Acaya Golf Resort & Spa

The Acaya Golf Club is the resort's course: 18 holes, par 71, 6,192 metres, through Mediterranean scrub. It was designed by the American studio Hurdzan/Fry to bring the natural features of the land together with a variety of shots, to the point of calling for all 14 clubs in the bag. The club earned 5-star BVGA in the international course classification and, according to the website, is the first in Southern Italy.

Facilities include a driving range, a golf academy with instructor Vittorio Mori (equipment provided at no extra cost), a pro shop and a club house. Hotel guests pay a reduced green fee, and the resort offers Stay and Play packages from a minimum of 3 nights. Sets of clubs and golf carts can be rented.

The resort's website says the course and spa are open all year.

The resort covers 120 hectares of Mediterranean vegetation facing the Adriatic, a few kilometres from Lecce, on Strada Comunale di Acaya, km 2. There are 97 rooms, which the website lists as open from April to November.

There are five types: Comfort (30 sqm), Deluxe (34 sqm), Queen Superior (36 sqm), Suite (50 sqm) and Family Junior Suite (60 sqm), designed for families. The resort is run by MIRA Hotels.

The Acaya Spa covers 1,200 sqm. The circuit includes a panoramic hot tub with colour therapy, sauna and Turkish bath, a frigidarium with an ice mountain, sensory showers, a calidarium and a relaxation area, with an indoor pool and whirlpool. Non-guests can also book the Day Spa: packages include two hours of circuit, sometimes paired with a light lunch or dinner. Outside there are two pools.

The resort has two restaurants. Masseria San Pietro serves simple cooking in the Salento tradition, with fruit and vegetables from its own garden, and seats up to 200 people indoors. It stands among the meadows, lakes and waterfalls of the golf course.

The sea is at the partner beach, Ultima Spiaggia, 7 km away: the resort's shuttle runs there from 1 June to 11 September. You arrive on a wooden walkway through the scrub, a short distance from the WWF Le Cesine reserve.

The kids' club runs daily from 13 June to 13 September. Families have the 60 sqm Family Junior Suite and the two outdoor pools.

• A Biarritz hole. The green at hole 2 has a cross-wise dip recalling the historic Biarritz hole at Yale University Golf Club.
• A potato-chip green. At hole 5, a dogleg left, the green is shaped, as the website puts it, like a «potato chip».
• Over 500 metres. Hole 16 is a par 5 with a double dogleg of more than 500 metres and a short cross-wise green.
• A waterfall on the course. Among the course's features the website lists a spectacular waterfall.