Closer than you think, Cardiff (Caerdydd) and the surrounding area of South Wales is conveniently located just off the M4 motorway, just under three hours by road from London and Birmingham airport and just a 45 minute drive from Bristol Airport over the Prince of Wales bridge. Wales has its own International Airport, Cardiff Airport, which is just 20 minutes from the capital city, with daily flights from many leading airlines including KLM, TUI, Ryanair and Vueling. International passengers arriving at Cardiff Airport, just 30 minutes from the capital city. KLM operate daily flights and also offer flying blue golf club members free transfer of one golf bag (max 23kg / 50.5lb), in addition to standard baggage allowance, where flights are operated by KLM, Air France (including HOP!), or Air Corsica.
There are registered car hire companies, public transport links and pick up and drop off points for private transfers available at each of the UK airports.
Arrive in the capital city of Cardiff or Caerdydd as its pronounced in Welsh and discover a vibrant, modern and cosmopolitan city, with attractions, arts, culture, history, a waterside bay, leading universities, innovative businesses and major sporting and music events and some great venues to meet and stay at during your visit.
For clients who prefer to stay outside of the capital city, yet still want to explore the area as the preferred region of Wales, South Wales has two established golf resorts with outstanding business and leisure facilities on offer; The Celtic Manor Resort and The Vale Resort both featured below.
The Hilton Hotel Cardiff, 4 star hotel
Located in the city centre of Cardiff, with secured car parking and within walking distance of the central train and bus station, the Hilton Hotel Cardiff is an ideal place for clients wishing to hold their meeting and out of conference experiences in a lively city with a number of golf courses within easy reach. Set in a prime location with its own spa and leisure facilities, it's also positioned opposite the National Museum and Cardiff Castle with an abundance of shops, restaurants and arts venues. The Hilton Hotel has meeting capacity from meeting rooms from 10 up to 350 delegates 423 sqm total event space and 197 guest rooms.
voco® St David's 5 star hotel
Cardiff Bay is home to voco® St David's and is just five minutes from the capital city with breath-taking waterside views from each of its 142 guest rooms. With its own spa and leisure facilities, eight meeting rooms with capacity for up to 400 delegates for a reception and 200 delegates for a banquet and its own award winning Admiral restaurant, voco St David’s Cardiff is a luxurious venue choice events.
IHG Hotel Indigo 4 star hotel
Located in the city centre of Cardiff, IHG Hotel Indigo makes a great choice for smaller groups, incentives and team building events. Each of the boutique bedrooms have been designed with three Welsh themes; Made in Wales, Welsh Industry and Music, each embodied with local art and natural materials. The hotel also has a rooftop restaurant with an exclusive room for dining and meetings up to 12 people and some amazing views of the city from the rooftop balcony.
Cardiff makes a great choice for out of conference golf experiences, with wellbeing and relaxation at the heart of the golf resorts and clubs, whilst still motivating teams with many challenging courses on offer, to achieve best performance both in and out of the work place.
Cottrell Park Golf Resort
Cottrell Park Golf Resort in Cardiff offers venue hire with a range of options for business events from small meeting spaces to large capacity marquee space for up to 480sqm for large events, dinners, receptions and exhibitions, with in-house catering also available. The resort also offer team-building activities from state of the art simulators for team challenges during events and works with local suppliers to create bespoke activities and events.
Cottrell Park Golf Resort also offers two championship courses nestled within 400 acres of lush green Welsh Countryside;
- the Button Gwinnett, named after a former resident and one of the 56 men to sign the Declaration of Independence in 1766. The course is based on an American design with many water features including 13 lakes over the 18 holes and offers challenges for all categories of golfers;
- the Mackintosh course, named after a past Cottrell resident offers a course with a difference, designed around original historic features of the parkland trees, with water features, doglegs and finishes with a strong Par four on the 18th hole.
Glamorganshire Golf Club
The Glamorganshire Golf Club is situated in the Vale of Glamorgan just 15 minutes from the city centre of Cardiff, nestled amongst green rolling hills with a traditional clubhouse overlooking the golf course and breath-taking views of the Bristol Channel. This ideal meeting location offers corporate meeting spaces for up to 90 delegates and provides a wraparound service from planning support, a dedicated welcome area, technical support to a wide range of catering options.
