we returned a week ago after a fantastic week away.
We stayed in room 217 in the residence and the room was fresh and bright and clean and with a large bathroom that inc bath with over shower,toilet, sink and vanity unit and bidet. There was plenty of room and not dark or dingy at all.
The food was out of this world and would be considered fine dining and would recommend dressing smartly for dinner although other nationalities didnt,one female guest wore jeans and a hoodie!! 5 courses with 4 or five choices of each and the selection was diverse and very mediterranean,with lots of fabulous fish dishes which my husband absolutely loved. There werent many children there but the ones who were there were italian and they ate from the same menu as the grown ups which is the continental way---only the British would expect chips and nuggets and beans for their children. I was brought up in an Italian household where we always ate as adults do and didnt have a kids menu. There was a buffet of many salads as well as the five courses ordered from the menu. Lunchtime was much the same but with a more varied buffet plus two pasta type dishes and then a set menu of 2/3 fish dishes & 2 meat which was ordered from the maitre'd that seated you at your table.
The hotel had its own spot on the soft sandy beach with lots of beds and the water was the most amazing colour. We swam every day and even snorkelled and saw a few different types of fish near the rocks to the right of the beach.The other part of the beach was full with lots of families and children playing and swimming and having fun which was great fun to watch. We didnt use the private coves that the hotel has through its gardens as we preferred the bustle and room on the beach but the gardens were beautiful and the view over the bay was breathtaking as was the view from our room.
One negative of the main beach was the number of sellers allowed to come into the hotels private section. We didnt mind them selling their wares as it was interesting to watch them but some wouldnt take a polite no or then take note of the fact that you tried to ignore them or then pretend to be asleep.We tried everything to be polite but I resorted to a 'vi via' to get some to leave us alone.
Sometimes there were 8 sellers coming up and down the hotels section of the beach and we got really fed up of them by the end of the week. The lifeguard would move them on occasionally but only if they sat down on an empty sunbed! Considering one guest at dinner considered this hotel of a high enough standard to complain to a member of the waiting staff who forgot to pour a drink that they had served them,the the hotel shouldnt allow this amount of hassle to happen to their guests.Also it is illegal to knowingly buy an item that is a fake and also you dont get a receipt which is again a biggie in Italy. Sometimes you will get stopped outside of a shop and asked by an inspecto to show the receipt for your purchase and you have to make sure you have it as both the consumer and shop is considered jointly liable.
So this really surprised us also when you think of the price of the holiday. This was the only negative of the holiday and did not in any way spoil it for us.
Most of the staff were wonderful and very helpful. One male reception staff was a bit grouchy even when we tried our best to be really nice to him and I speak reasonable Italian and one maitre'd was a bit aloof but the restaurant staff in the main were some of the nicest people we have met. They interacted with us and corrected and complimented my Italian and were great fun to be served by.
There was a little piazza a few minutes walk away along the promenade with a dozen shops inc a couple of designer bags and shoe shops and a couple of gift type shops plus a few cafes and restaurants. Each night,the cafes and restaurants were full with the Italian holidays makers from other b & bs and hotels taking their dinner and we would take a passeggiata each night after dinner and watch them and the world go by.
There were more shops up the main road away from the bay and then more at the top with the supermarket which we used most days to buy soft drinks to fill out fridge in the room.
The price of cokes,soft drinks and water were 4e 50c per small bottle coke or large bottle of water and similar for beer I think in the hotel and you could get frozen granitas on the beach for 3e from a man pushing a cart or ice cream cones in the town for 2e 50. This might seem expensive to some but this is Sardinia and these are the prices that you will pay.
We had lovely weather interspersed with one afternoon of rain and one huge storm that cut out the electrics as we were eating,all the guests were laughing whilst eating by candlelight and the staff just carried on as normal with no panic and after about 30 mins and 3 attempts the electrics came back on and stayed on!
We took the bus to Porto Cervo for 2 20c each single no return and we had to buy the tickets on the bus as the shop didnt have them anymore. The bus driver was rude because all the tourists inc us were holding him up as he had to write tickets for 8 people.On the way back,everyone caught the same bus back ( only so much time can be spent looking at huge yachts) and this time he was worse and took our money but told us to sit down without a ticket as he would right one out later ( told to me in Italian with other people asking me what he had said). I know it is an offence in Italy not to have a ticket and is considered the passengers responsibilty to make sure they get a ticket even if you have been told to sit down on the bus after paying and if an inspector got on we would have all been thrown off but the bus driver would not write tickets for any of us then but luckily no inspector got on.
Room Tip: email before going but make sure you pay for a sea view on booking
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This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC