There is a large and well fitted spa area. Like that of the Cape Town One & Only this is beautifully tailored but lacking the stylishness of the spa in the nearby Intercontinental Mar Menor,which was designed very effectively using the Moorish traditions of this part of Spain.

Sometimes it is difficult to understand how a company can create such a beautiful interior a few miles down the road and instead of improving on it come up with something so lacking in the same sense of style. Not that this is badly designed - far from it, it is just a little lacking in personality.

The combination of Spa and Golf is, I believe a winning combination allowing golfers to play and partners to enjoy relaxation and treatments. Combine it with the facilites for business meetings and conferences (see Celtic Manor for another example) as well as almost endless sunshine in a large community sharing these enthusiasms and the hotel should be a money-making machine for the operator.

The design here is very effective in its planning but the design just falls short of creating a truly stylish hotel. With the right management and staff this is not an insuperable problem. Intercontinental is the world's largest hotel operator, and will surely add to the property's effectiveness as it has done so often elsewhere.





Words and Pictures ŠPatrick Goff
After a visit in May 2009