For true relaxation, buy a luxury golf villa
When you buy one of the world’s best golf villas, you should be on the greens, practising your putting, not having to mow your lawn. For those with wide enough purse strings, help is at hand at the most salubrious developments across the world in all manners of ways from gardening to concierge services and even secretarial help!
At stunning La Reserva Rotana, in Majorca, two £2million bespoke villas come with full concierge facilities, including gardeners, waiters and cooks, so the only work you’ll ever have to do is adding up how much you are under par on the free, nine-hole private golf course. Not only that, but one of them has its own vineyard, so you can toast your latest hole-in-one with your own vintage Riesling.
Both villas boast five ensuite double bedrooms; a solarium; 100-square metre pool; office and 18,000-square metres of land, so the gardeners can be put to good use! On-site, is a small, boutique hotel – one of the best in Spain – with a top gourmet restaurant and a heliport.
La Reserva Rotana is just one of a range of elite golf properties marketed by leading agent, Barton Wyatt International. Senior Partner of Barton Wyatt International, James Wyatt, says, “We feature the hottest destinations, including the Caribbean and Spanish islands, as well as popular Cyprus & Spain or up-and-coming Bahrain.”
If you want a real blockbuster, try Villa San Lorenzo, at La Zagaleta Country Club – one of Europe’s most exclusive developments, which developers say is “the best place in Spain for the super-rich”. The bespoke villa features a home cinema, wine cellar, gym, Turkish bath, an indoor pool and five ensuite bedrooms with dressing rooms and carries a big-budget price of around £5million. An illuminated 45-square metre outdoor pool in its spacious grounds overlooks one of Spain’s top golf courses, La Zagaleta. A second on-site course, Los Barrancos, also offers additional challenges for golfers.
The complex also includes an equestrian centre and three fishing lakes. Like La Reserva Rotana, there are many services available to residents, including laundry; cleaning; gardening; maintenance; babysitting; chauffer and secretarial help. Even the beautician makes home visits, so all you need to do is lie back and relax.
The airport in Malaga is only 40-minutes away and the Country Club provides a private transportation link, making travel quick and convenient.
Exclusive golf properties attract exclusive buyers, such as former England cricket captain Ian Botham and decathlon champion Daley Thompson, who both have bought homes in Desert Springs Resort and Golf Club, in Almeria, Spain. Top-end, gated, four-bed villas with private pools, fronting the championship golf course, fetch £1.1million. On site are numerous sports and leisure facilities and restaurants.
Sir Ian, who spends as much time there as he can, says, “Desert Springs Resort and Golf Club is a place close to my own heart and, I think, the best family retreat in Europe.” And Daley Thompson adds, “Desert Springs has lots of activities to keep me fit and my family happy.”
Other affluent golf property buyers have fallen in love with the Aphrodite Hills resort, in Paphos, Cyprus, where you can not only improve your golf on the challenging 18-hole course, but your tennis as well, as it boasts its very own tennis academy. There is also a luxury Retreat Spa – judged to be among the top 10 in the world – to ease those golfing muscle strains.
Aphrodite Hills has won numerous other awards, including being among the world’s top 10 Golfing Developments. Prices for bespoke villas on the championship-standard course with four bedrooms cost around £1million.
Further a field in the Middle East, one of the most distinguished developments is Riffa Views – the first golf course development of its kind in Bahrain. It features a signature Colin Montgomerie 18-hole PGA Championship course plus a nine-hole course and golf academy to help improve your game. There is also a Boris Becker Tennis facility, spa, state-of-the-art fitness centre, country club, shopping centre, restaurants and even an international school.
Luxury villas in the gated community range from three to five-bedrooms and Grand Villas have additional accommodation. They cost up to around £1million.
But not all luxury golf developments require millionaire status. Ginn sur Mer, on Grand Bahama, features properties costing £315,000-£750,000, and still comes with all the benefits of ‘the good life’, such as a private airport and helipad, super yacht marina, equestrian facilities, grand palace, the island’s biggest casino, 15 dining options, luxurious spas and romantic gondola rides and water taxis through the development. Golf course or oceanfront plots are available for those who want to design and build their own home.
Ginn sur Mer features golf courses designed by two of the sport’s most famous names – Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer. There is also a state-of-the-art golf training facility.
For more details, contact Barton Wyatt International on 0134 484 3000 or visit www.bw-international.com.