Marbella was beginning to become the cosmopolitan tourist enclave of international fame that it is today when, in 1965, the Rio Real golf course was inaugurated. A decade earlier, the Hohenlohe family was opening its splendid Marbella Club hotel, located on what would later become the Golden Mile, and European aristocrats, Hollywood stars and world celebrities of all kinds began to arrive. Golf then began to appear timidly in Marbella and some of the best courses in Spain were created at that time.
One of them was Rio Real. For its execution, the man who was and probably has been the best Spanish golf course designer in history was hired: Javier Arana, our Robert Trent Jones. He was a pioneer who still, in many aspects, has not been surpassed. With his own design philosophy based above all on making the player enjoy himself without wasting time looking for balls in areas that were too leafy or falling into excessive water hazards, he designed his courses very close to the terrain, avoiding large earthworks in order to save on construction on the one hand and, on the other, because he considered that eighty percent of his courses should be as natural as possible and only twenty percent modified for the needs of the design.
It is also true that at the time he was building there was plenty of land available to build golf courses to his liking without having to bow to real estate or other constraints.
In Marbella, the Bilbao native found a great vein to leave his mark. Here he created three of his masterpieces, three courses that by themselves could make any golf architect worthy of going down in history among the best designers of all time.
Rio Real, very close to the town of Marbella (three kilometers away), is one of its jewels. It is located in a privileged place, in a land with a gentle slope that slides down to the sea, of which there are views from many of its holes. Its fairways framed by a magnificent and overgrown grove cross four times the river that gives its name to this club.
The course, a par 72 of more than 6,000 meters in length, is a haven of tranquility and an example of good maintenance, with carefully cut fairways, well raked bunkers and first class greens. Rio Real exudes a maturity that only a few courses in Andalucia can boast.
This great work of Arana, and the renovation and modernization it has undergone in recent years, have made Rio Real one of the best courses on the Costa del Sol, suitable for all handicap levels and a real delight to play.
“We are in the group of the top courses on the Coast,” says the resort’s commercial director, Antonio Gómez Cava, “not only because of the standards of design and maintenance, but also because we offer a very professional and personalized service.”
At Río Real everything is geared towards making the visitor feel very welcome, and the club’s staff is key to this. “I would like to highlight,” emphasizes Gómez Cava, “the human and professional quality of the entire team that works at Río Real. They are the ones who really make the club great thanks to their commendable work, they are the ones who really generate value to the company”.
“Here,” he continues, “we have a very high rate of customer satisfaction; the feedback we are receiving is totally favorable, we are having very positive comments in the media and social networks, and all this is due to the great work of all the staff, both in service and in the maintenance of the course.” In this regard, he emphasizes that the course “is spectacular, as it has never been, especially due to the great investment that has been made and is being made; the client is delighted”.
On the other hand, he adds, “we are doing important work in everything related to communication through social networks, new corporate videos and a reconceptualization of the Río Real brand to enhance the resort concept”.
“Also”, continues Gómez Cava, “we have made a strong investment in the technological aspect for to facilitate the usability of our web (www.rioreal.com) when making reservations”. In line with this, he emphasizes that “we have implemented a new method of ‘deferred’ payment through a virtual POS (secure payment gateway), which makes it easier to make the payment for the outing”. The aim is to ensure that the client feels fully satisfied throughout their relationship with Río Real.
In addition to the splendid 18-hole course and the golf academy directed by the prestigious professional Sergio de Céspedes, Río Real is a resort with its own boutique hotel, a four-star superior establishment – “with five-star facilities,” notes , the resort’s commercial director – that stands out for its spaciousness, elegant comfort and the exquisite decoration of its rooms, designed by the famous interior designer Pascua Ortega.
The hotel, annexed to the clubhouse and scheduled to be upgraded to a five-star hotel, enjoys beautiful views of the golf course, also visible from the charming swimming pool, with bar and catering service. Among other services, wellness treatments are offered, and other resort facilities include tennis and paddle tennis courts. Soon, thanks to an agreement signed with the sports and fitness services company CDS Sports, a gymnasium will be opened which, in addition to hotel guests, will be accessible to residents of the surrounding urbanizations and the whole of Marbella.
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