Tennis Resorts and All-Inclusives: How to Choose One
A tennis resort is the right answer to a specific problem: you want to play a lot, and the people you are travelling with do not. The difficulty is that tennis is a cheap thing for a hotel to advertise and an expensive thing for a hotel to do properly, so the gap between the photograph and the facility is wider here than almost anywhere else in travel. A few checks sort the real ones from the rest.
The ratio that tells you everything
Before you look at anything else, compare court numbers to room numbers. A 300-room hotel with four courts cannot serve its guests at nine in the morning, and that is precisely when everyone wants to play.
Under one court per fifty rooms and you should expect to book days ahead or play at awkward hours. Six to eight courts is roughly where a resort can run a coaching programme and still have space for people who just want to hit.
Programme, not facilities
The real distinction is whether tennis is staffed. A resort with a resident coaching team runs clinics, round robins and partner matching, which means a solo player always has something to join. A resort with courts and no team gives you a key and a wall.
Look for a published daily schedule. If the website cannot show you what happens on a Tuesday, there probably is not a Tuesday programme.
Surfaces, and what they mean for the trip
Surface changes the holiday more than people expect, especially in hot countries:
- Clay - slower, cooler underfoot, far kinder to knees and the best choice for playing several days in a row. Standard across southern Europe.
- Hard court - fast and consistent, but brutal in heat and unforgiving if you are playing daily.
- Artificial grass - common at Mediterranean resorts. Slower than it looks and gentler than hard court.
- Floodlights - in hot destinations this is not a luxury. If the courts are unlit you are restricted to early morning, because afternoon play will be unpleasant.
What all-inclusive actually covers
Court time in daylight is normally included. Beyond that, assume not. Coaching, clinics and private lessons are charged. Floodlit court time frequently carries a supplement. Ball hire, restringing and racquet rental are extra, and resort restringing is usually both slow and expensive.
The practical consequence: travel with your own strings sorted and a spare frame if you have one, and budget for coaching separately rather than being surprised by it.
Choosing by who you are travelling with
This is really the whole decision:
- Travelling alone and serious about playing - prioritise partner matching and a daily programme over everything else, including the pool.
- A playing couple - court availability at your preferred time matters more than court numbers. Ask about booking windows.
- One player, one not - look for a resort where the tennis is good and the rest of the resort is genuinely good too. A tennis-first property with a weak spa is a difficult week.
- With children - ask whether junior coaching runs at the same time as adult sessions. If it does not, only one adult plays at a time.
Questions that cut through the brochure
Email the tennis desk rather than the hotel. The answers, and how quickly they come, tell you most of what you need:
- How many courts, what surface, and how many are floodlit?
- Is there a resident coaching team, or a visiting pro?
- How far ahead do guests book courts in peak week?
- Do you run partner matching or a daily round robin?
- What is included in the rate and what is charged?
- Is there a restringing service on site, and how long does it take?
Frequently asked questions
What makes a resort a genuine tennis resort?+
Court numbers relative to room numbers, resident coaching staff rather than a visiting pro, a structured daily programme you can join without pre-booking, and a partner-matching system. A resort with four courts and no coach has tennis facilities; it does not have a tennis programme.
Is tennis included in an all-inclusive?+
Court time usually is, during daylight. Coaching almost never is, floodlit courts often carry a supplement, and restringing and ball hire are extra. Assume anything involving a coach is charged separately unless it is explicitly stated.
How many courts should a tennis resort have?+
As a rough rule, fewer than one court per fifty rooms and you will be competing for time at peak hours. Six to eight courts is where a resort starts being able to run a real programme alongside casual play.
Can I find a hitting partner at a resort?+
At a good one, yes - that is one of the main things you are paying for. Ask specifically whether they run partner matching or a daily round robin. Without it, a solo traveller can end up paying for a week of hitting against a coach.
Booked somewhere hot? Heat and altitude change how the ball behaves more than most players expect.
Playing in heat and at altitude →