Island Golf Holidays will be announcing two winners in the coming weeks, the best European Golf Resort and the best Worldwide Golf Resort within our own portfolio of destinations. This is based on our own experiences and the feedback from our customers over the last 18 months.
This decision comes from a combination of the following factors:-
Location, Service Levels, Accommodation Standards, Resort Staff in the Hotel and in the Golf Clubs, Quality and Choice of Cuisine, Ambience and finally and most significantly the quality and variety of the golf courses on the Resort.
One last factor to take into account which our outstanding winner wins hands down on is the WOW factor! Our victor has that in abundance.
When you reach your 60s in age and have been travelling the world looking for great destinations to sell to your customers, it takes something very special to make an impression and for me I cannot remember being as excited in my entire career when I first found Costa Navarino in 2015, but when I returned in summer 2022 and enjoyed the exceptional new phases at Costa Navarino Bay and Costa Navarino Waterfront, together with the two new courses which opened at The Hills Clubhouse, I was blown away completely.
Voidokilia Beach
Hotel entrance
Therefore, the easiest choice for me was choosing the Best European Golf Resort in 2024, the selection of the W Costa Navarino Resort in Greece was very straightforward, not really close to being challenged for the number one spot, to be totally honest. It has been the place I have been personally recommending over the last few years to many of my customers, unless they were wishing to go on holiday in the winter period.
The only difficulty has been choosing which of Costa Navarino’s three remarkable resorts to pick and as the W Costa Navarino is relatively so new (it opened only in August 2022), I had to wait a while to build up an entire picture of how good it really is.
The Westin Resort Costa Navarino we have been selling for many years and The Romanos Costa Navarino, a Luxury Collection Resort we have been promoting mostly since COVID with great success and feedback also. We do still of course highly recommend both these hotels, as well as the W Costa Navarino.
If you would like to read in more depth about The Westin and The Romanos Resort, please click on this link and you can access a review I did 18 months ago.
WHAT TO EXPECT?
Within this unique destination feature on the W Costa Navarino and its golf courses you can find out all you need to know which will convince you that your next Spring, Summer, or Autumn Holiday should be to this exceptional and outstanding golf and beach destination venue. There is simply nothing to rival the Costa Navarino and especially the new W Costa Navarino in any other corner of the European Continent.
It is an awesome golfing destination with 4 brilliant and challenging golf courses, (72 holes) which offer so much challenge and incredible natural beauty, but it is so much more than a golfing holiday venue, the beach amenities are unrivalled. The views from the Hills, the Olympic and the Bay golf courses of Navarino Bay just take the breath away.
The other lovely point to underline is that the entire region is extremely unspoiled and just a joy to discover. Although the 3 resort hotels have so much to offer in terms of beach, pools, spa, wide array of activities and choices of restaurants, there are so many beautiful historical and cultural sites in close proximity to Navarino Dunes to discover also. We would therefore recommend to customers to stay a minimum duration of 10 nights but encourage most to make it a 14-night venue in the summer, for certain. This would allow you to do the destination and the resort justice, as there is so much to do.
Parelia Beach Club Bar
Castle of Koroni
FLYING TO COSTA NAVARINO
One would normally fly to Kalamata, which is the nearest airport and is more challenging than it should be and always has been. It must be said that it is not a destination for a winter escape, we would not send anyone here pre-Easter, or post October.
Jet2.com have the best flying programme to Kalamata with direct flights from Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol and London Stansted.
Easyjet have a direct service but only from London Gatwick.
British Airways have a direct service from London Heathrow with 2 cabins, World Traveller and Club Europe options.
The Bay Course
Glossa
This excellent Bernhard Langer course opened in 2010, located close to the Westin and Romanos hotels on higher plateaus looking down to the Ionian Sea and the hotels below. The course features rolling fairways with ridges and plenty of dog legs and wonderful backdrops, heavy fairway bunkering giving plenty of shaping to your tee shots. Many holes are laid out through olive and fruit tree groves and can be tight for your drives! Other features include greenside pot bunkers and large undulating links style greens, which are often raised. The Dunes Clubhouse which hosts the standout Flames Steakhouse restaurant is very impressive and walking distance from the Westin and Romanos hotels and 20 minutes shuttle from the W Costa Navarino Hotel.
Designed by Robert Trent Jones Junior, this course is a little different to the other 3 layouts on the Navarino Estate, being shorter, hillier and offering the most exhilarating vistas of Navarino Bay and shot making. One could conclude that at times the course is a little quirky, there are a couple of very steep uphill par 5 holes which are tough to play and a couple of very steep downhill par 3 holes including two in a row. The opening holes are dramatic and wonderful heading down to the Bay of Navarino and then alongside the shoreline, before climbing into the hills. The Clubhouse at the Bay is arguably the most beautiful location of any course in Europe perhaps only rivalled by the Hills Clubhouse or the Palheiro Clubhouse in Madeira. The Bay Course is split across 3 different contrasting landscapes, Seaside / Canyon / Grove.
This is the new jewel in the crown of the entire resort. Like The Olympic Course, The Hills is designed by Jose Maria Olazabal and opened in February 2022. The stunning Clubhouse is located at the top of the mountain, beyond the Navarino Bay and Waterfront about 35 minutes away from the Dunes Course and Romano and Westin Hotels. It is less than 10 minutes away from The W Costa Navarino Hotel.
