Not since pickleball stormed American driveways has a racquet sport generated this much noise—but padel is playing a very different game. Once dominant in Spain and Latin America, the sport now counts more than 35 million players across 150 countries, with a new club opening somewhere in the world every two and a half hours. Rolex, Prada, and Lamborghini have entered the space as sponsors. Jay-Z, David Beckham, and Leonardo DiCaprio have all been photographed with rackets in hand. The core demographic skews 26 to 50, globally mobile, design-forward—less country club tennis, more post-New York Fashion Week energy. Where golf spent decades building an entire travel industry around itself, padel is doing the same… just a whole lot faster.
Hotels have noticed. From the Puente Romano on Marbella's Golden Mile to Rocco Forte's Verdura Resort in Sicily, the world's top properties are installing courts and building programming around the sport. The question is no longer whether padel belongs in luxury hospitality—it's who's going to define what that looks like.
Enter Privé Passport. Launched by Privé Padel—best known for its flagship courts at the Montauk Yacht Club—it's a first-of-its-kind global membership platform that uses padel as a gateway to 40+ top-tier hotels across 15+ countries, including properties within Leading Hotels of the World and The World's 50 Best Hotels. At $595 a year, it pairs court access with immersive, destination-led experiences: wine blending in Bordeaux, whale watching in Madagascar, swimming with horses in Indonesia. We sat down with founder Chris Moore to find out how it all came together—and where it's going.
The following is an interview between HAP’s Social Editor Noah Cortez and Chris Moore, founder of Privé Padel.
Noah: Padel is exploding globally right now. What made you see it as the perfect vehicle for a luxury travel membership, rather than just a sport?
Chris: I actually noticed this trend when we opened our flagship location in Montauk. Because we were located at a resort, we started realizing that many of our players were specifically choosing to stay there because of the padel courts on property. As we got to know our clients more, we learned they were already traveling for the sport—whether it was Bali and Marbella for padel retreats, or to visit other padel destinations around the world. People were genuinely planning trips around padel itself. It makes sense. Padel is such an addictive sport, and the community is incredibly passionate about it. Players want to be able to play wherever they are. Privé Passport simply allows them to do that at the highest level.
Noah: Luxury hospitality has spent years chasing wellness, then sustainability, then hyper-personalization. Do you see padel as the next major amenity shift, and what does that mean for how hotels design their programming going forward?
Chris: I wouldn’t necessarily call it a shift as much as a natural progression. As hospitality continues moving further toward wellness-focused travel, guests are increasingly going to seek out activities like padel. It’s social, active, health-oriented, and genuinely addictive once people start playing. Any hotel with the space should absolutely consider installing a court. It’s a real differentiator and a great way to attract a wellness-focused guest demographic that’s continuing to grow.
Noah: Was there a specific trip or moment that made you think, “This is what travel should feel like, and it doesn’t exist yet”?
Chris: Yes. I was extremely fortunate to grow up traveling the world with my family, as my parents were members of an incredible luxury vacation club that allowed us to stay at some truly amazing destinations. From a very young age, I developed an appreciation for exceptional hospitality and experiences. I think the most impactful trip for me was one summer when we traveled through the South of France and Italy. We started at the Hôtel Martinez in Cannes, followed by a week traveling the Mediterranean and Amalfi Coast by boat, visiting incredible coastal towns along the way. We then finished the trip in Rome, with shorter stays in Florence and Venice, where we stayed at the Hotel Danieli. It was three weeks of incredible service, amazing food, beautiful design, and unforgettable daily experiences. Those memories absolutely stayed with me, especially when we started building out the “Padel Experiences” side of Privé Passport. I think a lot of what we’re creating comes from wanting to recreate that feeling for other people.
Noah: "Sport as a gateway to culture" is a bold idea. Can you walk us through what a perfect Privé Passport day actually looks like, from the court to the experience itself?
Chris: The perfect Privé Passport day probably comes from one of our upcoming “Padel Experiences.” This fall, we’re bringing a group of members to Château de Lussac in Bordeaux for a four-day retreat centered around padel and immersion in the Saint-Émilion lifestyle, with a major focus on the vineyard and wine culture surrounding the château. I love the itinerary for Day 2 specifically: a morning padel clinic with our Privé pro that will be traveling with the group, followed by an afternoon vineyard tour by bicycle through Saint-Émilion. Then ending the evening with dinner at a Michelin-starred restaurant in town. That’s really what we’re trying to create. Padel becomes the entry point into an incredible cultural and hospitality experience.
