The Vale Resort

General information
Location| Hensol, Vale of Glamorgan, South Wales
Address| Hensol Park, Hensol, Vale of Glamorgan CF72 8JY
Coordinates| 51°29′43″N 3°22′39″W﻿ / ﻿51.49528°N 3.37750°W﻿ / 51.49528; -3.37750
Owner| Leekes
Other information
Number of rooms| 143
Number of restaurants| 1
Website
https://www.valeresort.com/

The Vale Resort is a golf, spa and leisure hotel and resort in the Vale of Glamorgan, south Wales. It consists of a hotel, spa, restaurant, two championship golf courses, golf clubhouse and a conference centre.

## History

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The resort is located near Hensol Castle, in the Vale of Glamorgan, around 10 miles outside Cardiff city centre. Leekes, a retailer owned by Gerald Leeke, purchased the site, which at the time consisted of a 9-hole golf course, in 1994.[1] Around this course, a golf clubhouse was opened, followed by a health club and spa facility in 1998, designed for 4,500 members. As of 2012, the spa is the largest in Wales.[2]

The 143-bedroom hotel was opened in November 1999,[3] along with an indoor sports training arena, in a partnership with the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU).[4] The WRU continue to use the facility as their training base during domestic fixture periods such as the Six Nations Championship and Autumn internationals, and in 2009 the training facilities were developed further and relaunched as the WRU National Centre of Excellence, which includes three full-size outdoor rugby pitches as well as the indoor pitch and two administration blocks, where the national squad's backroom staff and the WRU's development and academy staff are based.[5]

The Football Association of Wales also previously had its training base at the Vale Resort, and commissioned international standard practice football pitches which were built at the facility between 2005 and 2006.[6] The facility was officially opened in 2009, by FIFA president Sepp Blatter.[7] In 2011, at the request of then-Wales manager Gary Speed, the FAW moved the national team's training base to Newport's Celtic Manor Resort, resulting in a £15,000 compensation payout to the Vale Resort.[8] The football facilities at the Vale continue to be used by Cardiff City FC, who share the Vale Pavilion building as their training headquarters with the Cardiff Blues regional rugby side.[9][10]

In 2011, the resort made sales of £12 million.[2]

## Golf

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From the original 9-hole golf course, the facilities at the site have been developed into two championship golf courses. The Wales National is a par 73 course which opened in June 2003 and has hosted the Wales Challenge event on the Challenge Tour in 2005 and from 2007 to 2010, and the Wales Seniors Open on the European Seniors Tour in 2006. The Lake Course is a par 72 course, developed around a 20-acre lake at the site.

## References

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1. ^ "Leekes family pride and joy". Wales Online. Media Wales Limited. 15 August 2007.
2. ^ a b Brown, John Murray (17 June 2012). "Staycations breathe life into Welsh leisure sectors". ft.com. The Financial Times Limited.
3. ^ "Vale Hotel celebrates decade in business with Wales' top 10s". cardiffblues.com. 18 November 2009.
4. ^ Kelsey, Chris (19 February 2014). "Stephen Leeke: 'For Cardiff not to have a convention centre is an anomaly'". Wales Online. Media Wales Limited.
5. ^ "Centre of Excellence Opens". wru.co.uk. Welsh Rugby Union Limited. 28 October 2009.
6. ^ Gale, Laurence (24 May 2010). "Centre of Excellence". pitchcare.com. Maxwell Amenity Limited.
7. ^ Tucker, Steve (10 September 2009). "FAW Olympic decision branded absurd by Fifa's Sepp Blatter". Wales Online. Media Wales Limited.
8. ^ "Vale of tears as Wales squad's hotel move costs FAW £15,000". Daily Post. Trinity Mirror plc. 6 October 2011.
9. ^ "Welsh sport bodies unveil academy". BBC News Online. British Broadcasting Corporation. 19 January 2007.
10. ^ Griffiths, Gareth (16 December 2008). "Blue corner of the Vale hotel looks a real knockout!". The Western Mail. Media Wales Limited.

## External links

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Vale Resort.

* Official website

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Golf clubs and courses in the Vale of Glamorgan, Cardiff and Bridgend

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* Brynhill
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* Peterstone Lakes
* Pyle & Kenfig
* RAF Saint Athan
* Royal Porthcawl
* St. Andrews Major
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* Southerndown
* The Vale Resort
* Wenvoe

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