Slaley Hall has cemented its place as one of the UK’s premier golf resorts after being voted ‘Best Golf Hotel/Resort in the North of England’ for the third successive year in the 2017 Today’s Golfer Travel Awards.
The multi-award-winning venue in Hexham – part of QHotels, the UK’s largest golf resort operator – topped the readers’ poll in the UK’s best-selling golf magazine once again, as it saw off the challenge of a number of other top northern venues. And golfers may enjoy the facilities for themselves in 2017, from £159 for a two-night dinner, bed-and-breakfast break.
Jonny Mould, director of golf at Slaley Hall, said: “Everyone at Slaley Hall is justifiably very proud to have won this award for the third successive year. Any award is pleasing, but when it is voted for by golfers – the people who come day in, day out – then it becomes extra special. And to win it for three successive years is testament to the hard work and pride taken by everybody at the resort.
“We had an excellent 2016: we saw a substantial increase in overseas bookings and, thanks to our partnership with All Out Adventures, there was also a boost in golf and adventure breaks, reinforcing our status as the UK’s leading resort for golf and outdoor pursuits. And when you consider the success of the QFairway golf membership and the launch of the QGolf Academy, it’s been quite a year.”
Part of the award-winning QHotels group, Slaley Hall is set in 1,000 acres of Northumberland moorland and forest. It is a magnificent four-star hotel in an elegant Edwardian mansion, with two challenging championship courses – the Hunting and the Priestman – which have played host to no fewer than 18 European Tour and European Senior Tour events.
The 7,000-yard, par-72 Hunting, designed by Dave Thomas, has lush sweeping fairways, streams, lakes, towering trees and banks of rhododendrons – but, aesthetics aside, it will catch out the unwary. Well-placed bunkers and tricky greens make this USGA standard course a real challenge. The quality of Slaley Hall’s elder layout is illustrated by the fact the course is often dubbed ‘The Augusta of the North’.
The Priestman course was designed by Neil Coles and opened in 1999. Beautifully maintained, the course has matured magnificently. It sits on the west side of the estate, with panoramic views of the Tyne Valley and some daunting water features, and wind can be a factor on a course which hosts regularly European seniors’ events.
In 2017 golfers can enjoy an array of outstanding savings on two-night, two-round breaks at the resort, with prices starting from as little as £159 per person, including one night’s dinner, bed and breakfast and a round of golf on each of the resort’s courses.
Slaley Hall is also participating in QHotels’ new five-day QFairway membership programme – the latest element of the country’s most flexible golf membership. It comes with 100 points which may be exchanged for golf, buggy hire, driving range tokens and spa treatments (where available) at the member’s home club.
Among the scheme’s many benefits, players can enjoy the facility to hold a handicap and playing rights for club competitions, discounts on food and drink, shop purchases, tuition and hotel bed-and-breakfast rates.
What’s more, unlike traditional golf club memberships, there is no joining fee, meaning that for a relatively small outlay keen nomadic golfers can now achieve their dream of belonging to a club, with all the friendly social benefits that entails.
The multi-award-winning, four-star QHotels group offers championship-standard courses in unique resort locations including Belton Woods, Oulton Hall, Mottram Hall, and Forest Pines Hotel and Golf Resort.
Slaley Hall and QHotels’ range of golf packages www.QHotels.co.uk/golf