Hard Rock Marbella

In Nueva Andalucía, 0.3 miles from the seafront and within walking distance of Puerto Banús marina, Hard Rock Hotel Marbella makes an easy base for a Costa del Sol golf break with plenty happening after the round. Nueva Andalucía Beach is close by for a quieter stretch of the day, while Málaga Airport is around 45 minutes away by transfer. The hotel can organise tee times, club hire, transfers, academy lessons and golf-shop items, useful when everyone in the group has a different plan. With more than 70 courses across the wider Costa del Sol, there is scope to play a different style of course each day.

Several recognised layouts are within a 15-minute drive, including La Quinta and Rio Real, alongside El Paraiso, Los Naranjos, Los Arqueros and Flamingos. Los Naranjos is a Robert Trent Jones Sr design whose character changes through the round. The outward nine gives more room from the tee, then orange trees come closer to the fairways on the inward half and make position more important. Los Arqueros, designed by Seve Ballesteros, takes the game into the Ronda Hills, where Mediterranean views accompany its parkland holes. Flamingos, by Antonio Garcia Garrido and a former European Tour Senior Match Play venue, brings another view towards the coast. Cabopino asks for controlled tee shots between umbrella pines, followed by approaches to notably large, well-kept greens.

The hotel’s 383 rooms combine contemporary interiors with references to the Costa del Sol in the 1960s. Classic rooms, at roughly 215 to 322 sq ft, sleep two adults and come with either a king-size bed or twins. Between rounds, Sun Society’s rooftop infinity pool looks over the coast, while Eden Pool Club has a DJ booth in the water and music audible beneath the surface. Two restaurants and two bars incorporate Andalusian food and drink. Rock Spa adds a water circuit, two massage rooms and a couples’ suite, while the Sound of Your Stay programme allows guests to borrow a Crosley Wax turntable, hire Picks guitars or choose a soundtrack for the room.