Tuesday, June 30, 2015

The luxury apartments of Sotogrande Spain

Sotogrande a beautiful private estate at the entrance to the Mediterranean
The estate is approximately 4 kms wide fronting the Sea and extends inland up a mountain approximately 7kms. A private security gated estate with its own Port and Marina, 2 beach clubs, 2 tennis clubs, 3 hotels,2 equestrian centers, a yacht club and beach on each side. For this article I wanted to concentrate on the 3 residential upmarket apartment developments within Sotogrande.
Whilst there are many apartment urbanizations these three are the ones which offer a more luxurious lifestyle with more spacious living.
Valgrande in Sotogrande Alto (check out the Valgrande community page on Facebook)This community is Possibly my favorite because of its facilities which include an indoor swimming pool and spa, flood lit padel tennis court, a golf practice area. The three free-form community swimming Pool's are stunning and the grounds are manicured to perfection. Many of these apartments enjoy golf course views of San Roque golf or Almenara golf.
The development is walled in with 24/7 manned security and a concierge like administrative office. The apartments themselves are spacious and beautifully fitted, most people love the large balcony terraces. Whilst there are a few 2 bedroom apartments the majority have 3 bedroom 3 bathrooms. For the people that really love space then the 4 bedroom 4 bathroom duplex penthouses are grand living at its best. There are also 4 bedroom 4 bathroom apartments all on one floor with some of the best terrace balconies I have ever come across. The Valgrande apartments are well maintained and well administered and whilst community fees seem high lets reflect on the many facilities that come within that price. The entrance is directly opposite the entrance to world famous Valderrama golf course.
Ribera del Rio apartments This urbanization is just across the Road from Sotogrande's waterway marina. The development fronts the river and across on the opposite bank you will see some pretty impressive riverside villas one belonging to Eddie Jordan of Formula 1 fame. What I like about these apartments is that the grounds are extensive. Beautiful lawns run down to the river edge and in the centre of the lawns a large community swimming Pool hedged in to offer sun bathers some privacy. The apartments themselves are well built. There are two parts to the development.
The smaller apartments 2 or 3 bedrooms are beautifully finished and have great water views. However the apartments in south facing block are larger and offer great living space and the beautiful terrace balconies all have plunge pools. The 4 bedroom apartments are triplex with room on the lower balconies for lounge suites dining tables all can be laid out at a good distance from the pool. Some of the upper balconies have hot tubs superb for star gazing on those hot summer nights. Ribera del Rio is a walled in secure complex in Sotogrande Costa close to Octogano tennis club, almost opposite the yacht club a few minutes riverside walk to the beach so location is wonderful. There is a security gate but the caretaker is there part time and gate is not manned at night.
Polo Gardens This development is built in 2 phases. The apartments directly in front of you as you enter security gate (manned security 24/7) are the larger spacious homes. Minimalistic in design and feel beautiful finishes and very spacious all on one floor with very large patio doors allowing wonderful light to flow into the apartments. Some of the ground floor apartments have walled in gardens and front gardens overlooking Santa Maria Polo with plunge pools.
The quality and finishes here are as good as it gets in Spain. I love the large 4 bedroom apartments on one floor where master suite is huge and love the his and her en-suite bathroom. The downside in this block is that they have built a series of town houses at lower level in front of the block and you look onto the green flat roof of these properties. Space between the various phases of the development is tight. I do like the gymnasium in this development and the sauna steam facility. This property also has a large communal pool and padel tennis court. The development is on Sotogrande Costa and is very popular with Polo lovers due to its proximity to the world famous Santa Maria Polo club.