Few things work up an appetite like a day on the fairways. Combine great golf and glorious gastronomy at these world-class resorts.
Camiral Golf & Wellness, Spain
Camiral Golf & Wellness, less than an hour from Barcelona, is one of Spain’s leading luxury golf resorts. As well as two championship golf courses, a luxury 5-star hotel, contemporary 4-star hotel and a state-of-the-art Wellness Centre, the quality of food here reflects the famed local gastronomic scene of Catalunya.
1477 Restaurant is based on locally-sourced ingredients cooked over the grill where diners can pick from a variety of meats and fish, while the Club Cafe is the resort’s informal clubhouse bistro which offers local favourites with a sunny terrace overlooking the Stadium Course. Bella’s has a Mediterranean-inspired menu that includes freshly made rustic pizzas, the Lounge Bar serves local Catalan dishes and bar food as well as a menu of exclusive cocktails, and the Pool Bar offers poolside snacks.
The resort also has its own vineyards and produces white, rosé, and red wines with organic certification. Guest can enjoy wine tasting with experts and visit the other wineries of the Emporda Wine Route, one of the richest wine routes in Spain which surrounds the resort.
Monte Rei is an exclusive residential resort with villas and clubhouse residences set in acres of picturesque countryside with views of the Serra do Caldeirao mountains and the Atlantic Ocean. The resort is home to a superb Jack Nicklaus signature golf course which opened in 2007, rated by us as Portugal‘s finest.
The resort also boasts Michelin-starred dining. Under the direction of Executive Chef Executive Chef André Simão, Monte Rei has become a gastronomic destination offering a great variety of superb dining experiences, both relaxed and formal. The main restaurant, Vistas Monte Rei, has earned one Michelin star and offers a complete gourmet experience using fresh, locally sourced ingredients to create gastronomic delights overlooking the golf course with a beautiful terrace.
The Grill offers leisurely lunch, afternoon tea or casual evening meals, while Veranda is the poolside restaurant and bar serving cocktails, lunch, BBQ and dinner, mixing Mediterranean and international cuisine. For wine lovers, there’s an impressive wine cellar which will take you on a journey through the wine regions of Portugal.
Cabot Bordeaux, France
Cabot Bordeaux is a premier lifestyle resort for golf, food and wine enthusiasts with two internationally acclaimed 18-hole courses nestled in the vineyards of Medoc in southwest France. Bordeaux is arguably the world’s wine capital with 250,000 acres of vineyards producing a diverse range of award-winning wines. The city itself, just half an hour from the resort, is full of museums and castles, cobblestone streets and Michelin-starred food.
The refined Restaurant Le Club at the resort has a spacious terrace and floor-to-ceiling windows with views of both golf courses. It’s a lovely setting to enjoy regional Southwestern French cuisine. The food is influenced by the culinary traditions of the Atlantic coast and inland Bordeaux and is based on local produce, classic methods and flavours, and with more than 130 wines from the Médoc vineyards, the wine cellar awaits to masterfully enhance your culinary experience.
Borgo Egnazia, Italy
Borgo Egnazia in the scenic town of Savelletri in Puglia is a five-star retreat built to resemble a traditional Italian village, with a spa, two private beaches, four pools and a superb array of restaurants including the Michelin-starred Due Camini. The resort overlooks the superb San Domenico 18-hole championship golf course.
Under the direction of chef Domingo Schingaro, Due Camini serves traditional Puglian flavours prepared with a modern twist. Its famed cuisine has earned one star and also offers tasting menus and chef’s table experiences.
The resort is also home to La Frasca with its informal rustic local dishes, seafood restaurant Calamasciola, vegetarian restaurant La Calce, poolside all-day traditional Puglian cuisine at Portico, kids restaurant Frisella, and the pizzeria A Pizzerì. Whichever your choice, the focus is on seasonality and the wine lists are filled with bottles from local producers.
Meldrum House, Scotland
Meldrum House Country Hotel & Golf Course is set in a 13th-century manor in 240 acres of Aberdeenshire countryside. It’s famous for whisky, the Knights Golf Course – one of the finest parkland courses in Scotland – and its outdoor ‘dome dining’.
Led by renowned executive chef Alan Clarke, it’s one of Scotland’s top destinations for foodies. Enjoy afternoon tea or a casual lunch or supper at 1236 @ The Cave Bar, dinner in the award-winning Pineapple Grill & Seafood Restaurant, or eat with friends in one of the private dining rooms. There’s also a great Sunday Roast and excellent clubhouse dining.
Guests can also enjoy bespoke lunch, dinner and drinks in one of the four futuristic private dining domes, which have stunning views across the estate. The domes are heated or air-conditioned depending on the weather, and guests are bathed in natural light in the day, and then at night the stars come out. Or try whisky tasting and mix and match with food at the 800-year-old Cave Bar. It has over 120 whiskies including the world’s largest collection of Glen Garioch’s.
