The Vale Resort is a golf, spa and leisure hotel and resort in the

Vale of Glamorgan The Vale of Glamorgan ( cy, Bro Morgannwg ), often referred to as The Vale, is a county borough in the south-east of Wales. It borders Bridgend County Borough to the west, Cardiff to the east, Rhondda Cynon Taf to the north, and the Bristol ...

, south

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

. It consists of a hotel, spa, restaurant, two championship golf courses, golf clubhouse and a conference centre.

History

The resort is located near Hensol Castle, in the Vale of Glamorgan, around 10 miles outside

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

city centre. Leekes, a retailer owned by Gerald Leeke, purchased the site, which at the time consisted of a 9-hole golf course, in 1994. Around this course, a golf clubhouse was opened, followed by a health club and spa facility in 1998, designed for 4,500 members. As of 2012, the spa is the largest in Wales. The 143-bedroom hotel was opened in November 1999, along with an indoor sports training arena, in a partnership with the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU). The WRU continue to use the facility as their training base during domestic fixture periods such as the Six Nations Championship and Autumn internationals, and in 2009 the training facilities were developed further and relaunched as the WRU National Centre of Excellence, which includes three full-size outdoor rugby pitches as well as the indoor pitch and two administration blocks, where the national squad's backroom staff and the WRU's development and academy staff are based. The

Football Association of Wales The Football Association of Wales (FAW; cy, Cymdeithas Bêl-droed Cymru) is the governing body of association football and futsal in Wales, and controls the Welsh national football team, its corresponding women's team, as well as the Welsh ...

also previously had its training base at the Vale Resort, and commissioned international standard practice football pitches which were built at the facility between 2005 and 2006. The facility was officially opened in 2009, by FIFA president Sepp Blatter. In 2011, at the request of then-Wales manager

Gary Speed Gary Andrew Speed (8 September 1969 – 27 November 2011) was a Welsh professional footballer and manager. As manager of Wales, Speed is often credited as being the catalyst for the change in fortunes of the national team and as setting t ...

, the FAW moved the national team's training base to Newport's

Celtic Manor Resort Celtic Manor Resort is a golf, spa and leisure hotel and resort in the city of Newport, South East Wales. Owned by Sir Terry Matthews, the resort is located on the south-facing side of Christchurch Hill in eastern Newport, near Junction 24 ...

, resulting in a £15,000 compensation payout to the Vale Resort. The football facilities at the Vale continue to be used by

Cardiff City FC Cardiff City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Caerdydd) is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It competes in the EFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Fo ...

, who share the Vale Pavilion building as their training headquarters with the Cardiff Blues regional rugby side. In 2011, the resort made sales of £12 million.

Golf

From the original 9-hole golf course, the facilities at the site have been developed into two championship golf courses. The Wales National is a par 73 course which opened in June 2003 and has hosted the Wales Challenge event on the

Challenge Tour The Challenge Tour is the second-tier men's professional golf tour in Europe. It is operated by the PGA European Tour and, as with on the main European Tour and the European Senior Tour, some of the events are played outside Europe. History T ...

in 2005 and from 2007 to 2010, and the

Wales Seniors Open The Wales Seniors Open was a golf tournament on the European Senior Tour from 2001 to 2016. The prize fund was £250,000 in 2016. Tournament hosts *2001–05 Royal St David's Golf Club, Harlech *2006 Vale Hotel, Golf & Spa Resort, Hensol *2007� ...

on the

European Seniors Tour The Legends Tour is the current branding of the European Senior Tour, a professional tour for male golfers aged 50 and over, run by the PGA European Tour. The tour was branded as the Staysure Tour for the 2018 and 2019 seasons after UK-based insur ...

in 2006. The Lake Course is a par 72 course, developed around a 20-acre lake at the site.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vale Resort Golf clubs and courses in Wales Hotels in Wales Resorts in Wales Hotels established in 1999 1999 establishments in Wales