Inside Club 7, the Lisbon members’ club turning hospitality into a competitive sport

Ask anyone who has recently moved to Lisbon where to meet people, close a deal or feel part of something and they will likely say Club 7. Over coffee with Monocle, the lifestyle club’s CEO Carolina Melo Duarte greets passing members by name. Nestled among the greenery of Parque Eduardo VII, a short walk from the buzzy Marquês de Pombal in central Lisbon, the sports club opened in 1997. It started in Portuguese hands, passed to an English investment fund and in 2022 returned to Portuguese ownership when 15 members bought it because they couldn’t bear to watch their club decline. That group has since narrowed to three. 

An €8m renovation by Saraiva e Associados, with interiors by Lisbon firm Andrez & Andrez, has transformed the 29-year-old club into an airy, terracotta-hued space with the scent of green fig drifting through every corridor. There are six tennis courts, seven for padel, a gym, a 25-metre pool and a spa. Membership costs €300 to join and €160 a month. The past five years have been a watershed moment both in terms of member numbers (since February, it has run at full capacity with 3,500 adults and 600 children) and the club’s environment. “We used to mainly train Portuguese players but now our tournaments draw 12 nationalities,” says Luís Bonet, the club’s longest-serving tennis coach.

“We don’t call it a fitness club, sports club or wellness retreat,” says Carolina Melo Duarte, who took over as CEO in 2022. Her team of 140 staff spent the summer reading Will Guidara’s Unreasonable Hospitality, which chronicles lessons in service and leadership. Her aim is to treat every part of a member’s day, from their games on the courts to time cooling off in the café, with the same care that a top hotel might offer. “We put hospitality first,” she adds. Its success shows that, with the right infrastructure, a sports club can be more than just a place to let off steam.
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