Andy DevaneyThere are worse problems for a golf resort to have than deciding how much attention to give the golf.
SO/ Sotogrande Spa & Golf Resort has been ranked No. 6 in the Best Resorts in Rest of Europe category in Condé Nast Traveller’s 2026 Readers’ Choice Awards, following a survey that attracted more than 296,000 responses from UK readers.
For a property sitting in one of southern Spain’s established golf destinations, the result is notable because the recognition extends beyond the familiar business of immaculate turf and a respectable clubhouse lunch. Condé Nast Traveller readers were rating their wider travel experiences, putting the Sotogrande resort into a broader European hospitality contest.
That matters. Golf travellers have become rather good at expecting everything.
A reader vote with some weight behind it
The Readers’ Choice Awards are based on the experiences and opinions of Condé Nast Traveller readers, with 296,356 survey responses recorded for the 2026 edition.
SO/ Sotogrande’s sixth-place finish therefore gives the resort a piece of recognition rooted in guest experience rather than an industry jury or an internal hotel accolade.
Stéphane Menou, General Manager of SO/ Sotogrande Spa & Golf Resort Hotel, said: “We are incredibly proud to see SO/ Sotogrande recognised by the readers of Condé Nast Traveller. What makes this award particularly meaningful is that it reflects the experiences of the guests who have stayed with us, as well as the passion and dedication of our entire team.”
It is an understandable distinction to make. Luxury hotels are rarely shy about telling the world they are luxurious. Guests volunteering the compliment carries rather more currency.
Golf is part of the proposition, not the entire pitch
For Love Live Golf readers, the interesting part is where golf sits within the resort’s broader identity.
SO/ Sotogrande is positioned between the Mediterranean and the Andalusian landscape, with its contemporary buildings drawing on the character of a traditional Andalusian cortijo. The result is a resort built around space, privacy and the outdoors rather than the feeling of being marooned inside a conventional hotel complex.
Its golf offer centres on The Alto Club & Academy by Suzann Pettersen, placing the sport firmly within the experience without asking it to do all the heavy lifting.
That approach increasingly makes sense for golf travel. A four-hour round occupies only part of the day, after all, regardless of how enthusiastically somebody subsequently reconstructs every missed six-footer over dinner.
Here, the alternatives include a 3,500-square-metre Spa & Wellness Club and four dining venues, alongside access to the wider Sotogrande area.
The wider Sotogrande factor
The resort also benefits from something hotels cannot easily manufacture: a destination beyond the front gate.
Sotogrande adds its marina, Mediterranean coastline and a range of sporting pursuits to the equation. Guests can take part in activities including e-biking, sailing and polo, giving non-golfing companions — and golfers occasionally prepared to remove their glove — something else to do.
That broader mix helps explain the resort’s emphasis on what Menou describes as the Mediterranean “Art of Living”.
He added: “More than a place to stay, SO/ Sotogrande invites guests to slow down, reconnect and embrace the Mediterranean ‘Art of Living’ at its most refined. We bring a bold, contemporary approach to luxury hospitality in one of Southern Europe’s most exclusive destinations, creating an experience that brings together wellness, gastronomy, sport and culture with an unmistakable sense of place and style.”
There is plenty of hotel language in that description, naturally, but the underlying proposition is straightforward enough: golf belongs to a larger holiday rather than requiring the entire trip to orbit the first tee.
Why the No. 6 ranking matters
A Readers’ Choice Award does not tell a golfer how a particular course will suit their eye, how receptive the greens will be or whether breakfast can repair yesterday’s back nine.
It does tell potential guests something about the overall experience.
SO/ Sotogrande’s No. 6 ranking in the Rest of Europe resort category puts it among a small group of properties that made a sufficiently strong impression on Condé Nast Traveller readers to stand out in the 2026 survey.
For the resort, that strengthens its credentials beyond golf alone. For golfers considering southern Spain, it adds another piece of evidence that Sotogrande can offer rather more than somewhere convenient to leave the clubs overnight.
And that may be the more useful accolade. Great golf destinations need good courses. Great golf trips generally require everything around them to work as well.
