Why book
In this quiet corner of Spain, you can combine relaxation, wellness, water sports, gastronomy, and culture. The architecture of the resort’s suites and villas creates a feel of intimacy as if you were in your private retreat. When you want to engage with the locals, you can opt to go sailing among the hundreds of dolphins here or instead enjoy some quiet serenity exploring sights in the interior, like the Alcornocales Natural Park, to the south of the verdant Sierra de Grazalema, home of Spain’s largest oak cork forest.
If you like golf and, even better, golf paired with an ocean breeze, then you’ll want to reserve tee times on the Links and Heathland courses designed by Peter Alliss, Clive Clark, and Kurtis Bowman. The courses even have views of the Rock of Gibraltar, the Costa del Sol and, in the distance, Morocco. This part of Spain’s Mediterranean coast, between Sotogrande and La Línea, is less known and less developed than some of the more popular resort areas nearby.
The backstory
Millenium Hospitality Real Estate developed the project to make it the best golf and beach resort in southern Europe. The nine hectares of land include an iconic golf club, and its Links course can already boast that the World Golf Awards have recognised it in the category of best Spanish courses. The property also has direct access to La Alcaidesa beach, a sandy strip that runs for four kilometres and is presided over by the Punta Carbonera lighthouse. The resort’s striking architecture is the work of dAAr studio, with offices in Madrid, Valladolid, and Málaga. The project took six years to complete and consists of a brilliant set of steps and terraces built on a hillside between the main building and the freestanding villas, allowing for uninterrupted views of the sea while blending in with the site’s topography. The earth tones of the setting are combined with landscaping that helps to create a beautiful effect while also providing privacy for guests.
Studio Ibu was responsible for the interiors, which echo the surrounding landscape through the use of natural materials such as Campaspero limestone, noble woods, textiles such as jute and linen, soft prints, and countless perfect details – from small ceramic and glass objects to large canvases. The grand entry into the hotel includes a colossal window overlooking the Mediterranean, making you feel like you could almost touch the sea. In the middle of the space, a sculpture of a whale’s tail sets the mood. Everything in this lobby is larger than life, but at the same time, warm and welcoming with a soothing, understated palette.
The rooms
The hotel has 153 spacious rooms, suites, and 47 villas. The smallest rooms start at 560 square feet, and all have terraces with views of the sea, the golf courses, or the large swimming pool that serves as a sort of social centre for the resort. The suites range from 807 to 3,983 square feet. In comparison, the villa where we stayed is even bigger: 13,616 square feet with three bedrooms (each with its spacious en-suite bathroom), a dressing room, a guest bathroom, a large living room, a fully equipped kitchen with Nespresso coffee machine, dining room, garden, and a private swimming pool. The showers are a highlight. In the villa, ours was by a large window overlooking the garden, and there was also an outdoor shower. The amenities are by Le Labo, specifically from its intoxicating Rose 31 line.
They say that after sleeping in a Fairmont bed, you’ll either want to order one for your home or at least book another stay at a Fairmont hotel. We can confirm they had that effect on us. If you want a Fairmont mattress for your home, you can order one at their online store (though, sadly, the mattresses are only available for delivery in the US).
Food and drink
Drum roll, please… Benito Gómez, one of Spain’s best chefs and the man behind the highly acclaimed Bardal (in Ronda) and the cheerful Tragatá (with its original location in Ronda and a more recent opening in Málaga), is a star of the hotel’s culinary team. Benito is a genius with his own unique character, talent, and boundless curiosity, but he also has little desire to be in the spotlight. Instead, he prefers to stay in the kitchen and make unforgettable dishes. At the Fairmont, he is in charge of the Dalmar restaurant, where his goal is to serve delicious food in a relaxed atmosphere, with many options for sharing created using only the best produce available.
