i It is a fantastic hotel in a wonderful setting, very much worthy of the five stars. Luca, the general manager, was very kind to us and treated us like royalty - we had an upgrade on the room.

Apart from the setting and first class service (he has a great set of staff), the food was wonderful. Adrienne and I agreed that the food was every bit as good, if not better, than the best London restaurants. The other thing that is outstanding is the privacy that the hotel offers its guests; there were plenty of discreet areas for relaxing and sunbathing. A comment that you might find professionally useful came from somebody that has been a regular visitor over the past ten years. She said that the recent improvements, like the new sun decks, have significantly enhanced the hotel.

All in all a dream place, and only a two hour flight from London.

Stayed here with family early August and we had a great time - the staff are exceptional and the setting of the hotel is beautiful.

Amazing location, amazing food at the main restaurant Il Paguro, not really 5 stars bar L'Approdo, poor food. I am happy to pay 16 euro for a toast but it needs to taste 16 euro!
Small beds and cheap materass!
But I will definitely go again next year!
You can leave your watch at home just enjoy !

Just got back from our honeymoon in Sardinia. Before I go any further, should just say that this hotel is beautiful and I feel lucky to have had the chance to stay there...stunning setting, professional staff, lovely food, two beautiful beaches, turquoise water to swim in...here comes the 'but'...we spent so much money on this room, with it being our honeymoon we wanted something special and practically bankrupted ourselves to stay here. We've stayed in 5 star hotels in London, Sydney and Portugal but never have we paid this much for a room! We could have gone anywhere in the world for the amount we paid (21 nights in 4/5* in Australia cost less than 10 nights here). So, I was expecting to be blown away and that is why i'm going to be a little picky, because we're going to be paying off the credit card bill for a while.

Positives first - the layout and landscaping of the place is amazing, you don't feel like you're in a hotel but a little slice of Sardinian heaven. The olive trees, the flowers, the secluded hammocks, the solariums build along the coast, the private sunbathing areas - it's so peaceful here. We slept well every night - no noise - but our room (junior cardinal suite) was part of a single storey block so we had nobody above or below. Neighbours both sides though and we rarely heard anything. The food is very good, you get 4 courses! The menu doesn't change much but there are 3 places to eat and you can swap dinner for lunch if on half board and go out to Palau in the evening. Most of menu is fish or seafood though. The Pizzeria ended up being our favourite place to eat as it was just a bit more relaxed - service in the other restaurants is good but a bit full-on, they top up your wine every time you take a sip and we prefer to be left alone. Staff spoke English very well and were helpful, Elvina was our favourite by far, some of the older male bar staff were rather abrupt.

So what have I got to complain about? Just a few things stopped it from being perfect:

Other guests - not the hotel's fault! Mostly Russian millionaires with very young girlfriends or Italians. Guests were incredibly boring and stuffy! They have entertainment at night but the guests are too rude to clap or interact in any way, so it all feels a bit embarrassing. The place is dead by 10.30pm, really don't understand where everyone goes at night - breakfast was always busy. Maybe it's the bar prices. Most nights we bought one drink and sipped it very slowly. We couldn't have stayed more than 10 nights, it was pretty boring!

The room - a junior cardinal suite, room 808. As I said, the most expensive hotel room I've ever stayed in, anywhere in the world. It was spacious and incredibly well-equipped, with a walk in wardrobe and large terrace. However, the decor and bathroom felt dated, the furniture was shabby, the bed cover scratchy and uncomfortable an it was two beds pushed together so I kept falling down the gap in the middle. Our sea view was heavily obstructed by trees. I expected something much more luxurious, they could refurbish the room twice over just using the money we paid to stay for 10 nights!

The location - it's very isolated, I'd definitely advise hiring a car. Taxis are extortionate - a 30 Euro return journey to Palau, just 4km away! And to visit Porto Cervo, 140 Euros return! This is obviously not the hotel's fault, but they don't seem to want you to leave and make it difficult to do so (I wonder why...see my next point!) they could easily offer a shuttle service to Palau. There are no excursions available apart from boat trips so you really need a car if you don't want to spend all of your money on taxis. There is nowhere to buy any sun protection, no access to a pharmacy (unless you spend 30 Euro to go to Palau).

The way they seem to go out of their way to make you spend as much money as possible! There is no shop or supermarket, despite there being a large villa complex adjoined to the hotel site. It's as if they don't want to provide you with any cheap options. You're a bit thirsty sunbathing in the 35 degree heat? You'll have to buy water from the hotel bar or take it from your mini bar (both very expensive). There is no free drinking water anywhere. You fancy a gin and lemonade? That'll be 18 Euros! Want to nibble on something? Your only option is a 5 euro tiny packet or pringles from the mini bar, or you have to go and have a proper sit-down meal at the snack bar. Want to hire one of the rubber boats? When you go to inquire they tell you it's 200 Euro for the day. Then when you've signed all the paperwork, they tell you there is also a 200 euro deposit to pay. And you have to pay extra for fuel. Oh, and the fuel tank only has 3 hours of fuel in, so you don't actually get the boat for the whole day. Basically, there are so many extra costs, even the spa pool costs 30 Euros per person (and again, nobody tells you it shuts at 1pm!).

I suppose if you're a Russian millionaire this wouldn't bother you. We're not tight, we just don't like that feeling that you've been completely ripped off. As I said, it's a lovely place and we had a lovely time, but if we spent the same amount of money on a holiday again, it definitely wouldn't be here.

If you're happy to stay on the resort 24/7 and have one (very quiet) drink each evening, you'll like it here. If you prefer to see some life and have a little noise going on, this isn't for you!