SESIMBRA, SETUBAL, TROIA & COMPORTA HOTELS
The best places to stay for golf holidays south of Lisbon.

The Aroeira resort has gradually grown in status over the last two decades or so.  Originally 18-holes and some houses, then a second course added along with a few more residences, finally an hotel to complete the picture.  It's not the most touristic of spots to be honest, more a suburb of Lisbon, but it is a very convenient and pracical location for golf close to the capital city.

Bright and breezy throughout, from the spacious reception through to the bar area, the Aroeira Hotel offers good value accommodation for golfers and surfers visiting the Alentejo region.

Bedrooms are adequately-sized and on the ground they open out towards the pool area; bathrooms are all fresh and bright - as you might expect from such a modern hotel.

There is a large bar area on the first-floor and downstairs, at pool-level, a good restaurant too. There are a couple of other options for dining over the road at the small shopping centre; other restaurants however, will involve the use of a driver.

The Montado golf resort lies just a little outside Setubal but handily placed for the main roads so getting to Riba and the other golf courses around Setubal is relatively easy.  It's an unfussy kind of golf hotel that offers exceptional value for playing its own rather good golf course, plus easy access to Riba and Aroeira.

The hotel is encircled by its own course, which is an entertaining test of golf and after your round you can reflect on your performance from the comfort of your balcony overlooking the still waters of the 18^th lake.

The hotel has an indoor pool and small spa area, a friendly little Clubhouse bar and a very good restaurant.  For dining out, a short drive into Setubal will be required due to the resorts isolated location.  Oenophiles should note that there are several of Portugal's finest vineyards close by.

Sesimbra is an older style Portuguese beach resort that has catered to thousands upon thousands of tourists over the years looking to profit from its stretch of sunny sandy beach.  The Hotel do Mar has one of the prime positions, at the western end of town cascading down the hillside to the sea.  The way the hotel is built backing into the hillside assures every room of a sea-view, if your room has a balcony so much the better (most rooms do at a small supplement).

Although an older hotel, the founder's family still run it and lavish sufficient care and attention on their pride and joy that it is always in tip top shape.  There is also an indoor pool in the spa area plus sauna and treatments available.

From the restaurant and bar with its wooden verandah there are lovely views over the long sandy beach and pool.  Lying to the West of Setubal, Sesimbra is well placed for the Quinta do Peru, Aroeira, Troia and Montado golf courses, getting across to the 36-holes at Riba will take a little longer, but the main roads and motorway are good.

If all you need for your golf holiday in Portugal is a simple, clean and tidy hotel that is surrounded by good golf and good restaurants, then the Esperenca Centro in the centre of Setubal (practically opposite the Troia ferry) will fit your bill nicely.
No pool or restaurant at this business-like hotel but there are many places to wine and dine in the streets all around the hotel.

For a totally relaxed, beach-bum style, golf holiday the sleepy little village of Comporta amidst the wetlands, paddy-fields and long sandy beaches at the foot of the Troia peninsula is the best place in Europe.  Here, the best (only) place to stay in town is the new AlmaLusa Hotel, which sprung-up in 2022.  Here you can enjoy the tranquility of the Alentejo region with the odd touch of Ibiza from the rooftop bar.

The AlmaLusa has a very relaxed feel to its horseshoe of rooms around the central pool and sundeck.  Beach bamboo seems to sprout from every corner of the place and surrounds the small patios outside some of the rooms.  The standard bedrooms are quite compact; for a longer stay we would recommend looking at some of their larger bedrooms.

The hotel has a good restaurant/breakfast room on the ground floor, plus an all-day café should you need a shot of caffeine.  In the Summer months the bar moves upstairs to the roof-top terrace where sundowners are accompanied by music most evenings: totally tropical.  For dining out, there are three-or-four other restaurants in Comporta, which are very good and all our benefitting from the recent influx of tourists due to the Dunas da Comporta golf course.

Should you be considering a week or two in the Portuguese sunshine then a few of the Suites at the AlmaLusa Hotel are equipped with a small kitchenette.  Not really enough to throw a dinner-party but extremely useful for a little light self-catering.

If you can't get enough of the magical Troia and/or the amazing new Compota Dunas golf courses, then staying south of the Sado river on the Troia peninsula is the place to be.  At the very tip of the Troia peninsula is the recent marina development, where the shiny-new Troia Design Hotel towers over the boats in the harbour looking across the estuary to Setubal on the far bank.

The Troia Design Hotel is thoroughly modern, with a glittering atrium-style interior to its fifteen floors of modern, spacious bedrooms.  All of these have a sea-view as the place is surrounded by water!  Parking is easy too, with an enormous underground car-park (make sure you park in the right section or you'll have a bit of a walk!).

The hotel has a very upmarket restaurant on the ground floor, serving a truly gastronomic menu in its minimalist setting.  There is a good bar area too where lighter fayre is available in the height of the season.  Outside, around the quay, you will find half-a-dozen other establishments ranging from burger bars and grills to fine fisheries.  There is also the foot-ferry that departs from in front of the hotel, should you fancy a day or a night-out in Setubal.

The Design Hotel is a great place to relax post-golf with two large swimming pools (indoor and outdoor), sun decks for bronzing and an extensive spa with whirlpool, sauna, hammam and all manner of treatments available: plus sandy beaches within strolling distance for a dip in the Sado or the Atlantic - sweet or salty, the choice is yours!