How Private Members' Clubs Are Taking Over the English Countryside

By the mid-19th century, private clubs became popular across London, especially around Pall Mall, offering bars, libraries, billiards rooms, gambling rooms, bedrooms, and discreet spaces for influential networking. The model persisted for more than a century, with clubs concentrated behind heavy doors in Mayfair and Soho for a vetted few. Recently, more clubs have opened in the past five years than in the decades after the 1985 Groucho Club opening. Club culture is increasingly moving away from dense urban settings toward sprawling estates, destination spas, and wellness programs. Nobu Hospitality is launching Nobu Woolfox in Rutland, featuring lake-view rooms, a Nobu restaurant and bar, a spa, and branded residences as a destination and members club.

"More than 400 opened across London, mostly on the streets surrounding Pall Mall, giving rise to its nickname of 'Clubland.' Housed in grand Palladian mansions, they formed the blueprint still associated with private members' clubs today: bars, libraries, billiards rooms, private rooms for gambling, bedrooms for those who required them, and dimly lit corners where London's political and professional classes could make influential connections."

"As Knight Frank pointed out in its Guide to Private Members Clubs report, more clubs have opened in the past five years than during the three decades following the 1985 opening of the Groucho Club. And while they show no sign of slowing down for the rest of the 2020s, increasingly, Britain's club culture is leaving the city behind and swapping urban indulgence for sprawling estates, destination spas, and wellness programs."

"The latest to ride this wave comes from Nobu Hospitality, announcing its first countryside retreat by taking its members' club model out of London and into the rural landscapes of Rutland in England's East Midlands. Though no timeline has been given just yet, when the doors to Nobu Woolfox do open, the 185-acre site will host lake-view rooms, a signature Nobu restaurant and bar, spa, and branded residences, positioning itself as both "a destination and members club"."

""Nobu Woolfox is the opportunity to experience the Nobu lifestyle in a completely new environment," co-founder Chris Riddle tells Elite Travele r. "Rather than the bustling energy typically associated with urban destinations, this retreat will cent""

Read at Elite Traveler