My wife and I stayed in Vale do Lobo last year for the first time – taking up an offer to join friends at their rental villa in the resort.

Dave and I play golf together and when he mentioned his wife had been looking at villas in Vale do Lobo for their two-week summer break, I jumped at the offer to join him on course for a few days. He said his only condition to renting an Algarve villa was that it had to be within a 5-minute drive of the Royal Golf Course at Vale do Lobo as friends at his golf club hadn’t stopped raving about cliff-edge course, the famous 16th with its cliff-top carryover as well as the near ‘island green’ at the 9th.

The Vale Do Lobo rental villa was fantastic – a luxury 5-bed bungalow-style property which was spacious and light and had its own private heated pool and Jacuzzi. He was already using three of the bedrooms with his kids and parents staying but the villa was easily big enough for 10 – I think in part because all the rooms had sliding glass doors onto the terraces or lawns which opened every room up into a garden room. It really was spectacular – even its secluded setting up a private winding drive was just great.

Golf was booked for days two and three of our stay and the weather obliged with blue skies and a cooling breeze which actually picked up to make the Royal’s well known 16th a bit of a beast. The Royal – an 18-hole par 72 – demands that you hit the ball fairly straight and Dave found himself ‘going for swim’ a fair few times. I think I just got lucky – apart from one re-bounder. That’s one fig tree I won’t forget…

The cliff-edge Royal course was stunning – all rolling fairways lined with pine trees and offering a fair few stretches of water. We had amazing early morning views over the Atlantic. I could play this course every day for a week, but Dave had pre-booked the Ocean Course as he reckoned that the course would suit his game a bit better as it requires a fair amount of shot shaping. It’s also a nice change having the two neighbouring courses offering links and parkland golf.

The first day we’d rented a buggy from the 19th - the Parque do Golfe complex which is located at the centre of the Vale do Lobo resort – but decided against taking one the second day as the Ocean Course is pretty much downhill on the back nine. The clubhouse has everything you need from club rental to short game practice areas as well as a well-stocked pro shop, restaurant and bar. Vale do Lobo Golf – twice host to the Portuguese Open - is fairly busy with tournaments year round so don’t leave bookings to chance.

The green fees are fairly pricey so be wise and book ahead or choose one of the resort packages such as the welcome card, resort card or courtesy card to keep fees down.

The ‘ladies’ were happy enough spending time at nearby Barringtons – a health and beauty spa with a children’s pool – although to be fair apart from the odd venture to the beach, supermarket and restaurants the villa was like a luxury hotel in its own right with a great sun deck, pool and Jacuzzi.

Vale do Lobo is easily accessed from Faro airport. I think the transfer to the villa took about 25 mins with several detours to drive past places of interest - mainly villas of the rich and famous – that our friends had Lou and Dave had discovered. Dave I and will certainly be back for more golf here as it’s just such a spectacular venue with all mod cons. Can’t recommend it enough if you’re feeling flush.