A trumpeter at the Mardi Gras party at Loulous
From member-only clubs run by staff who undergo emotional-intelligence training to the most exclusive private residence in Europe, where members are treated to once-in-a-lifetime experiences regularly (think dinner in front of Michelangelo’s David). This is where the world’s 0.1 per cent congregate to connect and celebrate.
R360 Club
Making headlines this month is new ultra-exclusive networking club R360. Only the obscenely wealthy need apply for membership and even then they might not be accepted - the club has already turned down two billionaires because they didn’t align with the club’s gloriously intangible core values of honour, entrepreneurial grit and generosity of spirit. “I took some grief for that,” managing partner Charles Garcia tells Bloomberg. “One person seemed to want to leverage the group to benefit their own business activities, and the other didn’t want to integrate his family.”
So what do you have to do to get through the gilded doors? It’s invitation-only and members-to-be must have a minimum net worth of $100 million. A family membership costs $180,000. For that, they will be invited on a three-year ‘journey’ and enjoy access to investment opportunities, support groups and private getaways. On top of all that, full time filmmakers are on hand to create documentaries of members’ lives. Legacy in the making.
The Palazzo Tornabuoni, Florence
Italy’s only private residence club is a beguiling and unique place. It’s a not-for-profit cultural club where membership provides the finance to maintain the exquisite 15th century palazzo - and its prized works of art - in which it sits. One for culture vultures - Tornabuoni is where the world’s first opera performance took place in 1598 - who want once-in-a-lifetime experiences and an access-all-areas pass to true Florentine life.
Dinners are prepared by top chefs, the country’s most prestigious vineyards open their doors and private viewings of Palazzo Strozzi exhibitions can be arranged. Members can go also back stage at the opera and have dinner in front of Michelangelo’s David. There are 27 private residences (run and maintained by five-star hotel Four Seasons) up for grabs and a one-bedroom membership starts at €490,000, while a two-bedroom begins at €720,000.
5 Hertford Street, London
Tucked away in Mayfair’s Shepherd Market is London’s most influential - and secretive - members’ club where membership reads like a who’s who of London society. Harry and Meghan have been spotted on dates here and, in the run up to Brexit, political power players like Boris and Carrie Johnson, Michael Gove and Priti Patel lobbied their Leave agenda furiously.
Downstairs in the basement is Loulou’s nightclub where everyone from George and Amal Clooney to the Cambridges, Leonardo DiCaprio and Harry Styles have partied. Membership starts at £1,800 per year. There’s a dress code (‘well dressed’), though it’s relaxed in recent years, and reservations have to be made over the phone or in person, strictly no email allowed.
The Hurlingham, London
Open since 1869, it doesn’t come much more exclusive than London’s only country club, The Hurlingham. The Duchess of Cambridge is a member and, while the waiting list to join used to be 30 years long, it’s now so full it has closed, subject to an annual review. So impenetrable is the club, that Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich tried to buy the place for £1 billion with the offer of paying off existing members with £1 million each. They were having none of it. Set on 42 tranquil acres next to the River Thames in Fulham with tennis courts, croquet, cricket, golf and a swimming pool, this is one for the sporty socialites. Membership is £1,400 per year.
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CORE: NYC
CORE is one of the most prestigious clubs in the US and home to Manhattan’s elite, though they are extremely coy about revealing who’s on their membership list. It was described by the New York Times as a ‘portal to power’ and just a stroll from Trump Towers, the former President was known to swing by. Attracting people from all walks of industry - as long as they’re loaded - the founders, New York couple Jennie and Dangene Enterprise, bill it as an apolitical, new-age social club, somewhere ‘for today’s mavericks and mavens to do their boldest thinking, deepest discovery, and freest play.’ Staff recruitment is almost as selective as the membership with training including a crash course in emotional intelligence. The cost? A $50,000 initiation charge, plus $17,000 annually. CORE: MILANO, the club’s second flagship, is about to open in Milan. thecoreclub.com/
The 1930 Club, Milan
Legendary in Milan, secretive The 1930 Club has no website, no phone number and entry is through a hidden door at the back of a slightly grim bar. Membership cards are only visible under ultraviolet light and invited members must know the password to pass security. A genuine speakeasy, it only fits about 35 members at a time. A cosy, candlelit bar lurks behind the unassuming door with seasonal cocktails mixed by the best - most dapper - bartenders in Milan.
Yellowstone Club, Montana
To get into Yellowstone Club and rub shoulders with the likes of Bill Gates, Google’s Eric Schmidt, Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel, Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez and Gisele Bundchen you’ve got to own a home in the area, which typically go for $2-25 million. Then there’s the $400,000 initiation payment and annual fee of $41,500. Once in the clique, members (of which there is a set limit of 864) can have the run of the only private mountain ski resort in the world. Security is run by a former Secret Service Officer and it has its own fire department and emergency medical teams.