Noah: You've curated some extraordinary experiences: swimming with horses in Indonesia, whale watching in Madagascar, wine blending in Bordeaux. How do you find these moments, and who's designing them?
Chris: As we built relationships with each of our hotel partners, we naturally started identifying the properties with the most exceptional settings and experiences surrounding them. These three really stood out and inspired us to build immersive retreats around them. We work directly with the hotel teams because they know their property and local culture best. Together, we develop itineraries that feel deeply connected to the destination itself. For example, whale watching in Madagascar only scratches the surface. That retreat is actually an eight-day experience that includes visiting a pirate cemetery, quad biking to natural pools, jungle excursions, daily snorkeling in some of the most incredible reefs in the world, and beachside dinners prepared directly on the sand. As for the padel side, Dan Gottlieb, our Director of Performance & Padel Experience, builds the programming around the trip. That includes daily instruction, clinics, match play, and ultimately a tournament at the end where guests can showcase what they’ve learned throughout the week.
Noah: You've built a network of 40+ world-class hotels across 15+ countries. What qualities does a hotel need to have to earn a spot in the Privé ecosystem?
Chris: Well most importantly, they need to have a padel court. We do make exceptions for urban hotels because it can obviously be difficult to have courts directly on property. In those cases, we partner with a top local club nearby. Beyond padel, we’re really looking for five-star resorts that place a strong emphasis on wellness, culinary experiences, and local culture. That’s where our “Padel Experiences” really stand out. We’re looking for destinations that can provide a complete itinerary, not just great padel, but every incredible aspect of the property and surrounding area as well. I truly believe every hotel in our portfolio has that to offer. If I had it my way, we’d be organizing retreats at every single one.
Noah: Leading Hotels of the World and The World’s 50 Best Hotels are two of the most selective collections in the industry. What does their participation signal about where the luxury hotel sector thinks experiential travel is heading?
Chris: I think their participation says a lot about the type of guest the modern padel player actually is. Yes, guests are seeking out padel, but they’re also looking for exceptional service, world-class culinary experiences, wellness offerings, beautiful design, and luxury accommodations overall. The overlap between the luxury hospitality traveler and the padel player is much stronger than people initially assume. For hotels within collections like Leading Hotels of the World or The World’s 50 Best Hotels, partnering with us is really an acknowledgment that experiential travel is becoming more activity and community driven. Guests want a reason to travel there and a lifestyle attached to the experience once they arrive. Padel has become one of those reasons.
Noah: There’s a version of this that could feel gimmicky… sport tourism has been tried before. What makes Privé Passport structurally different from what’s come before it, and why does it work now when it might not have five years ago?
Chris: I think the difference is that this isn’t us forcing a concept onto people. There was already a real demand here. Padel players, who I’ve found also tend to be very passionate travelers, genuinely need access to the sport wherever they go. We’re simply solving that problem for them, but doing it through a curated network of properties operating at the highest level of hospitality. I also think timing matters. Five years ago, the infrastructure wasn’t there yet. The sport had not reached the level of global adoption where you could build a truly international hospitality ecosystem around it. Today, you have world-class resorts investing in courts, destinations building programming around the sport, and a rapidly growing player base actively traveling for padel. Once you spend time on our member platform and browse the portfolio, it becomes very clear this is not a gimmick. It’s a carefully curated hospitality offering built around a sport whose audience now deserves something elevated and global.
Noah: Be honest: what’s the most unexpectedly incredible destination in the network right now that people aren’t talking about yet?
Chris: That’s a tough question because I genuinely love them all. But I’ve really had my eye on One&Only Le Saint Géran in Mauritius lately. It looks like an unbelievable property, and it’s definitely near the top of my list as I eventually make my way through visiting all of our hotel partners. Where does this go in five years — is padel still the center of the story, or does Privé Passport evolve into something bigger? I try not to get too far ahead of myself. Padel definitely still needs to remain at the center of the story. That being said, I do think we’re building something that naturally moves toward the broader category of wellness tourism, with padel acting as one branch of a larger ecosystem of reasons for people to travel.
Noah: What’s the one experience in the Privé Passport portfolio you’d do again tomorrow if you could?
Chris: Well, we just launched, so I haven’t personally experienced any of them yet. But based on what we have coming up, I already know I’m going to want to repeat all three over and over again. That being said, I’m particularly excited about the trip to Voaara Madagascar. It just feels incredibly unique and unlike anything else in the portfolio right now.
