Golfing haven and child-friendly Algarve luxury

I booked Palmyra Club, on Vila Sol Golf, purely on a whim after a heated argument with my husband about the merits of Portugal over Barbados for a family holiday. Having seen some amazing pictures but not knowing anyone who had stayed there, I was dreading finding out that some clever ‘marketing people’ had fooled me with glossy images of holiday luxury that delivered far more than the actual resort.

Flying into Faro

As it turned out I needn’t have worried. After the easy 2-and-a-half hour flight to Faro, and a short drive to Palmyra, we found that our self-catering villa exceeded expectation – if anything it was far too nice and new for a family holiday. It was like walking into a gorgeous 5-star show home, with the added bonus of blue skies and the sun shining outdoors!

The Palmyra Club, Vila Sol Golf

The Palmyra Club can only be described a gorgeous-looking, ultra-modern gated resort and our brand new 4-bed villa had a large open plan dining and living area, which was great to use as a family room. The villa had covered terraces and plenty of lawns with trees so that we could keep the kids in the shade during the hottest part of the day.

We had a direct golf course view so my husband was happy, although it did lead to him talking golf 24/7. Luckily we had met another family on the plane who were also staying at the resort, so whilst ‘we ladies’ relaxed at one of the two children’s pools, making the most of the poolside café, the boys headed off to play golf. I’m no golfing expert but I know my hubby played on three different courses including the Vila Sol Championship course. To say he had a great week was an understatement. He’s now saying he’ll be back on a ‘boys golfing tour’ of the area, staying at the Palmyra due to its central location and all its on-site facilities. Apparently if you’re a golfer ‘it’s awesome’ – one of the best courses in the Algarve and home to the Portuguese Open a couple of times in the 90s.

Vila Sol Hotel & Spa

The Vila Sol hotel is right next door to the Palmyra Club and if you’re staying at Palmyra the facilities are free to use. I have to admit leaving the kids with my husband and sneaking off for a massage and facial one afternoon. A 5-star hotel with an on-site spa offering a list of beauty treatments and therapies as long as your arm - I could actually have stayed there all week if given half the chance and twice my budget!

Local Attractions

Besides pampering, there are plenty of day trip options available and when I could drag hubby off the golf course and out of the 19th, we went dolphin watching from nearby Vilamoura marina – which the kids loved. With wall-to-wall sunshine and calmish seas, the slick boat operation took us out to a pod of wild dolphins that performed acrobatically leaping about the bough waves of the boat. It was great to see them playing of their own free will, rather than at local parks Zoomarine or the Aquashow Water Park. We visited the horses at the Vilamoura Riding School at my daughter’s request and the kids got to play at being jockeys for half an hour as they were led about the grounds on placid ponies. I was more than a bit envious of the trail rides heading off in the direction of the beach in the late afternoon sunshine!

Child-friendly Beaches

In addition to Vilamoura Beach nearby Praia de Falesia beach is well worth a trip if you have children. We accessed it via one of the wooden walkways common in the area. Everything’s been planned to be child friendly here and we could even take the buggy comfortably along the walkway onto the beach. Seems that they’ve thought of everything here to make a family holiday easier. The beach was clean, if a little windy and the kids loved the golden sand. Although other people were swimming in the sea, we stuck to the safety of the kids’ pools by the villa as neither of us are particularly good swimmers.

We left our kids with a resort babysitter for an evening and went to nearby Vale do Lobo for a night out. Purpose built resort, Vale do Lobo has a choice of stylish restaurants and bars and we had a great fish meal on the terrace of a seafront restaurant, followed by cocktails at one of the bars. My only regret was that we’d missed Cristano Ronaldo by one night. Apparently he had been sitting on the very same bar stool as me 24 hours previously! (If you like your football, you can also find Figo’s bar and café in Vilamoura. No Figo though when we visited!)

Our self-catering intentions went out of the window as we tried two of the three restaurants at the Vila Sol hotel, which was just a few hundred metres from our villa. Vilamoura’s also great for an early dinner with the kids overlooking the marina – they loved the twinkling lights against the night sky. There’s a staggering choice of eateries at Vilamoura and they’re very good at accommodating the ‘little people’.

Luxury at an affordable price, great weather and that all-important short flight. We’d certainly come back here in a shot at any time of year!

We booked our holiday through Azure Holidays and we would certainly recommend them for villas in the Algarve, as not only was Palmyra perfect before making our decision we drooled over a huge collection of luxury villas that sadly were out of price range, but there is always next year!