Victoria Golf Resort & Spa, Managed By Accor, Discover The Perfect Golf Gateway To The Algarve

Michael Edwards stays at Victoria Golf Resort & Spa, and samples the very best of Algarve’s cuisine, golf and hospitality

Victoria Golf Resort & Spa, like many a footballer, has been boosted and revitalised by a transfer. A wave of renovation and reimagination followed when the resort moved from the Anantara collection of hotels to Accor in May 2025.

For instance, the recently opened rooftop Botanic Bar – to the chilled beat of a DJ’s sunset playlist, to the sipping of iced mojitos and pina coladas – highlights one of the resort’s prime advantages. Location, location and location.

For this five-star resort sits at the heart of a golfing Mecca; cast your vision six miles south towards Vilamoura on the Algarve’s coastline and you will see a golfscape of emerald fairways lined by umbrella pine trees, egg-yolk soft-sand bunkers and greens that are even more emerald.

It is a scene that is on repeat for a 360-degree panorama. At least half-a-dozen golf courses are within a 10-minutes complimentary transfer from this golfer’s paradise of Victoria Golf Resort & Spa. Landing at Faro airport, an easy 30-minute taxi-ride away, a plethora of golf bags signals the Algarve’s magnetic draw for golfers. With more than 300 days of sunshine a year, a course soundtrack of Eurasian hoopoes and Sardinian warblers plus spectacular bursts of oleander and bougainvillea colour, golfers flock to the Algarve like migrating birds.

Adjoining The Els club, Victoria Golf Resort & Spa gives easy access to practice facilities and a challenging course. Where it seems, Els enjoyed pencilling in bunkers and water hazards, popular with wading white egrets, more than he liked designing fairways.

“Made by God, sculpted by humans,” is the credo of the Old Course Vilamoura. A divine collage of impeccable fairways and true greens, suggesting that God indeed is a golfer, that have been delighting golfers since 1969. Like a maturing fine port wine, the course, passionately curated by the green keeping teams, just gets better and better.

Butler-like-care meets D – Day planning logistics with the provision of buggies, impeccably clean clubs, water, ice-buckets, mid-course snack carts and chilled flannels after the 18th. A starter sees us off with friendly advice and a course-marshal chivvies a tardy 4 ball ahead.

Pinhal emphasises how eminently playable the Algarve courses are. Needles from the Aleppo and umbrella pines act as disinfect, discouraging the undergrowth. Errant drives straying into the trees are easily found, though chips back onto the fairway halt many a Nicklaus charge. Although water hazards, glinting under the Algarve sun, look aesthetically pleasing, they also dent final scores. “Challenging, fair and reasonably forgiving,” was one high-handicapper’s grateful verdict as he totted up his scorecard.

Book an early morning tee, before the mid-day sun soars, and you can be back at Victoria Golf Resort & Spa for lunch at Palms, the poolside restaurant. For me, it’s then time to return to my one-bedroom Palm suite, a collage of wooden shades and woven textiles, shared with my golfing friend. Effectively it gives us a room each when he converts the sofa bed. We also had a bathroom each, equipped with bath and shower, and the lemon aromas of Banho toiletries.

Additionally, after a restorative bath or shower, book a spa treatment with therapists used to taking on golfer’s aching muscles and tweaked tendons. The relaxation may even contribute to psychiatric therapy for birdies missed, drives sliced, bogeys carded. Inevitably, truly dedicated golfers may hit the gym to tone the muscles for future longest drive contests.

Dinner at the RIA Restaurant is a highlight. Amongst the many starters, you could opt for an age-old Algarve favourite, sopa de peixe: fish soup. But a strawberry gazpacho with a caviar cluster deliciously reimagines the quintessential chilled summer soup. Seabream, squid and turbot jostle for the honour of being fish of the day; filleted and served at your table.

Chopsticks appear for an extensive sushi menu. A sashimi starter of salmon and tuna, served on a bed of salad and ice with a wasabi lozenge, serves notice that when Sensai opens in mid-June it will be a serious contender for the honour of being the best Asian restaurant on the Algarve. East meets west when a young vinho verde, with a youthful hint of green, accompanies the raw fish

For many guests, Victoria Golf Resort & Spa is simply a sun-drenched sanctuary of fine living. No golf, some spa visits, dolphin-watching, occasional complimentary shuttle visits into Vilamoura but plenty of time on a sun-lounger by a pool. Meanwhile, the golfers give the sun worshippers a baffled glance as they head out for another tee-off at Arguably One Of The World’s Greatest Golf Destinations.