GOLF HOLIDAYS IN JEREZ & CADIZ
The best hotels for Costa de la Luz golfbreaks.

Quintessentially Jerez, an old convent in the very centre of the city that has been turned into a simple, yet very stylish little hotel.  The lobby is quite literally inspirational, with its huge statue of Christ dominating your check-in and the café/bar in the old chapel would stun the average nun.

Bedrooms are arranged on three floors around  central, inaccessible, courtyard.  They are clean and simple with modern furnishings.  The Itaca Jerez hotel has a restaurant on the ground floor for breakfast and a limited evening menu; but the centre of Jerez, with its multifarious restaurants is only five minutes away on foot.

The famous Cathedral and Alcazar fortress are in the centre of town too, as are most of the major sherry producers: who could possibly come to Jerez without a tasting?

Unfortunately there is no car park at the hotel (nuns rarely drove it seems) so you will have to take pot-luck in the streets around or public car parks: however there is a baggage room on the ground floor if you wish to bring your clubs indoors overnight.

Montenmedio is a very small, very classy, golf resort away to the South of Cadiz with 18-holes on-site and within easy reach of the other coastal golf courses along the Costa de la Luz.

The old hacienda-style buildings of the olive estate have been turned into a very boutique hotel with antique furnishings throughout that engender a feel of old Spain.

There is a healthy breakfast on offer each day on the sunny/shady patio beside the Clubhouse and the restaurant offers superb Spanish cuisine in the evening.  Should you wish to dine out, it will entail quite a drive to the nearest restaurant; we would suggest unwinding at Montenmedio instead and let the food come to you!

For further relaxation, the hotel also has a secluded pool, where you can while away a post-round hour or two.  Alternatively, you could sharpen-up your putting skills on the billiard-table-esque Green outside the Montenmedio Clubhouse.

Just half-an-hour inland from Jerez, well away from the crowds that flock to the Costa del Sol, Montecastillo is at the centre of a little golfing hideaway, where you will normally find peace and quiet, unless there's a race at the neighbouring Grand Prix circuit!

The old Castillo has been extended into a modern hotel that starts with crenellated turrets and ends with the small villas alongside the golf course.  There ia a total of 121 bedrooms and Suites in the hotel, plus one and two-bedroomed villas available for those who like their independence.

After your round, the choice of two restaurants will replenish your energy levels: the relaxed "Jardin de Invierno" for a light dinner and the gastronomic "El Lagar" with its own twist on Andalusian cuisine.  Before venturing into either, why not take a moment to relax in Ricardo's bar?  Aka the 19th.

The external Spa building features indoor and outdoor pools, Jacuzzi, steam rooms, and just to make doubly sure that you leave with a bit of colour - a solarium.  A full range of massage beauty and physiotherapy treatments are also available.

Arcos Gardens is more of a luxury golf retreat than a golf resort: there is no hotel per se, instead the accommodation is either in two-bedroom townhouses that run alongside the 18^th Fairway or three to five-bedroomed self-contained villas that are a little further from the Clubhouse.  The latter doubles as the reception/bar/restaurant for the resort.  The whole development sits a few miles from the pretty Spanish village of Arcos de la Frontera, a spectacular sight clinging to a steep escarpment. Here there is a surprising number of restaurants to choose from for what is quite a small town.

The townhouses are right alongside the course, running out from close to the Clubhouse along the 18^th Fairway.  Only completed in 2010, they are modern, well furnished and well equipped for self-catering if you so wish, although breakfast is available in the Clubhouse each morning and the restaurant is open in the evening. Each townhouse has two bedrooms and two bathrooms, a roomy kitchen, and sitting room with dining area: ideal for up to four golfers in comfort.  Although there is no pool for the townhouses at the moment, just the small Clubhouse spa areas.

The villas at Arcos Gardens are even more spacious and luxurious than the apartments, with the same modern style of decor and furnishings.  Each villa stands on its own plot of land with a private pool, across the golf course from the Clubhouse; so a good stroll to the bar and restaurant (and breakfast!). The villas have three, four or five en-suite bedrooms, ideal for up to ten golfers.  There is a full size kitchen, sitting room and a dining area - so plenty of room to spread yourselves out, or maybe throw a spontaneous dinner party?

If you would like a Spanish city-break-with-golf-swimming-and-seafood in one of Spain's most enchanting cities, Cadiz is the place for you. Surrounded by water on all sides it has a unique maritime ambience that is hard to find anywhere else. We would recommend staying in the very stylish Parador at the tip of the peninsula with its enormous swimming pools and spa or the centrally located, Riyadh-styled Senator hotel (if swimming and sunbathing isn't your thing!).