A New Chapter on an Old Fairway: Inside the Hyatt Regency Vilamoura Algarve
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Today
For more than three decades, the hotel at the heart of Vilamoura’s golfing quarter was known simply as the Dom Pedro. In early 2026, that chapter closed and a new one began: following a top-to-bottom renovation, the property reopened as the Hyatt Regency Vilamoura Algarve, ahead of its original schedule. It’s a rebrand with real substance behind it, not just a new sign over the door, and for golfers who’ve long treated Vilamoura as a second home, it’s worth understanding exactly what’s changed — and what hasn’t.
From Dom Pedro to Hyatt: A Resort Reborn
The transformation is a joint effort between Hyatt and DETAILS, the hospitality group now managing the wider Vilamoura sports and leisure offering, including the Vilamoura Equestrian Centre and a renewed push to bring international showjumping back to the region. The hotel itself has emerged with 257 fully renovated rooms and suites spread across nine floors, every one fitted with air conditioning, a minibar, and a bathtub — small details, but ones that matter after a long day chasing a scramble score around four different courses.
What hasn’t changed is the location, and that’s really the point. The hotel sits in the heart of Vilamoura, a short walk from the marina and close to the golden sweep of Praia da Falésia, one of the most photographed beaches on the Algarve coast. Faro Airport is roughly a 25-minute drive away, which keeps travel days mercifully short for anyone flying in from the UK, Ireland, or elsewhere in Europe for a long weekend of golf.
The Golf: Four Courses, One Free Shuttle
This is the detail that separates the Hyatt Regency Vilamoura from a merely well-located beach hotel: it functions as the unofficial clubhouse for Vilamoura’s own cluster of DETAILS-operated courses — Old Course, Pinhal, Laguna, and Millennium — all reachable by a complimentary shuttle laid on for guests. A further shuttle, available for groups of four or more, extends to Quinta do Lago and Vale do Lobo, opening up the wider east Algarve without ever needing to hire a car.
Each of the four home courses has its own character. Millennium is the most forgiving of the group, with open fairways that suit golfers still building confidence. Pinhal demands more precision, threading tree-lined fairways and undulating greens through dense pine forest. Laguna leans into a links-style test, with wider fairways but water hazards positioned to punish anything loose. And then there’s the Old Course — the resort’s crown jewel and, at over half a century old, a genuine piece of Algarve golf history.
The Old Course: The Algarve’s “Grande Dame”
Designed by the English architect Frank Pennink and opened in 1969, the Old Course is the second-oldest golf course in the Algarve and the original layout at Vilamoura. Pennink set out to build something that would remind British visitors of the great inland parkland courses back home, and the result — a par-73 track winding through mature umbrella pines, with barely a house in sight — has more than lived up to that ambition. It hosted the Portuguese Open in 1976, underwent a sympathetic remodel by Martin Hawtree in the mid-1990s, and had its bunkers, tees, and playing surfaces refreshed again as recently as 2024, all without disturbing Pennink’s original routing. The clubhouse, too, has been reimagined, now home to a British-inspired gastropub that pays tribute to the architect himself. It’s the kind of course where shot-shaping and placement matter more than raw distance — precisely the test Pennink intended.
Beyond the Fairway: Dining, Wellness, and Downtime
The hotel’s signature restaurant, Brasa Coastal Steakhouse, centers its menu around charcoal-grilled meats and fresh seafood, drawing on the produce and flavours of the southern Portuguese coast — a fitting anchor for a property that trades heavily on its coastal setting. Two bars and a heated outdoor pool, kept warm through the winter months, round out the main leisure offering, while a new spa featuring a sauna, jacuzzi, and treatment rooms is set to open on-site later in 2026.
For golfers travelling with family, or simply looking to unwind after a testing back nine, the resort has leaned into lighter, social activities: a petanque court, a mini-golf area, and a beach volleyball setup all feature among the amenities, alongside the more expected fitness centre. Parking is plentiful too, with 140 spaces including four EV charging points — a practical touch for the growing number of guests arriving by electric rental car.
Vilamoura Beyond the Hotel
Golf may be the draw, but Vilamoura rewards guests who venture beyond the courses. The marina remains one of the most vibrant stretches of the Algarve, lined with yachts, boutique shops, and waterfront restaurants that come alive in the evening. History enthusiasts can walk to the Cerro da Vila archaeological site, where Roman-era ruins — including mosaics and the remains of a fish-salting factory — offer a quiet counterpoint to the resort’s modern energy. And with more than 70% of the wider Algarve coastline protected as nature reserve, the region rewards anyone willing to look up from the scorecard for a moment.
Why It Matters for Golf Travellers
The Hyatt name brings an international loyalty program and a new standard of polish to a hotel that already had the two things golf travellers care about most: a genuinely excellent home course on the doorstep, and easy access to three more. What the rebrand adds is a refreshed product to match — renovated rooms, a stronger dining identity, and a spa on the way — without disturbing the layout of Old Course itself or the ease of that four-course shuttle system that has made this corner of Vilamoura a golf destination in its own right for over fifty years.
