This hotel is not a 4 star, the staff are extremely miserable and don't know how to smile, they make you feel like you are a nuisance just for ordering a drink or asking a question, there is nothing nearby and a taxi to the nearest town Cagliari is 30 euros each way.

The facilities consist of a swimming pool and that's about it.

The food was substandard in the hotel, we ordered steak and got a piece of rubbery steak with a poppadom and freezing cold runner beans - very odd.

The Kontiki pizza restaurant next door to the hotel was nice and thank goodness it was there.

The rooms were ok and the beds were comfortable. The general appearance and decor of the hotel is poor.

Loud music all day long by the pool was really irritating.

This hotel should not be advertised for tourists, it is simply a hotel, not a holiday resort.

The area directly outside the hotel is littered with empty beer bottles and graffiti and we didn't feel 100% safe outside the hotel.

Booked at last minute and wish that we hadn't. In a nutshell; had to have two rooms, despite booking a suite (I shared with my son, my wife shared with my daughter), rude staff, incredibly filthfy surroundings, no beach for miles, the place full of boisterous teenagers (not a problem in itself, but they often took over the pool at the expense of other people), loud music at the swimming pool when you just wanted to relax; I could go on and on.

The only upside was the restaurant and restaurant staff who were polite and courteous, unlike the monsters at reception.

I actually didn't mind wearing a hat in the pool. But it's true, the life guard was maniacal about it - shouting if anyone dared go near the pool without one on.

Other people at the hotel left early because they couldn't stand it any longer.

I've been to several places in Italy and enjoyed them very much, but this was quite literally the last resort and would seriously warn anyone from going within 10 miles of the place.

Visited August 07 - We had booked the Setar Palace some ten weeks in advance but on arrival were told that it had been overbooked. We were transferred to their sister hotel called "The Grand" (Torre) some 200 metres away. Although advertised as 4 star on the board outside it was very poor and a borderline UK 2 star standard. We were able to use the Setar facilties but discovered that most of the facilties advertised do not exist. For example, there is no beauty salon, gymnasium, sauna or poolside bar. The outside football and tennis courts are in very poor condition and we noticed that only 1 tennis court was playable. The nearest decent beach is some 2 miles away.

The hotel staff had a couldn't care less attitude and trying to find out about bus routes and so on was like trying to get blood out of a stone. The bus takes around 40 minutes to reach Cagliari. We (6 of us) wouldn't recommend this hotel to anyone!

BEWARE - Don't believe the hype on the web-site for this hotel - it just doesn't live up to it at all.
We booked to stay at this hotel as a bit of a last minute thing, but having looked at the web-site it seemed to offer quite a lot in terms of facilities.
Upon arrival (quite late due to a flight delay!) we were informed that our booking had been transfered to the adjacent hotel block, which has its own name and reception but in reality appears to have been taken over by the Setar. This adjacent building had the feeling of somewhere that had been pulled out of mothballs to fit in some extra guests - there were unlit areas in the main lobby, with dust sheets over the sofa's etc.
Our room was small, with furnishings that looked like they had come out of the 1970's, but it at least was clean, and remained that way with a good daily maid service.
Breakfast the next morning was very limited, and the doors to the room were closed promptly at 9:30, although this seemed to relax to 10am later in the week.
The hotel boasts floodlit tennis courts and 5-a-side football pitches, but all of these are in a terrible state of dis-repair, most are totally unusable, and the gates to them are padlocked. It must have been a wonderful place once upon a time, but not any more - it is crying out for some serious renovation.
Dining at the hotel - not very inspiring choices on the main hotel buffet, but the Kontiki Pizzaria on site (not owned by the hotel) is good, if a little limited in terms of choice, and be prepared for some pretty slow service - they get very busy and don't seem to have enough staff, although they are friendly enough and try hard.
Outside of the hotel there is little in the way of alternative dining options - there is another smaller hotel just down the road and a small complex with another pizzaria and a gelateria, both of which were good, but again if you are travelling in August, book your table early - they get full up pretty quickly with locals.
The place was dominated by Italian tourists, along with a large party of teenagers from Italy who were on a holiday camp at the hotel - this meant some pretty loud music from the stage adjacent to the pool area, which was probably the only bit of the hotel which lived up to the billing - an excellent pool for swimming in, but families beware - it is 5ft at the shallow end and 10ft at the deep end, and everyone has to wear a swimming cap - no cap - no pool !!

Sardinia itself is a nice place, but the whole area surrounding the Setar looks and feels very poor and run down compared to some of the other places we found when exploring with our hire car, and the beaches do live up to the billing of being able to rival the Carribean in places, you just have to get out there and find them.

Don't be put off visiting Sardinia, just look for a better place to stay.