If you are familiar with Finca Cortesin you’ll know there’s a very good reason to be excited about its beachside venue. Not just another beach club, it offers understated style, charm and select service along with fine dining by the sea.
The Finca Cortesin hotel, resort and golf club have all established themselves as being among the very best in their fields in all of Spain. This is built on the style and quality of the architecture, décor and amenities, the excellence of the service and some of the finest dining options on the Costa del Sol.
The result is that the hotel is the destination of choice for discerning guests from Europe, North America and Asia, and has come to enjoy the prestige attached to a five-star deluxe resort.
This concept has also been extended to the seashore between Estepona and Sotogrande, where the style, standards and service that have made Finca Cortesin renowned can be enjoyed right by the beach.
Though easy to get to it is a rather secluded spot, which perfectly suits the laid-back chic ambience of Finca Cortesin and allows the beach club to exude a refined atmosphere where you can truly relax while being pampered.
Quality and the Sea
Expect no resident DJ pumping out techno sounds here or rowdy teenagers click-clacking to and fro with an oversized cocktail in their hands.
This is a sophisticated yet welcoming beachside venue where the understated chic of the gorgeous pool and restaurant area are designed around refined tastes and offering people a chance to experience a touch of beachside idyll.
For those with busy schedules it’s the ideal place to disconnect and succumb to a state of relaxing indulgence.
The two main ingredients at the Finca Cortesin Beach Club are quality and the sea. All the rest flows from them, so that you sense a serene ambience the moment you walk through the door and see an open panorama of Mediterranean Sea before you.
To the right is the long, sleek pool deck, to the left the shaded restaurant area and bar, with sun beds and wide-open sea views before you.
I’ve said it before, but the beach club is a study in understated style, and anyone who has dined at one of Finca Cortesin’s excellent restaurants will know what to expect – and be rightly excited.
The menu, as you would anticipate in a location such as this, focuses on classic Spanish and Mediterranean dishes, but there is also inspiration from other parts of the world, as in the case of the delicious ceviche.
In keeping with the setting there are no excessive frills, just quality and the sea, so we allowed ourselves to be guided by the Mediterranean and chose green bean salad with Ventrusca tuna and grilled zucchini.
Also testament to the fact that simple food can be a delight is the Tomate a Gusto… an offering of beautiful fresh tomatoes from Cortesin’s own organic source that is served with a variety of finishing touches such as olive oil, salt flakes, black garlic and Cantabrian anchovies.
To start we were offered a cocktail – not just a non-alcoholic one but in fact a health drink in gorgeous disguise. The pretty rosy-red berry cocktail contains anti-oxidants in the form of blueberry, raspberry, strawberry and pomegranate, while the golden yellow tropical version with ginger, lemon, mint, mango and honey is possible even tastier.
Then followed a seaside treat of large Galician clams Al Ajillo with Albariño sauce, accompanied by salted Lubina sea bass which is prepared and plated for you in classic style at the table.
The clam sauce was just right and the soft, almost sweet fish was a delight. Washed down with a glass of refreshing Albariño wine, as you gaze out to sea, an al fresco meal like this is a moment to savour.
The restaurant also offers a good choice of drinks, fruit and desserts with which to extend the experience, and the ‘Chocolate as the First Time’ with a raspberry coulis lived up to its name with its fresh, dark chocolate sensation.
If you enjoy the kind of quality Finca Cortesin is well-known for and you are drawn to the beachside, then this is a restaurant experience not to be missed.
Words Michel Cruz / Photography Kevin Horn courtesy of Finca Cortesin
CN340, Km146, Bahía de Casares. Tel: 952 937 800