge, à la carte dining | Amplified allowed | 7 a.m. to midnight |
| Outdoors, or indoors with doors open | Fountain area, central balcony | Non-amplified only | 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. |
The approval also requires sound-limiting and monitoring measures and city review of any future changes. A six-month status review is built in. Before the vote, Council amended that condition so the six months start when the certificate of occupancy is issued, which means the review covers the new building's first real season rather than a period of construction.
How a Season Evening Will Play Out
Taken together, the 2024 and 2026 approvals map out a typical day. Daytime activity centers on the pool and the new Gulf-facing dining area. The pool closes at dusk. Sunset at the bar comes with a door rule: once the room is half full, the south-facing slider closes. Acoustic music at the fountain or on the central balcony ends at 10 p.m. After that, music moves indoors with the doors shut, and the ballroom, the Privateer and the after-dinner lounge can continue until midnight.
That shape applies to the big nights too. The Welcome Back evening on November 19 and the Grand Opening on December 10 both run from 5:00 to 10:00 p.m. That matches the hour when outdoor music has to stop under the entertainment approval.
Changes Along the Property Lines
Some of the less visible changes sit at the edges of the 11-acre property. On April 15, 2026, Council approved Resolution 2026-15841, which revised the seawall so it extends to the property line and connects with the neighboring seawall to the south, closing the gap between them. A March 2026 design submittal proposed wood ramps and stairs at the seawall, darker crosswalk paving and revised plantings. The architects' narrative in that filing describes the reopening as the return of "the heart of the Port Royal community."
The 2024 conditions also called for retiring the beach path from the south parking lot, a route in use since 1959, and for adding an emergency access path near the north property line for fire and emergency use.
When the 2024 approval came through, the club said in a statement reported by Naples Press that it expected the new clubhouse to "continue to be a cherished cornerstone of our community for generations to come." The Welcome Back evening runs November 19 from 5:00 to 10:00 p.m.
For many Port Royal households, the club's return changes what a home on Gordon Drive offers day to day, and those changes are worth understanding before the season begins. If you would like to talk through what the reopening means for your property, or how its new schedule fits a plan to buy or sell in Port Royal this season, Lickley Group welcomes the conversation. Request a Confidential Market Consultation.
