Athens’s Tatoï Club is a grand slam in sporting excellence
Over the years, Monocle has fantasised about “perfect” designs for everything from department stores and airlines to rail stations and neighbourhoods. Working with talented illustrators from all corners of the world, we have conjured up visions for what would be required to create the perfect cruise ship (passengers who know the value of when and where to cover up their hoofs) and how to engineer a better airport or superior sunny resort. During a recent visit to Bangkok, a hotel general manager told me that he still keeps our Dream Hotel poster pinned to his wall and refers to it constantly as a guide to stay on top of his game. An airline CEO recently referred to our vision for creating Nippon-Nordic Airlines and suggested that a joint venture marrying the best of Scandinavia and Japan as a transport brand was a concept that he thought about a lot. However, he couldn’t quite see how the two cultures would come together operationally to deliver the concept that we’d printed on a poster.
Lately I have been thinking about revisiting the idea of the urban country club and how it would be designed, staffed and fitted out. I’ve even gone so far as to consider how Monocle could create its own franchise of sportif-inspired outposts for staying fit, socialising and even checking in for a full seven-day reset. My starting point would probably be the late afternoon that I spent at São Paulo’s Club Hebraica many years ago, where I parked myself under a parasol and watched kids tear around the pool, as well as men in tightly packed sungas run their businesses with chunky Nokia phones. There were also retirees stretched out on loungers, competing for who could sport more gold on their wrists and reach a darker shade of bronze before sundown. For Monocle’s thus-far-imagined retreat, I would stick with the Brazil theme and commission Isay Weinfeld to create the structure and interiors, before calling on my friend Masa in Tokyo to run the operations. I think that I would like to build it somewhere in or around Lisbon to make it a year-round affair.
Shortly before Christmas, my friend Mareva got in touch and asked whether Monocle would like to do a seasonal shop in Athens at the Tatoï Club. I hadn’t heard of the suggested venue and quickly looked it up. The website opened with a full-screen image of a clay court and, after further clicking around, it was clear that it had many of the features of my fantasy country club. It took a bit of logistical and stock planning before we arrived on an opening date but, thanks to speedy teams on both sides, we made our first sales on Thursday morning at its airy concept shop. On Friday afternoon I arrived at the club with the rest of the Monocle crew and wow! Or should I say, “Wow, wow, wow!” While the location is more suburban than city-centre, pretty much every aspect of the Tatoï Club embodies all that I have been thinking about for a sporty place to gather: elegant landscaping, fragrant cypresses, low-slung architecture, the welcoming rhythm of felt balls hitting racquets and a sense of calm amid the urban buzz beyond.
We grabbed a leisurely lunch in the dining room, inspected our set-up inside the shop and held a conference call in a well-appointed meeting room. There was even time for a 30-minute disco-nap in the villa before our opening reception started. By 19.00, club members and Monocle subscribers were mingling among our wares. I marvelled at what you can achieve as an owner when your day job is running a fleet of bulk carriers across the world’s oceans. The club’s CEO explained her grand plans for expansion and it all made perfect sense. Who better than the Athenians to elevate sport, culture and a bit of shopping to a whole new level of design and hospitality? If you happen to know a member, take them up on the offer to spend a few days improving your serve.
