This 60's style hotel situated on a beautiful beach and backing onto a National Park area of pine forest, is GOOD AND BAD in equal measures.

The majority of customers are with Mark Warner Holidays and have come for the fantastic range of sports facilities they offer at the Abamar. In the main season there are also a number of Italians who stay here.

HOTEL
Very clean overall, with bedrooms that have been redecorated, if not completely refurbished. The bathrooms still look rather old style although new basins and loo's help lift them a little. The balconies are poorly lit at night and contain very basic furniture. The pool area is fine and fairly quiet during the day, when most activities take place on the beach. The hotel staff are all Italian with very little English, but there are plenty of British Mark Warner staff around to help you.

BAR
Horrendously expensive for what is only a 2/3 star hotel and the poor support it receives from guests explains why. There are much cheaper Beach Bar options right next door on the beach and in the evenings there is a very popular Karaoke Bar a short walk outside the hotel.

FOOD
Served outside (in all winds and weather) although there is an alternative indoor restaurant that staff will move the buffet into (UNDER GREAT DURESS!) although hopefully you will have glorious weather for most of your stay. The choice of food is very samey, not as exciting as you would normally expect of Italian, rather tasteless AND COLD! ~ JUST LIKE SCHOOL DINNERS. You won't starve, but it won't set your palate alight either and the wine, which is very basic indeed, is only JUST acceptable.

ENTERTAINMENT
One evening whilst queuing for some warmish food to arrive from the kitchen, an argument broke out between the Head Chef and one of the waiters, which spilled over into the restaurant. The waiter was chased all around the restaurant and repeatedly hit upon the head with a stainless steel serving dish from the buffet ~ very amusing, although not very professional behaviour.

SPORTS
Excellent Mark Warner sports staff on hand. Loads of watersports on the beach, sailing (various), windsurfing and canoes. As I'm more of a land animal, I played tennis and took coaching (although the hotel only features ONE court!) and went Mountain Biking. The bikes were fairly basic Specialised (hardtails), but most of them seemed to work OK and the guide was terrific, great trails along the cliff tops, with stunning views of the ocean.

Overall, we enjoyed the sports ~ the hotel was only just OK ~ but the food was a great disappointment. A lot of customers questioned WHY Mark Warner were still persevering with this hotel caught in a time-warp?

We booked a week at the Abamar, the Mark Warner resort, through Travelzoo all inclusive for £385 - & I definitely wouldn't suggest paying anymore. The food was so bad we could only each there twice - waiting in queues for very bad buffet food. The beach & surrounding setting are gorgeous - which was just as well as unfortunately the hotel itself was like something out of Austen Powers - you can tell it would have been quite swish 40years ago & it wouldn't take much to restore. You can't help think MW must not be giving them a good deal! I was disappointed with the room - the rooms at the front have a fridge so you should request these as they have a sea view too for no extra cost. Having said that the staff were fabulous, the included activities were plentiful - you could learn how to sail & windsurf amongst others, the instructing was excellent (its a YHA centra) and the equipment was top noch.

We got this holiday cheap and for the price of £385 each it was adequate. I really do feel sorry for the people who pay full price – they definitely get ripped off. We did have a great time though - hardly staying at the hotel but venturing out and doing our own thing. Not sure if i'd do a Mark Warner again - felt a bit claustraphobic being so isolated and seeing the same people day in-day out. We took the little orange bus into Pula (the nearest town) a few times to have a walk around and have a change in scenery. We were lucky that my friend happened to work in the next hotel so she took us on a boat trip around the South of the island which was fabulous. She also took us to Cagliari the island’s capital on the last night. It was really lovely; we shopped, ate, walked around and drank– well worth going to. Mark Warner offered their own excursion to Cagliari for 30 euros a rip off when the bus can get you to Cagliari for about 5 euros. Probably best to hire a car if you want to get around.

Beach
The best thing about the hotel. It was absolutely gorgeous... white sand, turquoise water – comparable with the beaches of Mauritius. Excellent to swim in.

Hotel
Clean but stuck in the 1970s. It has 4 stars on the entrance when clearly it is barely 3 stars. I’ve heard the standard of Italian hotels is generally low.

Room was very basic – décor is old, cheap furniture. Bathroom looks like it is from the 1970s. No TV, no fridge, Air Con is not very cold. We were on the first floor , overlooking the terrace and sea so it was very noisy. However the room was cleaned everyday and we were given free water.

Dinner was good – different options every night. Wine was awful. Breakfast was not great…the fried stuff was very greasy. Beware! If you are on HB there are not many places for lunch, the nearby shop closes at lunch and the café/beach bars have limited supplies.

Bar in the hotel and the beach bar were very expensive. About 2 euros for a can of coke. 3.5 euros for a can of beer.

Activities
Didn’t do any watersports as we didn’t realise we had to book it on the first day. If you ask them during the week they won’t allow you to try anything – which is quite annoying. Did the mountain biking one morning and this was quite difficult – not for the faint hearted or those who are not fit. Only 4 bikes available – 3 were broken. If you can manage it, it is well worth the views and scenery. Don’t do it when it is too hot.

Nightlife
Non-existant.

We booked last minute on the Mark Warner website and read the reviews and arrived with trepidation! The hotel is 3 stars so don't expect too much; it is clean enough but very tired. Our room was at the front of the hotel (facing the car park) and quite dark and noisy. Our bathroom smelt of drains as soon as we arrived and when we asked to change one of the staff admitted that a lot of the rooms tend to be a little on the smelly side so we made sure the bathroom door was kept firmly shut! Also, make sure you bring all your insect repellent stuff as most of the people we met complained they'd been bitten extensively by mosquitoes. However, some plug ins are available at reception free of charge. There are only 8 hairdryers available from reception so bring your own.
The staff are very friendly and extremely helpful and nothing is too much trouble. There are plenty activities for all including aerobics/fitness as well as the watersports and cycling. However, there were only 4 bikes available, which had seen better days (one was missing a set of brakes). No gym though. We couldn't fault the beach - great setting.
The food is adequate, a bit like school dinners. Ok for a few days but my objection is that it's LUKEWARM, sometimes cold and bland and not much variety. .
The resort is quite secluded. If you are want to explore the area there is a bus to Pula, ideal for a half day walkabout including some eateries - a good pizzeria in the square, a few boutiques etc. You can also take the bus to Cagliari which is an hour away and happily spend a day wandering about, eating and shopping, otherwise we'd advise you hire a car and see Sardinia.
On the whole, not a bad holiday; friendly, lively staff, plenty of activities, but we personally would not have been satisfied had we paid full price.