Entrance Fee: Unknown
Club 1930, as the name suggests has no website, not even a telephone number. It, in fact, can only be entered through a secret door in an ominous-looking bar. The next challenge is the doorman, and good luck going through him.
Only then might you reach the mere possibility of gaining a membership card that is only visible under UV light. The interior has been styled to look like a prohibition-era speakeasy — the perfect spot for secret parties and ambitious networking.
The CORE Club, New York
Joining Fee: $50,000 Annual Fees: $15,000
The six-story building in Midtown offers a series of exclusive film screenings and art exhibitions. Members can also enjoy perks from luxury brand partners such as Bulgari and YachtLife, a yacht charter service. Founder Jennie Enterprise created it using the concept of the ‘anti-club.'
The New York Membership costs US$37,900 joining fee, plus annual fees of US$12,900. This is a hub for the ultra-wealthy. Members include folks such as Starbucks Executive Chairman Howard Schultz, fashion designer Kenneth Cole and even Pink Floyd lead singer Roger Waters.
Chicago Yacht Club, Chicago
Joining Fee: Unknown Annual Fee: $4,000
Chicago, Illinois home to the best freshwater sailings in the world, and there is no one place better than and Chicago Yacht Club. This is the club that takes full advantage of that.
The prestigious club hosts the annual Chicago Yacht Club Race to Mackinac, an event that brings over 3,000 sailors from the massive region that stretches along the shores of Lake Michigan and Chicago Harbor Lighthouse. Notable members include Robert Halperin and William Parks, the bronze medalist from the 1960 Olympics.
The Groucho Club, London
Joining Fee: $18,745 (Lifetime Membership) Annual Fee: $31,243
Just becoming a member of London’s Groucho Club costs over $15,000, plus an additional registration fee. The elite women-only club of publishers was established in the 1980s and hails itself as the female answer to the “stuffy gentlemen’s clubs”.
The club prides itself on a “maverick ethos" and expects its members to work in the arts and media. One can only join if they are nominated by two members and approved by the club’s committee.
San Diego Yacht Club, San Diego, California
Joining Fee: $5,000 Annual Fee: Unknown
The San Diego Yacht Club crews and boats have earned the America Cup two times. New York Yacht Club is another club to take home the highly sought after Auld Mug. The club also runs one of the most thriving youth programs in the country, a fantastic training ground for blossoming sailors, which is of course mostly the kids of the more grown-up ones.
Want more? Participate in the Sir Thomas Lipton Cup, a prestigious regatta held annually since 1904. Don't get too excited though, the club limits themselves to only allowing 100 people in its clubhouse.