Review: the new Grand Hyatt La Manga Club resort and spa

This is our review of the new Grand Hyatt La Manga Club Golf & Spa resort near Murcia in Spain.

As it turns out, La Manga is a bit of an institution, with multiple readers reaching out after I posted a handful of stories from the Grand Hyatt on our Instagram page. Many have been returning for over a decade.

Let’s start with a bit of history. When it opened in 1972, La Manga Club was the first resort in Spain to open with two golf courses, with Californian businessman Gregory Peters attempting to recreate US-style golfing resorts in Europe.

In the 80s, a small hotel was added which was then completely rebuilt in 1993. It started out as a Hyatt Regency in 1993, before becoming independent in 2008 as the Hotel Principe Felipe, before returning to Hyatt as a Grand Hyatt in May – a step up from its previous incarnation as a Hyatt Regency.

Despite 192 rooms, the Grand Hyatt is just a small part of the overall La Manga Club which spans almost six square kilometres and is apparently more than twice the size of Monaco!

In addition to the hotel, there are over 2,000 private residences across the site which makes this more of a small town than a resort. You don’t quite understand the scale until you’re there and realise that all the buildings and houses you see creeping up into the hills are part of the resort.

Earlier this year the hotel went through a six-month refurbishment program that changed the layout without the construction of any new buildings. This included:

• the full refurbishment of all the rooms and suites
• the addition of an adults-only infinity pool
• relocation and expansion of the spa, now in the hotel basement
• reorganisation and complete refurbishment of all the bars and restaurants in the hotel

One reason for the renovation, in addition to the fact that the hotel was getting quite tired, is that it is hoping to improve its luxury proposition and compete better with properties such as the Ritz Carlton Abama in Tenerife. As you’ll see, I think they’re well on their way.

I visited as a guest of the hotel as part of a group press trip.

The resort website is here.

Where is the Grand Hyatt La Manga resort?

Tucked between Valencia and Andalucia you’ll find Murcia, one of Spain’s smallest regions and the smallest south of Madrid. If you think of Spain as a squarish land-mass, then Murcia is in the bottom right corner.

This is a historically less developed region reliant on exporting agricultural products such as lemons, tomatoes and other vegetables to the rest of Europe. The land here, although relatively dry, is apparently fertile and warm year round, with long growing seasons that don’t require the use of greenhouses.

The biggest cities here are Murcia City and Roman Cartagena. The Grand Hyatt La Manga Club is just 30 minutes from Murcia’s new airport and due east of Cartagena. Alicante is a little further – about an hour north.

The resort takes its name from La Manga, a Cancun-style coastal spit that creates one of Europe’s largest inland seas. La Manga resort is nestled in a small valley next to the Calblanque natural park.

Inside Grand Hyatt La Manga Club

In the centre of this sprawling golf resort is the hotel, which has remained (on the outside, at least) relatively unchanged since it was rebuilt in the early 1990s. The entrance is almost discreet and faces a small car park:

Inside the lobby has been completely refurbished and now features an open-plan layout with more space for lounging and working:

There are three check-in desks on the right, and I was quickly checked into my room.

Rooms and suites at Grand Hyatt La Manga Club

The hotel had just reopened after its six-month refurbishment and was still relatively quiet, so it very generously upgraded me to one of the suites.

As this is not the typical experience, I made sure to see a standard guest room. Even these are impressively spacious:

All the rooms come with a storage area for a golf bag by the door.

Opposite the king bed is a large 65″ TV with Chromecast built in, whilst the sofa by the window can be converted to a bed to accommodate a third person.

The only thing that hasn’t been refurbished are the bathrooms, since these feature real stone tiles and units. However, the fittings have been replaced and the bath tub has been ripped out in favour of a shower:

Toiletries are by Balmain in big pump bottles:

Suites at Grand Hyatt La Manga Club

The suites at the hotel are similarly refurbished, albeit in a slightly more muted fashion. They are roughly twice as big: one half is dedicated to a large living space with sofa and dining table:

…. whilst on the other side you’ll find a large king bed as well as a desk:

Connecting both halves is a toilet accessible from the bedroom and living room as well as a huge bathroom / walk-in wardrobe:

Suites come with a bathtub in addition to the shower, so you get the best of both worlds.

Overall I think the rooms are stylishly renovated. My only complaint is that it took 5+ minutes for the hot water to reach my room each time I took a shower, which was a bit of a faff. The hotel has also forgotten to provide soap dishes, which meant that housecleaning placed my used bar on top of a drinks coaster. On the second day they replaced it entirely which seemed a bit wasteful.

Pool, spa and sporting facilities at La Manga Club

Of course, one of the reasons why people come to La Manga Club is for the absolutely vast sporting facilities. This includes:

• three eighteen-hole championship golf courses
• 28 tennis courts
• seven flood-lit paddle courts
• eight FIFA-sized grass football pitches
• a 750-seat stadium
• “some of the best cricket facilities in Southern Europe”
• two outdoor pools
• brand new 1,700 square meter spa

…. well, you get the idea. No wonder La Manga often hosts professional sports teams, including the English football squad.

I know next to nothing about golf but I did enjoy a ride in one of the buggies:

The North and South courses are more traditionally landscaped whilst the West course (a later addition) is more naturalistic, blending into the surrounding landscape. Grey water from across the resort is used to water the courses.

I did make use of the impressive new spa, which is now in the basement of the hotel. This was previously underused as storage. The only annoyance is that you have to enter via the outside, although compared to the old spa I hear this is an improvement!

It features a lovely warm central pool:

Guests staying in the suites can use the facilities at any time; if you’re in a standard room you either need to book a treatment or pay extra.

On a lower level you’ll find a steam room and sauna which is open to all guests, whilst a number of experience showers are available throughout.

Next to the spa is a very large gym which is clearly designed to cater to large sporting groups:

When it comes to pools you now have a choice between the existing family pool:

…. or the brand-new adults-only infinity pool overlooking the 18th hole of the South course:

The infinity pool is a lovely addition with a lovely vista, particularly in the evening.

If you want to swim somewhere more natural, the hotel offers four complimentary shuttles to La Cala every day. This is a small cove on the other side of the park and is where you can find the hotel’s beach club and restaurant.

It is a gorgeous spot, albeit with small pebbles / rough sand. The water here is supposed to be particularly clear with excellent snorkelling and scuba diving. If I had more time I would’ve explored it for myself.

That’s it for Part 1. In Part 2 of this review – click here – I take a look at the restaurants and bars at the Grand Hyatt La Manga Club.

The resort website is here if you want to learn more.

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