Steeped in history Glamorganshire Golf Club is the birthplace of the Stableford Scoring System where club member Dr Frank Stableford first tried it out on members in 1898. The club has a par 70, 18 hole golf course and offers significant savings on green fees for corporate groups at certain times of the day and outside the busiest periods, with golf buggies trolleys and caddies available for hire.
Celtic Manor Resort
The Celtic Manor Resort is a 5 star resort located just outside the city of Newport (Casnewydd), yet nestled in tranquil woodland for wellbeing and relaxation. This beautiful 5 star resort hosted the 2010 Ryder Cup and has played host to many other major events including the NATO 2014 Wales summit. There is an experienced and welcoming sales team on hand to support event planning and delivery.
Part of the Celtic collection, the resort has won M&IT UK best hotel awards on nine occasions and C&IT hotel of the year on five occasions. Facilities here include three Championship golf courses including the course played by the Ryder Cup teams - The Twenty Ten Course. With two spas on site including the award winning forum spa, teambuilding and incentive activities with 200 acres of resort parkland and no less than eight restaurants across the collection, including private and exclusive dining options and 46 meeting rooms with capacities for all type events from a small meeting for two to a reception for 1200 delegates, the resort can meet every need.
- The Twenty Ten Golf course was purposely built to host the 2010 Ryder Cup, the 18 hole golf course measures 7,493 yards off the back tees and is a par 71. Whilst the early holes have a links like feel with long grass and swales, the middle section opens up to reveal the full extent of a lake lined challenge and water hazards across half of the holes it’s a challenging course.
- The Roman Road course opened in 1995 and overlooks the Severn Estuary. Designed by Robert Trent Jones Senior and named after the old Via Julia Roman highway that ran through its fairways. This par 71 course features long open fairways with twists and turns across streams and through trees and often the chosen venue for many European and Senior tour events, including the annual Celebrity Cup.
- The Montgomerie course offers a par 69 challenge. The course was designed by the legendary Colin Montgomerie. The course offers spectacular views across the South Wales valleys and has hosted professional and high ranking events.
The Vale Resort
The Vale Resort, is a 4 star resort located in The Vale of Glamorgan, just 20 minutes from Cardiff, yet nestled within 650 acres of breathtakingly green countryside woodland and a world away from busy life. This family run business is the official hotel and training ground for both Wales international rugby and football teams and located just a few minutes from the resort at Hensol Castle. This Grade one listed venue, which is also home to Hensol Castle Distillery with a visitor experience offer, is available for private hire and creates the wow factor for meetings, dinners and receptions.
Facilities at The Vale Resort include 12 versatile meeting spaces for up to 700 delegates, 143 bedrooms including some suites, a state of the art gym and spa, on site restaurant and a host of team building and incentive opportunities. The Vale resort offers two Championship golf courses;
- the Lake Course is a Championship par 72 and the first to be built at the resort. This 18 hole course covers 6,436 yards, crosses a serpentine lake with some challenges along the way - including an opening par three shot in full view and striking distance of the resort hotel;
- the Wales National Course is a par 73 covering 7,433 yards. Set amongst mature woodland, wide and narrow fairways and with water features it's one of the longest courses outside the United States.
Royal Porthcawl Golf Club
Royal Porthcawl Golf Club is situated in Porthcawl, a seaside town around 20 minutes from The Vale Resort. This links course has breathtaking views of the coast due to its downhill sloping green with sea views from every one of the 18 holes on the course. With holes facing all directions of the compass the sea air can be challenging but makes a great game for golfing teams to enjoy on this par 72 course spanning over 7,000 yards. The club is recognised as one of the finest links courses in Wales and has hosted The Senior Open Championship not just on one but two occasions.
Combine a game and informal meeting for exclusive groups at the clubhouse, or combine with a meeting and stay at the Vale Resort where everything from transport to booking can be arranged through their expert sales team.
For more inspirational ideas of meeting venues and courses to play in South Wales, please contact the Meet In Wales team.