Hotel Terraverda at Emporda Golf

On the Costa Brava at Gualta, Hotel Terraverda is an 86 room base within Empordà Golf, where two championship courses sit close to the accommodation and make a proper multi round break easy to settle into. Both were designed by Robert von Hagge, yet they ask for different games, so there is real variety across a few days. Between tee times, the outdoor saltwater pool looks across the fairways and runs from June to September, while the Terraverda Spa water area has a Turkish bath, sauna, contrast shower, hydromassage and tea room. Breakfast brings hot and cold local produce to a dining room with panoramic course views.

The Forest Course is the tighter of the pair, threading through Mediterranean pines with narrow landing areas, well positioned bunkers and subtle shifts in ground level. It rewards a considered club from the tee and a sensible route into greens, particularly where the woodland gives way to more links influenced holes. On the Links Course, formerly the Dunes Course, the landscape opens out into rolling fairways, lakes, dunes and broad waste areas. Wind can reshape the challenge here, and the ground around the greens favours players prepared to vary their recovery shots. Practice is notably thorough, with Trackman and a bunker in the northern Golf Lab area, plus approach and bunker work in the south. The covered Golf Hub supplies data on spin, trajectory, speed, angle and distance for those keen to work on their swing.

Rooms have terraces looking towards the golf or Montgrí, from 30 square metre Montgrí Classic rooms to 60 square metre Family Rooms with two connected bedrooms. Premium Golf rooms occupy the third floor and include a coffee machine and kettle, while Junior Suites add a king size bed, golf facing terrace and both a whirlpool bath and shower. Pals, with its medieval streets, is about five minutes away, and Girona Airport is roughly 40 minutes from the resort.