REVIEW: SO/ Sotogrande Spa & Golf Resort Hotel – a great option for winter golf

Courses
Almenara golf course

As the temperatures dip in northern Europe it is time for the winter golfing exodus.

Heading south is what golfers like to do and there are few better spots to land in than the south of Spain.

SO/ Sotogrande Spa & Golf Resort Hotel is a great option situated around 70 minutes from Malaga Airport which is itself a destination for multiple airports around the UK and northern Europe.

Golf365 had the chance to check it out and see for ourselves just why it is so popular.

The Hotel

The journey down the coast from Malaga is straightforward and takes us past multiple golf courses, nicely setting us up for the trip ahead.

Located on the Med, with views of the rock of Gibraltar and Morocco across the sea, Sotogrande celebrated its 60th anniversary last year. It is one of Europe’s finest residential destinations and SO/ Sotogrande caters for those wanting a short visit.

Heading up to the resort takes us past Valderrama. It was the venue for the 1997 Ryder Cup and, alongside the Real Club Sotogrande, it makes up the two finest courses in the region (and also in all of Continental Europe).

Arrival is perfect, the car sweeping to reception and, beyond it, we get the first glimpse of home for the next few days.

The hotel is set around central gardens with restaurants and bars beyond, the swimming pools just off them, and the spa down below.

The rooms are fantastic, just a short outdoor walk from the main area and the highlights are that the two absolutes for any good holiday are covered. Number one – the bed is superb.

Number two? One of the great mysteries of swanky hotels is that so many times the showers still leak all over the bathroom floor. The same happens here but it’s planned that way being a wet room. So simple and luxurious.

Food

After checking in we go for lunch at Society Clubhouse. The views are terrific – out across the Med – and the food is superb too. The chicken Caesar salad lifted from excellent to wonderful courtesy of delicious Parmesan crisps. Later in the stay we’ll have terrific tapas on our final afternoon (with the finest Patatas Bravas of the trip – crispy, spicy and garlicky). Meanwhile the Society breakfast is tremendous with a paper bag of pastries, a large glass of orange juice and coffee delivered on arrival, and an a la carte menu of delicious options (the granola was top notch). It wasn’t just us who liked it – Jon Rahm was staying and he was nodding his ascent to the staff at breakfast.

Cortijo Santa Maria 1862 offers an authentic Andalusian gastronomic experience – and experience is also the right word for it. This is not about being fed. It’s about being led on a journey around the region’s food and drink. It’s about picking old favourites and being introduced to many other delicacies entirely new and unexpected.

Beyond the golf

There are two swimming pools to catch the sun and also a fantastic spa with a nice Bohemian feel. There are eight meditative treatment rooms, cryotherapy, flotation, a beauty boutique, a gym, sauna, Turkish bath, indoor pool and jacuzzis. After a round of golf the sheer force of the waterfall in the jacuzzi area might have been the best post-18 hole experience ever.

Further afield Sotogrande has water sports, trekking, cycling, horse riding and The Beach (an inland blue lagoon) to offer.

The golf

Almenara Golf is situated so close to the hotel that you can book a morning tee time, have breakfast, and be on the first tee less than two minutes after bidding “Buena Dias” to the friendly Society waiting staff.

Originally designed by Dave Thomas (responsible for The Belfry), the courses have been renovated by Manuel Pinero (the Spanish Ryder Cup star). There were originally three nines but the third is being transformed into a par-3 course and academy which will turn Almenara into a state of the art coaching facility.

One nine twists through beautiful thick forest. We play in the early morning and it’s perfect. A light mist clears to reveal the Mediterranean, the dew disappears as the sun and temperature rises, the golf course draws us in. It’s a fantastic fun test but you can’t afford to be wild from the tee. I’m not the world’s biggest fan of resort golf and this is right up my street – avenues of trees, hard turf, quick greens, a subtle examination.

We play the second nine on the final day and it’s a little wide from the tee – but not always. First we make our way through the trees before the course opens up to a stretch of holes that skirt the edge of a large, deep lake. These holes call for an aggressive approach – a par five with water down the right, a sharp dog leg that the longer hitters can cut off, a short par-4 that that tempts, a delicious par-3 across another lake.

Conclusion

This is a great option for winter golf. The hotel and spa are superb with great food options and a lovely, intimate bar. Almenara has those two loops to keep you occupied and offer great value with all-you-can-play packages that include three nights at the hotel, unlimited golf at Almenara and 20% off partner golf courses starting at €617.

And if you want to treat yourself SO/ Sotogrande’s great golfing selling point is that it is a gateway to getting tee times at Valderrama and Real Club. The two are otherwise difficult to play so this is a tremendous option for those wanting to taste the best golf in Europe.

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