Ranking Europe's Best Golf Resorts based on traveller reviews

This is the 2023 edition of the 100 Best Golf Resorts in Europe. It's the only golf resort ranking that is completely based on traveller's reviews. The overall ranking is based on the rating of the golf club on Leadingcourses.com (50%) and on the Booking.com rating for the resort itself (50%).

Since 2016 Leading Courses has published a ranking for the Best Golf Resorts in Europe every year. The Best Golf Resort ranking has always sparked the interest of The Leading Courses community and other golfers alike, as it inspires them and helps them discover great (new) golf resorts! Leading Courses uses its own review data for golf courses (50%) and its hotel partner Booking.com's reviews (50%) to provide a comprehensive list of the Best Golf Resorts in Europe.

Change in the Best Golf Resorts algorithm

For the first time since the inauguration of the ranking, Leading Courses has factored in the number of holes a golf resort has in the algorithm that calculates the overall rating. Although you can certainly enjoy yourself at a golf resort that has 18 holes and all the other amenities you might expect at a resort, they feel it is definitely a plus if you can choose from multiple courses or holes during your stay, without leaving the resort.

That is why all golf resorts in the ranking have been given a bonus of 0.005 points per hole that the golf resort has. That way golf resorts with more than 18 holes have a little bit of an edge over other resorts.

How the Best Golf Resorts rankings are determined

One of the major discussions is: when does a combination of a golf course and a hotel qualify as a resort? Is St. Andrews with the Old Course Hotel a resort? Does Royal County Down with the Slieve Donard Hotel across the road qualify as a resort? Difficult to answer.

Leading Courses turned to Wikipedia for a proper definition: “The term resort may be used for a hotel property that provides an array of amenities, typically including entertainment and recreational activities. A hotel is frequently a central feature of a resort.” So, having a hotel and a golf course is not enough to qualify as a golf resort.

Criteria to be listed in Best Golf Resorts rankings

Below are Leading Courses' criteria to be in the Best Golf Resorts in Europe rankings:

• the rating of the golf club on Leadingcourses.com must be active, so it should have enough (recent) reviews
• the rating of the resort or hotel on Booking.com must also be active
• the (official) hotel must be located very close to the golf course or must be located on the premises of the golf course.
• the resort should include more facilities in addition to having a golf course (for example a spa, tennis court, swimming pool, etc.)
• the golf club should explicitly mention or refer to the specific resort or hotel on its website (so linking to multiple hotels is not sufficient)

Costa Navarino is the Best Golf Resort in Europe

A new number one in our Best Golf Resorts in Europe ranking! It's the immaculate Costa Navarino in Greece! With a whopping 72 golf holes, Costa Navarino is the perfect holiday location for golfers.

Costa Navarino is located in Messinia in the southwest Peloponnese, in one of the most unspoiled and breathtaking landscapes in the Mediterranean. Costa Navarino offers a world-class golf experience with four 18-hole signature courses. The resort offers 4 hotels, with The Westin and The Romanos at the heart of the resort which has been voted one of the best resorts in Greece and one of the foremost holiday destinations in Europe.

10 Best Golf Resorts

Below is the ranking of the 10 Best Golf Resorts in Europe. Click the link below to see the full top-100.

1. Costa Navarino 9.46
2. Finca Cortesin Hotel Golf & Spa 9.44
3. The Gleneagles Hotel 9.42
4. Trump Turnberry Resort 9.38
5. Der Oschberghof 9.33
6. Trump International Golf Links Doonbeg 9.19
7. The Montgomerie Maxx Royal 9.19
8. The Machrie Hotel & Golf Links 9.17
9. Monte Rei Golf & Country Club 9.14
10. The K Club Golf Resort 9.13

VIEW THE TOP-100

About Leading Courses

For over 10 years, Leading Courses has been helping golfers to find and play the best and most suitable golf courses with the help of hundreds of thousands of reviews. The website and app provide information on more than 25,000 golf courses worldwide. Leading Courses has over 400,000 website visitors per month and offers tee times for over 3,000 golf clubs in more than 20 countries. This makes it Europe's largest platform for golf course reviews and tee times.