Long-stay golf apartments in Costa Ballena, southern Spain

A two-bedroom apartment with terrace and pool access in Costa Ballena runs from €1.250 per month for stays of one to three months between November and March. The exact figure depends on floor, orientation and whether you have a sea or garden view, so the realistic band is roughly €900 to €1,400 a month. That price already includes fibre wifi, community fees and pool access.

Electricity and water are the two things we do not wrap into the monthly rate, because a winter stay with heating genuinely consumes more than a summer week and we refuse to hide that in a flat fee. Both are metered individually: you see the reading on arrival and departure along with the utility company invoice, and you pay real consumption with no margin added. In practice a two-bedroom apartment used normally comes to between €40 and €70 a month in electricity plus around €15 in water.

For stays longer than 28 days we apply a closed monthly rate with no weekend or public-holiday surcharge, and a refundable deposit equal to one week of rent. Compare that against high season, when a single week can cost €1,190: over four winter months the total usually lands below two months of renting in Benidorm or the Costa del Sol, with the beach five minutes away on foot.

Because it combines three things that are hard to find together on the Spanish coast: a playable climate, a walkable resort, and a monthly price that makes a long stay realistic rather than aspirational. Costa Ballena enjoys more than 300 days of sunshine a year, and winter daytime temperatures regularly sit between 16 and 20 degrees, so the course stays open and comfortable in January and February when most of northern Europe is unplayable.

The 18-hole course was designed by Jose Maria Olazabal and Dave Thomas and sits inside the resort, which means you walk to the first tee rather than drive. Around it there is a social club, a golf school and club rental. Within half an hour you also have Novo Sancti Petri, Vista Hermosa in Sanlucar, Montecastillo and Sherry Golf in Jerez, and just over an hour brings you to Sotogrande and San Roque with Valderrama, La Reserva and Almenara. You can play a different course every day of the week without changing apartment.

Logistics decide it as much as golf does. Jerez airport is 35 minutes away with direct seasonal flights from Bristol, Manchester, London, Edinburgh and Dublin, and Seville is about 90 minutes by motorway or by train from Jerez. Many of our guests settle into a routine within a week: golf in the morning, lunch at the club, a walk along the beach, cards in the afternoon. Most of them book the same weeks again the following winter.

The whole process is designed to be done remotely and in English, without a Spanish bank account. You write to us on WhatsApp or by email with your dates and how many people are travelling. We reply with real photographs, a floor plan, the exact location and a closed price for the period you need, so there is no dynamic pricing surprise later.

If it suits you, we issue a seasonal rental contract in PDF with your details, the dates, the total amount, the deposit and the community rules. You can sign it digitally. The reservation is paid by SEPA transfer or through a secure card link, and the balance is settled on arrival or in monthly instalments for longer stays. The deposit is one week of rent and is returned by transfer within seven days of departure, once the apartment has been checked.

We issue an invoice with a Spanish VAT number, which matters if you need to justify the expense for work or tax purposes. We also send a short practical guide in English covering the transfer from Jerez airport, where to collect the keys, the nearest supermarkets, how the pool works and the useful phone numbers. We never ask for card details over WhatsApp and we never take payment through informal channels. If your dates are fixed, booking six to eight weeks ahead gives you the best choice of apartment.

Jerez airport is the nearest, about 35 minutes by car, and it is the one most of our British guests use because of the direct seasonal routes from Bristol, Manchester, London, Edinburgh and Dublin. Seville airport is roughly 90 minutes away by motorway and has a wider year-round flight network, which makes it the practical option outside the summer season or when you are flying from a regional UK airport without a Jerez route.

From Jerez you can take a taxi or a pre-booked transfer directly to the apartment; we can arrange a transfer and, if you are travelling with someone who uses a wheelchair or walker, a vehicle adapted for it. From Seville the usual options are the shuttle train to Seville Santa Justa and then a train to Jerez, or a direct transfer. Renting a car at either airport is straightforward and useful if you plan day trips, though many guests staying a month or more deliberately do without one, because the beach, the supermarket, the pharmacy, the restaurants and the golf club are all within walking distance.

If you are bringing a car, the apartments have parking and the resort is easy to navigate. We send a map with the exact entrance, the parking area and the key collection point before you travel, so arrival is not a puzzle after a flight.

It is arguably the best base on the Cadiz coast if you want to combine beach and city, because you are not in an isolated village but in the middle of a triangle with a great deal to see. Jerez de la Frontera is 25 minutes away on the A-491 and gives you the sherry bodegas, the Alcazar, the Royal Andalusian School of Equestrian Art and the race circuit. Sanlucar de Barrameda is 15 minutes, with its langoustines, the Cabildo Viejo and the manzanilla bodegas. Rota is 10 minutes with its old town and marina, Cadiz is 45 minutes on the motorway, and Seville is about 90 minutes by road or by train from Jerez.

Add Donana, which you reach by boat from Sanlucar along the Guadalquivir, and the bodegas of El Puerto de Santa Maria half an hour away. The practical consequence is that you can do a day trip and come back to sleep in an apartment with a pool, without changing accommodation or packing a suitcase. For a two-week or one-month stay that saves bookings, transfers and money.

Most of our long-stay British guests plan three or four fixed excursions and spend the rest of the days on the beach, on the course and around the resort. That rhythm is exactly what makes a month here feel like living somewhere rather than touring it.

Yes, and a growing share of our winter guests work remotely. Every apartment has symmetric fibre broadband with stable wifi in the living room and bedrooms, and either a desk or a dining table large enough to set up a proper workstation. Outside the summer months the resort is quiet, with no nightlife noise, which means video calls run without interruption.

