West Palm Beach has a new indoor padel club on Okeechobee Boulevard, and if you live in Palm Beach County your first hour on court costs nothing. DUS Padel opened on October 4 at 2031 Okeechobee Blvd with six indoor courts, a recovery spa with saunas and salt-water cold plunges, an organic café and a pro shop, all under one roof and open every day from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.

What is actually inside

The building is big. The club leased 26,500 square feet for what its broker, Stream Realty Partners, described as the company's first indoor location in Florida, and founder Philippe Urreiztieta is a Palm Beach County native. The club's own location page calls this its first club, period.

The six courts break down as five doubles courts and one singles court. That singles court matters more than it sounds: padel is overwhelmingly a doubles game, and DUS says its single-player court is the only one in Palm Beach County. Each court carries a sponsor's name, so you may find yourself booking the Saint James Iced Tea Court, which doubles as the championship court, or the Lucid Motors Court for singles.

Off the courts, there are separate men's and women's spa suites, each with a sauna, a salt-water cold plunge, lockers and showers. A recovery room has compression loungers, percussion massage and heat, and there is a mirrored mobility studio with stationary bikes, free weights and kettlebells. The café pours specialty coffee, matcha, smoothies and fresh juices, and a small grocer stocks snacks and packaged goods. The pro shop is stocked by NOX, and you can rent a racket for $10 or demo a premium one for $25, with the demo fee credited if you buy within 30 days.

The free hour, and why it is the smart way in

Padel looks like tennis played inside a glass box, and the walls are the part that confuses newcomers. That is exactly what the club's Intro to Padel session covers: the serve, playing the ball off the walls, the scoring and your first real point. It runs every day, lasts 60 minutes with a DUS pro, takes up to four players per pro, and includes rackets and balls. It is free for Palm Beach County residents, member or not, once per person, according to the club's Play page.

That matters because the alternative is guessing. After the intro, the pro places you in a level, and clinics, drills and lessons are labeled Beginner, Intermediate or Advanced, so you are not thrown into a match with someone who has been playing in Spain for a decade.

What it costs if you keep going

Court time is priced per player. A 60-minute doubles booking is $35 a person at peak hours (weekday mornings from 7 to 10, weekday evenings from 4 to 10, and all weekend) and $28 off-peak, which is weekdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. A 90-minute peak slot is $50 a person. Anyone can book up to seven days ahead in the Playtomic app; you do not need a membership to play, and every program is open to the public.

Memberships are $225 a month with a six-month commitment, or $2,250 a year, which works out to $187.50 a month. Both include unlimited spa access, 40 percent off court bookings, 10 percent off lessons, the café and the pro shop, a longer booking window and three spa guest passes a month, per the membership page. If you only want the saunas and cold plunges, a Daily Amenities Pass is $75 for adults 18 and older.

You do not need to bring three friends

The quiet problem with any doubles sport is finding a fourth. DUS answers that with a weekly lineup of hosted sessions where a pro balances the courts by level: a Beginner Americano on Monday nights at 7, a Women's Rally on Tuesdays at 6, the Wednesday Night Tournament at 6, a king-and-queen-of-the-court format called The Crown on Thursdays, a Friday social, a Saturday morning series at 8 for intermediate and advanced players, and a Sunday mixer at 4:30 aimed at beginners. Coached clinics run most mornings and evenings, and the week's exact times live in Playtomic.

Kids are in too. Children's Fundamentals covers ages 3 to 5 in 45-minute sessions with up to six children per coach, and the Junior Academy takes players from 6 to 17, grouped four to a court by age and ability. Junior rackets rent at half price. Teens can hold a membership from 16 with a parent signing, though the saunas and plunges stay 18 and up.

Getting there

The club sits a short drive west of downtown West Palm Beach, with free parking on site, accessible spaces and a wheelchair-accessible building. The name, by the way, is pronounced like deuce, the 40-40 tie in tennis and padel. Questions go to (561) 606-0274 or [email protected], and the club's homepage has booking links.

For anyone in the county who has heard friends rave about padel and wondered whether it is worth the fuss, this is the lowest-risk test available: a free hour with a coach, a borrowed racket and no commitment. If it clicks, there is a game to join most nights of the week, a short drive from downtown. If it does not, you are out nothing but the drive.