Hot List 2023
The lawns at Finca Cortesin are meticulously manicured to look like golf greens and fairways, which is fitting, given Europe won the Solheim Cup here in 2023. The hotel’s challenging 18-hole course comes complete with a Jack Nicklaus training facility and a driving range with dazzling views. But Finca Cortesin isn’t just about golf.
This five-star hotel is one of the most exclusive hideaways in Spain—Barack Obama once stayed here—located in a serene setting backed by the reddish Sierra Bermeja mountain range, close to Casares. Naturally, the hotel’s facilities are presidential-worthy: an on-site art gallery, Romanesque spa with an indoor 82-foot pool, and locker rooms ready-made for a GQ photoshoot. Not to mention, a yoga shala, two Bali-style outdoor pools, and 40 acres of lush gardens blooming with flora and fauna.
Of course, the hotel’s gastronomic options are world-class. Join Serge, a charming veteran French maître d’, for a fish dinner in El Jardin one night. Most guests also make a beeline for Luis Olarra’s REI, Finca Cortesin’s signature restaurant. Try the intricate tasting menu featuring traditional Japanese dishes blended with Spanish produce, such as Iberian pork and tuna. Afterwards, it’s time for a nightcap in the Blue Bar, while those with early tee times retreat to their exquisite rooms.
Each of the 67 suites and 16 private villas is styled by design sisters Anna and Cristina Calderón to convey subtle sophistication: high ceilings, clashing patterns, and gorgeous fabrics. Bathrooms are covered in Travertine Italian marble with checkerboard flooring, low slung tubs, and Penhaligon’s toiletries. The decor features upholstered, bell-shaped headboards, ornamental curtains, and premium throws, which provide a welcome contrast to the neutral-hued walls.
Hallways are like a tasteful Spanish cortijo, thanks to exquisite Flemish tapestries, 18th-century stone floors, and hand-painted Chinese wallpapers, which came directly from late Portuguese antique collector and interior designer Duarte Pinto Coelho’s private collection. The hotel’s standout architectural feature is the Moroccan lounge—a nod to Spain’s Moorish past—where the precisely-carved wooden ceiling took the skilled restorers who maintain the Alhambra Palace in Granada six months to finish.