Agur anchovies, sea bass cured in seaweed for three days, tuna belly, and Bardal’s classic oysters in a spicy sauce were the starting courses of an epic dinner. They were followed by an indescribable focaccia with homemade stracciatella, Maresme peas, black trumpet mushrooms and truffles, and a beef duo of beef tartare and a Retinta chop. Other dishes, such as corn soup, eel with leek, and the Landes coquelet, reflect the chef’s mastery of stocks and assertive flavours. Even though the restaurant had just opened, my dinner at Dalmar’s was one of my most memorable meals this year.
There’s no shortage of talent at El Faro de la Hacienda, open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The very friendly team in the dining room is as welcoming as the dishes are delicious. The menu includes fresh burrata and tomato salad, oxtail croquettes, ajoblanco (a cold soup typical of Andalusia), Iberian bacon with Maresme peas, and an epic club sandwich. We ate two of those sandwiches, one on the first day (on a yacht sailing along the coast by Gibraltar) and another on our second day. Sadly, we didn’t have enough time for a third.
There’s a generous breakfast buffet, and you can also have it delivered to your suite or villa. You can choose from excellent smoked meats, cheeses, Iberian sausages, fresh salads, natural juices, fruit, toast, delicious homemade pastries, and eggs to order.
Spa and wellness
There are six physiotherapy, massage, and compression treatment rooms, two hammams, a sauna, swimming pools, hydrotherapy, a snow fountain, a yoga studio, and a cardio room. The menu includes different face and body treatments using products from Australia’s Subtle Energies and the London-based 111Skincare, created by Dr Yannis Alexandrides. Bastien Gonzalez, found in many of the best hotel spas in the world, is used in the manicures and pedicures offered here.
The service
While the hotel staff was still new in their jobs when I visited, it was clear that the warm friendliness that southern Spain is known for would be a highlight of service at the Fairmont. The young and mostly local team exuded as much enthusiasm as the general manager, Juan Losada, for this project, where he carefully oversaw every aspect of operations and paid close attention to every detail.
Sustainability
Every aspect of sustainability – energy consumption, water use, ethical sourcing of supplies, carbon footprint, and waste (including food and other organic waste) – is carefully measured, according to Fairmont, with its own software called Gaia. This allows for precise analysis of the hotel’s performance and the adoption of measures to reach specific targets. The hotel is also working with AI technology to implement further steps to reduce food waste. Orbisk analyses the ingredients that are being discarded via photographs and then generates a report on how to reduce waste. The hotel is implementing Foodsteps, which calculates the carbon footprint of dishes to then redesign them by replacing ingredients to reduce the use of water, lower carbon emissions, and achieve other sustainability goals. The hotel is LEED certified, verifying its compliance with standards related to energy consumption, innovative sustainability measures, green building materials, and improved efficiency of operations.
Accessibility
Accessibility measures include elevators for all internal areas and a network of paths for buggies, which are available to guests 24 hours a day and are driven by hotel staff or cars when needed. There are ten accessible rooms.
Anything else to mention?
In such a special place, you’ll want to leave the resort and see what lies beyond the property. That’s what we did with Rachid, the head of experiences at Fairmont La Hacienda, who has a thousand tales to tell guests. He organized a road trip with The Jolly Mile, official distributors of the legendary Moke car, both in its classic and new electric versions. The plan was to drive a route from Sotogrande on the coast to Castillo de Castellar, a town 25 kilometres to the west. The latter has been declared one of the most beautiful towns in Spain (spoiler alert: Yes, it is) with a stop at the 17th-century Casa Convento La Almoraima. This architectural gem houses a chapel with a Baroque altarpiece. The excursion ended with a performance, as it should in these parts, at the Peña Flamenca Son del Duende, where we snacked on local payoyo cheese, raised our drinks with new friends, and the walls were covered with photos of this fascinating corner of Spain. It was a perfect adventure.
One more thing – if you want to travel by sea and not land, guests can book yacht trips from the port of Sotogrande and sail among dolphins. On our outing, we saw dozens, maybe more, and you can also enjoy views of the hotel from the sea. You’ll feel like you could simply reach out and touch the Rock of Gibraltar.