The Hills is a tough challenging course set out over incredible landscapes with sensational holes on two sides of the mountain, many with sweeping vistas inland with mountains and valleys. There are several and memorable great par 3s. The holes which boast views of Navarino Bay are just off the charts (WOW factor) and boast incredible backdrops.
Sharing the same clubhouse and golf operation as the Hills course, this superb 18-hole course is 6366 metres off the back tees, similar in length to the Hills Course, its design is quite similar, but it is even more scenic, with more holes offering wonderful panoramas of the Ionian Sea and the Bay of Navarino.
Many people I have spoken to say that this is their personal favourite on the Navarino Estate, something I would concur with, a little easier than the Hills Course, but even so a great test of golf and always spectacular.
There are several holes which are all about the carry and you need a strong nerve to commit to your tee shots, incredibly rewarding experience if you play well and if you don’t, there is always awesome scenery to take in and enjoy.
The Clubhouse is probably the most beautiful location and offers the best views of any golf club in Europe. A great restaurant can be enjoyed inside, or al fresco here if staying at the W Costa Navarino Hotel. The Olympic is also designed by Jose Maria Olazabal and opened in February 2022.
Rooms description
All room types offer the following amenities:
Wonderful Bay Guest Room– 40 sqm, Sea view, 8 sqm balcony, 1st Rooms featuring king or twin bed, sleep a maximum of 3 adults. 1 Bedroom, High Floor. The twin-bedded room types can be zipped to become King bedded room. It connects to a Fabulous Bay Guest room (King/twin, subject to availability at the time of the booking).
Wonderful Agora Guest Room, Waterfront– 40 sqm, with Agora and Water view, 5 sqm balcony, 1st Rooms featuring king bed plus double sofa bed (Can convert to a bed: 1,60m*1,98m), sleep a maximum of 3 adults. 1 Bedroom, High Floor. No interconnecting option. Located within vibrant Navarino Agora*
Spectacular Panorama Guest Room– 40 sqm, sea view, 6 sqm balcony, 2nd Rooms featuring king or twin bed, sleep a maximum of 3 adults. 1 Bedroom, top Floor, Panoramic Sea, and bay View. The twin-bedded room types can be zipped to become King bedded room. It connects to a Spectacular Panorama Guest room (King/twin subject to availability at the time of the booking).
Fabulous Infinity Swim-up Guest Room– 40 sqm, pool/resort view, 17 sqm furnished terrace, lounge area, shared pool with other neighboring Infinity swim-up rooms, ground floor. Rooms featuring king or twin bed, sleep a maximum of 3 adults. The twin-bedded room types can be zipped to become King bedded room. It connects to a Fabulous Infinity Swim-up Guest Room (King/twin subject to availability at the time of the booking). Accessible rooms also available in this category.
WOW Agora Bayfront Rooftop 1-bedroom suite – 70 sqm, 15sqm balcony with direct seafront view, 48 sqm furnished rooftop terrace, private infinity pool on the roof terrace 26 to 29 sqm long and pool depth 0.8, 1 bedroom,1-bathroom, separate living room. Complimentary access to the Wet Lounge of Away Spa. It accommodates a maximum of 3 adults in existing bedding plus rollaway bed (supplement applies. Located within vibrant Navarino Agora*
Only clients paying Half Board supplement are entitled for a dine around credit, 47 euros per person per night. Half board is available at £40 per person per night, but included in our late summer and autumn packages shown below.
Half Board
With the Half Board meal plan, guest can either choose the Set Menu in selected Navarino Dunes’ restaurants at no extra charge or dine a la carte with a Credit Allowance.
The restaurants which offer a Set Menu are:
Da Luigi (Italian), Flame (steak house), Armyra by Papaioannou (Fish restaurant), Nargile (Middle Eastern and Lebanese), Kooc Taverna Secrets (Greek).
Dine Around
In addition to the above choices, a Dine Around program is offered in a variety of restaurants in which guests may dine ‘a la carte with a Credit Allowance.
W Costa Navarino Restaurants are also included in the dine around program: Parelia (Greek), W Lounge (all day bar with variable food options), Piqantro (Spanish restaurant at Hills Clubhouse).
The following venues in Navarino Dunes offer this possibility: Da Luigi (Italian), Flame (Steakhouse), Division 16 (American diner), Armyra by Papaioannou (Fish), Nargile (Middle Eastern and Lebanese) Souvlakerie (Greek street food), Onuki (Japanese), Barbouni (Beachside Restaurant), Kooc Taverna Secrets (Greek).
NB A free shuttle will take you from W Costa Navarino Resort to The Romanos and the Westin Hotels or up to the Hills Clubhouse, or Dunes Clubhouse also.
NB PRICES ONLY VALID IF BOOKED BY 31 MARCH 2024
Wonderful Bay Sea View Double OR Wonderful Agora Waterfront Double
7 nights £2,099.00pp
14 nights – 10 rounds of golf £4,099.00pp
Spectacular Panorama Sea View Double
7 nights £2,299.00pp
14 nights – 10 rounds of golf £4,499.00pp
Fabulous Infinity Swim Up Double Room
7 nights £2,499.00pp
14 nights – 10 rounds of golf £4,859.00pp
WOW Agora Bayfront Rooftop one-bedroom suite
7 nights £2,799.00pp
14 nights – 10 rounds of golf £5,499.00pp
Prices Include
NB Flights can only be quoted at time of booking, Easyjet ex Gatwick, BA ex Heathrow and Jet2.com ex Birmingham, Manchester, Bristol and Stansted airports
APRIL TO AUGUST PRICES AVAILABLE ON REQUEST