This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
Sporting greats: the activity centred luxury European resorts
By Polly Jean Harrison | 28 April 2022 | Sport, Travel
The European destinations putting sport at the heart of their stays
This year, many globetrotters want to combine their vacation plans with a chance to get out into nature after the best part of two years confined to the UK, taking part in activities and sports in the most glamorous and refreshing of destinations.
Whether it’s teeing up on the greenest green or hitting glistening slopes on snow-capped mountains, these resorts are putting this spirit of adventure at the heart of their activities.
HÔTEL METROPOLE, MONACO | MOTORSPORT
The Hotel Metropole is set in the heart of Monte-Carlo, offering a vacation you will never forget.
With gorgeous interiors, renowned for its unique decoration and style, the glamorous hotel offers all the luxury amenities you would expect – as well as being an ideal location for a Formula One Monaco Grand Prix experience. In fact, the hotels’ two-Michelin star restaurant is located trackside, offering the perfect vantage point to view the race and soak up the buzzing Monaco atmosphere from the heart of the action each May.
GRAND HOTEL TREMEZZO, ITALY | WATERSPORTS
The crystalline waters of Lake Como are all the temptation you need to dive in headfirst to this most iconic of luxury destinations, and where better to stay than the Grand Hotel Tremezzo, situated right on the waters’ edge?
Live life on the water and experience an exquisite adrenaline rush as you sail, windsurf and waterski, surrounded by gorgeous Italian landscapes. For fainter hearts, opt for a meditative canoe experience or be ferried in style on traditional water taxis, as well as a whole host of boating options available for you to enjoy the water at your own pace.
Grand Hotel Tremezzo also has a “water-on-the-water” floating pool, allowing guests to wave to passing boats as they take a more curated dip surrounded by the lake.
COSTA NAVARINO, GREECE | TENNIS
Not only is Costa Navarino a beautiful holiday destination in the Mediterranean, home to two five-star hotels and one of the finest luxury resorts in Greece, but it is also the location of the new Mouratoglou Tennis Center.
Offering visitors a unique tennis experience surrounded by a gorgeous Messinian landscape, the centre was founded by Patrick Mouratoglou, one of the most influential coaches in tennis whose champion players include Serena Williams and Coco Gauff. The Costa Navarino centre offers players the opportunity to serve on 16 state-of-the-art courts and receive some of the best coaching in the world – all with incredible views of the Ionian Sea.
Whether you’re ready for Wimbledon or you’re holding a racket for the first time, the centres choice of courts offers different challenges suitable for all, taking your game to the next level.
TERRE BLANCHE, FRANCE | GOLF
Ranked the best golf resort in continental Europe in October 2020, Terre Blanche is one of the world’s most prestigious destinations for golf lovers.
Offering two 18-hole championship courses providing an exciting challenge for ambitious golfers, the courses are inspired by the beautiful, rolling hillsides of Provence. Whether you’re a seasoned pro looking to perfect your swing or a beginner picking up a club for the first time, head to Terre Blanche’s The Albatros Golf Performance Center – the only one of its kind throughout Europe.
Comprising a two-storey driving range, golf academy and the Biomecaswing golf biomechanics centre – Jean- Jacques Rivet’s groundbreaking technological training concept – this is the perfect place to optimise your game.
COWORTH PARK, UK | POLO
The only hotel in the UK to have its own dedicated polo fields, nestled in its 240-acre grounds, Coworth Park is synonymous with horseplay.
With polo lessons and experiences run by the experts of Guards Polo Academy, guests can experience the thrills and challenges of the sport of kings at any skill level, from horse riding lessons to matches played alongside Guards Club members.
If competing on the field isn’t for you, guests can always enjoy the game from the sidelines, sipping elegant cocktails from the spectator’s ring, or enjoy a picnic in the hotel’s picturesque grounds and gardens.
W HOTEL VERBIER, SWITZERLAND | SKIING
An intimate escape located at 1,531m, W Hotel Verbier provides guests with an exhilarating 400km of skiing and hiking terrain in the Swiss Alps.
Open all year round, the Verbier ski resort offers guests action-packed days on the largest ski domain on Swiss soil, coupled with glorious sunshine and stunning mountain views. The perfectly glittering and groomed slopes offer ski and snowboarding itineraries for all levels, as well as infinite freeriding trails and some of the best off-piste terrain in the world.
With ski-in/ski-out access, mountain concierge, and a contemporary design philosophy guaranteed to stand out from the usual ski lodges, W Hotel Verbier is the perfect location to hit the slopes before warming up in front of your private fireplace.
SIX SENSES DOURO VALLEY, PORTUGAL | WELLNESS
Set in the heart of the Douro Valley, this spa resort offers visitors the opportunity to sample the finest wares from local vineyards, but also indulge in the sumptuous relaxation of their wellness and spa programmes.
Portuguese tradition meets Six Senses’ design ethos of combining the natural elements of water, stone and wood, provided a tactile backdrop for the venue’s smart technology, which measure guests’ inner health, movement and sleep patterns for wellness experts to create personalised treatments, activities and nutritional advice.
Whether you’re looking to be fully rejuvenated or simply relax in the indoor pool, Six Senses’ wellness programmes will help you achieve a healthy balanced body and mind, nestled among the grapevines.