It's not only the superb on-course facilities that lure people to Lough Erne Resort, as CLARE HEAL is happy to discover

I DON'T want to sound as if I'm boasting but I rock at crazy golf.

Seriously. Especially the windmill thing. I ace that every time. Anything beyond a seaside diversion though and golf and I part company. I've been pretty vocal over the years in agreeing ith Mark Twain, who famously opined that "golf is a good walk spoiled".

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So anyone who knows me well will be surprised to hear about my staying at a golf resort, though I did come up with an ulterior motive for stopping at Northern Ireland's Lough Erne, a five-star property in the countryside around Enniskillen. Golfers tend to hit their balls around beautiful landscapes so I figured it was a pretty good bet there would be plenty to do for the golf idow and those not keen on the game.

I was not proved wrong.

Lough Erne, you see, is not just for golfers. In fact, only a third of games played on the resort's Sir Nick Faldo-designed golf course are by hotel residents.

The resort, equidistant from Belfast and Dublin, is easy to get to and my boyfriend James and I visited after a particularly boozy wedding in Eire looking for a few days in the fresh air. Arriving after dark on our first night we went straight to dinner in the hotel's Catalina Restaurant.

The fanciest of Lough Erne's dining options, the Catalina is the kind of place given to veloutés and foams.

A complimentary terrine of various fishes arrived on our table with some tiny cubes of apple jelly. It was nice but we preferred our more down-to-earth mains of steak and venison followed by a divine caramel ice-cream. After dinner we whiled away an hour or so in the hotel bar before retiring to our room, luxurious in a brocade-rich kind of way and equipped with velour monogrammed bathrobes and slippers, a huge comfy bed and a pair of binoculars, presumably both for admiring views of the grounds and also for sneakily assessing your opponent's swing.

Awaking at the crack of mid-morning, we made it down just in time for breakfast and enjoyed superbly fluffy scrambled eggs and excellent local bacon before setting off for a walk around the grounds.

The hotel is set in the heart of the Fermanagh Lakelands on its own 600-acre peninsula in truly jaw-dropping scenery.

We were lucky with the weather and, in the bright winter sunshine, the deep blue of the lake's water contrasted with the paler blue of the sky and the golds and greens of the grasses to dazzling effect.

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Was the walk spoiled by the golfers? Quite the opposite, it was entertaining to come across players here and there and watch them attempt a difficult shot or two.

Had our stay in Lough Erne not been so brief we'd have struck out beyond the confines of the resort and walked round more of the lake itself. Pushed for time, however, we remained on more manicured grounds before heading to the hotel spa.

The Thai Spa is a slightly surreal oriental pocket in otherwise very Irish surroundings.

I went for a "Vital Harmony" massage and James opted for "Royal Power", which he thought sounded more manly, although comparing notes afterwards it seemed as if we'd had fairly similar experiences.

The masseuses don't mess about. We got a proper pummelling and afterwards we felt both drained and invigorated.
The treatments were followed by herbal tea and fresh fruit served in the delicately candle-lit Relaxation Room. As we slowly floated back down to earth the sun was setting outside, the sky turning deeper and deeper blue until the view was lost to us and we could see only the flickering candles reflected in the window pane and the lit walkway outside.

Perhaps this golf lark is not so bad after all.

GETTING THERE:
Lough Erne Resort (02866 323 230/www.loughernegolfresort.com) offers a two-night May Thai Escape from £153pp per night (two sharing a luxury Lakeview room), half-board. Price includes breakfast, dinner in the Catalina Restaurant, a one-hour treatment in the Thai Spa with use of the thermal suite and infinity pool and a £15 voucher redeemable throughout the resort.

Offer valid for May 2010 only.

Aer Lingus (0871 718 5000/www.aerlingus.com) offers return flights from Heathrow to Belfast from £55.
Avis (0844 581 0159/www.avis.co.uk) offers three-day car hire from £102.

Tourism Ireland: 0808 234 2009/ www.discoverireland.com