University Club of Memphis

I have to admit, I was a bit skeptical at first. It is all my friend talks about. We all used to make fun of her, but now I get it. The woman's locker room is the best thing ever. The sauna, the steam room (our personal favorite) and the accessories. This locker room literally has everything you can think of. From razors to toothbrushes, they have ya covered, girlfriend! My friend swears by their spin class early in the morning. She swears by everything of theirs honestly. She is nothing short of obsessed. They have tennis courts, a pool, and so many other things that I can't even get into right now. We had lunch there today and it was so good...and reasonably priced! It came with a huge bread basket that us girls almost devoured. The staff was so sweet as well. Very attentive and welcoming!I could definitely see myself joining this place once I get wifed up ;). I'm single so it may be awhile unfortunately.

I got invited by a member to hang out at the pool and the adults only cabana area. I also got a cheeseburger which was decent but not outstanding. The pool was a nice temperature but apparently you can't have your drinks in the pool so that was a bit of a damper on the fun. Overall it was a decent place and on a hot day a space with a pool and bar seems in short supply in Memphis. If you know of other great pool bar locations in Memphis please do a Yelp list as Memphis Yelp seems to badly need one.

The University Club of Memphis is a lovely home away from home for its members and guests. The membership is more and more diverse all the time. The locker rooms and fitness facilities are the best in the area. If you enjoy tennis, the U-Club has 9 hydro-courts, 2 outside hard courts, and 4 indoor courts which is the best selection in the area. Plus, their pros are long term, dedicated people who love what they do. If you love tennis, this is the best place to play both facility wise and camaraderie wise. The pros are excellent at building a player from scratch, as well. In 2015, the added a new bocce ball and the only full size croquet court in the Memphis area. They also have racquet ball, squash and fatball courts. If you have children, the U-Club is great at catering to families. The summer swim league is a long standing tradition of fun. They have monthly and weekly age appropriate activities for kids whether it's dive in movie night, camp-outs on the lawn, face painting, or childcare for the littles if you are simply trying to have a grown up meal. For Adults, there is a monthly competitive trivia dinner, all types of interesting speakers, book clubs, mahjong and bridge groups, the occasional karaoke night, a running club, and always entertaining tennis round-robins (some are themed, some not). For a business owner like myself, as part of your membership, you can reserve any of the private rooms at no charge. This is great whether you need a room for 6 or 50. There are no minimums on food/ drink for these events either. If you need an 8 hour planning session where you adjourn to the patio for lunch, this is the best place to do it. Plus, the staff are masters at coordinating and helping you with any and all events. Yes, it is a private club but we have found many returns on our University Club investment for our family and our business.

I've been to countless weddings here and they have all been lovely. Apparently they have lowered their membership fees to attract a younger demographic, which seems to be working. The tennis courts are pretty, the ballroom is pretty, the reception area is pretty, everything is pretty. Or lovely. I imagine an older southern woman with a drawl saying "lovely" with the o sounding like a u instead to describe this place. If I was the country club type (which I'm not - shocking, I know), I'd be interested in joining...but I live in East Memphis so this is a little far for me. But this is perfection for the midtown crowd.

If you find yourself with the problem every month of having too much money than you should join a country club such as this one to solve that problem. But chances are if you're reading this it is more so out of curiosity of what goes on beyond that white brick wall so allow me to enlighten you. Back when I was a little younger and a lot more easily impressed I was in an organization whose majority of members were also members here and thus it became the default spot for meetings and big events. There's a small guard house as you pull in, probably to keep out undesirables but I was never once stopped in my old ford escort so it's not hard to get in; officially members do have small car decals indicating their belonging. Think of this as visiting your rich friend's home - hardwood floors, wall paneling, nice furnishings but nothing over the top. It actually has a very warm vibe from the decor. On the main floor are a few studies, one larger and more furnished than the others,the ballroom, a hallway / reception area connecting these and restrooms that are nicer than your average restroom.The ballroom, as you might imagine, is used primarily for parties and weddings. Even at my most easy impress-able phase I can't recall this space as being anything to wow over. Most people that choose this as their reception site do so for the "prestige" of having The University Club of Memphis on their wedding invitation - because these are the types of things that will matter in divorce court 15 years down the road. Seriously, there are much nicer reception spaces available in town. Downstairs is the restaurant and bar. The pool and fitness facilities are average, the facilities at high end gyms such as life time are far superior. The tennis courts are nice and probably the only legitimate reason I could see one actually justifying membership - if of course you play. Point being, it's a nice enough place but you aren't missing much if you've never been. The waitstaff and bartenders are very pleasant and all seem to be of one racial persuasion while the patrons, some of whom are far less pleasant, seem to all be of a different persuasion. If in this day in age that kind of division sits well with you than this is an excellent establishment to join. They even have payment plans for your initiation fee or whatever fancy term they use these days - proof they'll take anybody with a little extra cash who only likes to be in the same room with other people with extra cash.

I come here for a monthly professional meeting. Everything is always neat and clean, and the staff very helpful. Buffet food at lunch is always warm and tasty!

If you are a female and want to play tennis I would not recommend joining. Women's tennis is full of drama and they don't tell you before you join that if you want to play on one their USTA tennis teams (although it is in the rules, but they don't disclose or point that out when they are recruiting people to join) that you have to be hand picked by the Captain so if the Captain does not like you, etc. then you will not have a place on the team, and they can cut the numbers off at any point to prevent someone from joining the team. Women's USTA Tennis is a club within the UClub. A lot of the Captain's pick all of their friends, line their friends up with the best players and if you aren't in their click you will end up filling in the gaps no matter how good you are.