For anyone with clients in the UK or central Europe the time zone is a genuine advantage: Spain is only one hour ahead, so the working day fits without getting up at dawn. Outside the apartment there are several cafes with terraces and wifi along the promenade, and the golf club has lounge areas where you can work with a laptop. Many guests combine three focused mornings with afternoons on the beach or nine holes, a balance that is hard to achieve in a city.

If you are staying several months we can help you set up utility contracts in your own name so you can deduct expenses if you are self-employed, and we issue a monthly invoice. Tell us in advance if you need an ergonomic chair or an extra monitor and we will have it ready before you arrive. Fibre is included in the monthly rate with no data cap and no supplement.

Yes, we accept small and medium-sized dogs in part of our portfolio, with a cleaning supplement per stay and a few basic rules: no dogs on the sofa or beds, no leaving the dog alone in the apartment for long periods, cleaning up in communal areas and keeping the dog on a lead throughout the resort. Costa Ballena is genuinely comfortable for dogs, with a long promenade, landscaped areas and beach access outside the busiest months, plus a veterinary clinic a few minutes away by car.

Not every apartment accepts a pet, either because of a community rule or because of the type of furniture, so it is essential to say so when you enquire and to tell us the breed, size and age of the animal. On long winter stays the supplement is charged once per stay rather than monthly, which for three or four months works out very reasonably.

If you are travelling from the UK with a dog, remember the health certificate requirements and the EU entry rules, and contact us well in advance, because we can point you to the documentation and to vets in the area who deal with British visitors regularly.

We use a clear stepped policy with no small print. If you cancel more than 60 days before arrival we refund 100 per cent of what you have paid except the management deposit. Between 60 and 30 days we refund 50 per cent of the reservation, or, if you prefer, we move the full amount to other dates within the following twelve months at no cost. Under 30 days there is no cash refund, but we keep the right to change dates subject to availability.

If the cancellation is for documented force majeure, such as serious illness, the death of a close relative, border closures or official travel restrictions, we refund the full amount for the unused period against supporting documentation. On monthly stays, if you need to leave early, giving 30 days notice lets you end the contract without any penalty on the months you have not started.

All of this is written into the contract you sign before paying, so it does not depend on what a platform decides on the day. Our aim is not to hold on to money, it is for you to book knowing exactly what happens if plans change, which matters a great deal on long trips from abroad.

For one or two nights the platforms work fine. For a month, the difference is money and peace of mind. A 30-night booking on a platform accumulates a guest service fee on every night, a cleaning charge and, in many cases, dynamic pricing that rises on local holidays you have never heard of. Booking direct with us means a closed monthly price, no platform commission, final cleaning included on stays over 28 nights, and a single person answering you instead of an automated chat.

There is also a structural point. Under Spanish holiday-rental regulation many platforms do not allow stays beyond a certain number of nights, or require additional contracts. We work with a seasonal rental contract, which gives legal certainty to both sides and allows utilities to be put in your name if you need it.

The other difference is the property itself. Every apartment is from our own portfolio and we know them one by one, with a real inventory and our own maintenance. If something breaks it is fixed in hours, not on the next booking. For a week it may not matter. For three months it changes the experience entirely.

No. The price we give you in writing is the final price, and we always break down the four items that usually cause surprises. Final cleaning is included on stays of 28 nights or more; on shorter stays it is charged separately and shown in the quote. Fibre wifi is included with no data cap and no supplement. Community fees, pool and parking are included, because they sit in the owner's costs, not yours. Electricity and water are settled at real consumption with an individual meter, and we show you the arrival and departure readings and the utility invoice with no margin added.

In winter a two-bedroom apartment with normal use comes to roughly €40 to €70 a month in electricity plus about €15 in water. That is the whole list. We do not charge a tourist tax, because the stay is seasonal rather than a tourist stay; there is no card surcharge and no charge for lost keys beyond the real cost of the lock.

If you are comparing with a platform, add the service fee, the cleaning and the taxes to get the real total. On stays of a month or more the comparison almost always comes out in favour of booking direct.

Part of our portfolio is on ground floors with step-free access, a lift to the door and a bathroom with a level shower tray and grab rails, which allows an autonomous stay for older guests or anyone with reduced mobility. The resort itself is very favourable: wide pavements, no steep slopes, a flat promenade and boardwalk access to the beach at several points. The golf club and most restaurants along the promenade have level entrances.

Because accessibility varies a great deal between apartments, in door widths, worktop height and shower tray, we never assume it. When you enquire we check the specific unit and send you real photographs and measurements of the access, bathroom and bedroom before you book. If you are travelling with someone who uses a wheelchair or a walker, say so in your first message and we will assign the right unit.

We can also arrange a transfer from Jerez airport in an adapted vehicle and help you locate mobility equipment hire in the area.

More than the golf-first reputation suggests. The beach is the obvious centre of gravity, with a long promenade that runs along the resort and connects the apartments to the beach bars, restaurants, ice cream shops and the marina area. Chipiona is ten minutes away with the Sanctuary of Regla and the tallest lighthouse in Spain, and its Moscatel bodegas are worth a visit. Sanlucar de Barrameda, fifteen minutes away, is where you take the boat across the Guadalquivir into Donana, and where the manzanilla bodegas and the langoustine restaurants sit.

Rota has its old town, the marina and the beaches of La Costilla and El Rompidillo. Jerez brings the sherry bodegas, the Alcazar, the equestrian school and the circuit, and Cadiz is 45 minutes away with one of the oldest old towns in Europe. For families there are water parks and horse riding in the area, and for walkers the coastal paths towards Chipiona are flat and well marked.

In practice, guests staying a month settle into a rhythm: mornings on the course or on the beach, a late lunch, a walk in the afternoon and a day trip once or twice a week. The resort is quiet outside summer, which is precisely what makes it work for a long stay.