Gallery
Photos courtesy of Vale do Lobo and Dona Filipa · JJW Hotels, for exclusive use on this page.
Dona Filipa Hotel 5★ · Vale do Lobo · Algarve
On hole 16 of the Royal, everyone stops. The green is in full view before you swing: two hundred and twenty-four metres, a ravine in front, three red sandstone cliffs dropping to the Atlantic and no way out to the left. It's one of the most photographed par 3s in Europe, and for almost everyone who makes it here, it's the reason they came. Both courses come from the same hand, Sir Henry Cotton's, three-time British Open champion. The Royal — which he started and Rocky Roquemore finished — is the demanding one, with that 16th waiting at the end. The Ocean, entirely his, runs down to the sea more gently: the 15th hugs the beach and the 11th has a blind tee shot. It all happens in the Golden Triangle, the band of pines and villas between Almancil, Quinta do Lago and Vilamoura where European golf spends the winter. In January the average temperature hovers around twelve degrees and frost is a rarity. Almancil, home to the region's fine dining, is ten minutes away; the beach, two hundred metres from the hotel door.
Gallery
Photos courtesy of Vale do Lobo and Dona Filipa · JJW Hotels, for exclusive use on this page.
from €630
One round on each course, the way to find out which Cotton you prefer. With the transfer to the course included and complimentary coffee and cake at daily check-in. And an afternoon at Morgado do Quintão, forty minutes inland: four estate wines at four o'clock, and back in time for dinner.
from €1,070
Three rounds, with the option to swap one for Ombria, half an hour inland and with a shared buggy included. Two free days for the Ria Formosa or for staying on the beach. The day without golf fills itself: a three-course lunch with the estate's wines at Morgado do Quintão's long table, a winery the same family has run since 1810.
from €1,460
The full week in the Golden Triangle. Four rounds spread out, and three days for Almancil, Loulé and the cliffs. If your companion doesn't play, their green fees can be swapped for four Royal Spa visits. And both sides of the winery: the afternoon tasting after a round, and lunch among the vines on the day without golf.
Per person in a Classic double room, bed and breakfast · low season · minimum stay of three nights.
There's an Algarve you can't see from the coast. Forty minutes away, between Silves and Lagoa, the family behind Morgado do Quintão has worked the same estate since 1810: vines, olives and almonds, with a thousand-year-old olive tree among the vines and a long table set beneath it. No tasting room, no counter; you eat and drink where it's grown. From two thousand to twenty thousand bottles a year within four, chasing a different idea of Algarve wine. Included in the price of all three stays, and the four o'clock one doesn't cost anyone a hole.
The three stays share the same hotel — the Dona Filipa, right on the beach in Vale do Lobo — so from the same hotel you can also play the courses from the other two central-Algarve fiches: mix and match as you like. On top of that, we book and quote everything else firm: Almancil's fine dining, ten minutes away; the hotel spa; the Ria Formosa boardwalks and a boat ride through the channels; Faro, Loulé and their markets; and, at the estate, whatever doesn't fit into one afternoon — the cooking class with the chef, which starts by choosing produce at Silves market, or oysters with sparkling wine at sunset. Tell us who's travelling and what they feel like. Designing your bespoke trip costs nothing: the initial proposal and one revision. From the third version onward, finalising the itinerary costs €100, fully deducted from your trip's price if you book it with us.
From €630 per person
Depending on the stay chosen: from €630 (Both Cottons, 3 nights), from €1,070 (Ombria, 5 nights), or from €1,460 (The Cliff, 7 nights). Per person in a double room, low season, minimum stay of three nights.
Handicap certificate required at courses that ask for one. Hotel-to-course transfers are included and tee times are locked in before you travel. The winery experience is booked together with the stay, is conducted in English, and the estate is not fully adapted for reduced mobility: if anyone in your group needs this, let us know when booking and we'll check before confirming anything.
A 30% deposit is due on confirmation, non-refundable, with the rest due 45 days before arrival. Cancellation fees: 30% up to 45 days out, 50% from 45 to 31 days, and 100% from 30 days out, for no-shows or early departures. Cancelling within 14 days of booking, with more than 60 days still to go before arrival, refunds everything paid, deposit included. We recommend taking out cancellation insurance. Full conditions at ophirtravel.com/politicas_condiciones/condiciones.
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