We spent 5 nights at Hotel Galli at the beginning of September.
Before I moved to France I used to live in Tuscany, so I had been to Elba Island several times in the past, but my last trip there dated back to 1997.

We decided to spend some time there as opposed to our habits (we tend to go to Sardinia) in order to be closer to our base in Northern Tuscany.

My first choice was to go to the Northern part of the Island, Capo Sant’Andrea, as I think that the area is very well preserved and the atmosphere is nice.
When I called the hotel I had chosen, the lady was very honest and told me that that part of the coast is really not ideal with a toddler since is mostly rocky. She suggested that we went to Fetovaia, a beach that has the reputation of being just fantastic, like at the Seychelles.

My research went on and the choice was quickly made: what I read about the Hotel Galli pleased me a lot and I thought that it would correspond to what I was looking for.
I was right. The hotel is run by the very first owners, all members of the same family.
The Galli family has been living and working at Fetovaia for decades and the old leave the space to the young that treat the hotel as their most beloved treasure.

We chose a PORTICO room, which had a tiny little balcony and no sea view. The room itself was really tiny and we asked for a change, but the hotel was fully booked, so we had no choice but keeping what we had.
The room has a fridge which is kept empty so you can store some food (very practical when you travel with young kids) and the staff at the hotel are very helpful if you need plates etc.

All the rooms are equipped with air conditioning and mosquito nets at the windows, even though this year mosquitos decided to give a break to Elba and were not so many. Anyway, we were right to bring the mosquito net for our kid’s travel cot since some mosquitos could make their way in the room.
The hotel is a very nice place: it is sober, decorated with old tools belonging to the family, there is a nice library, a very nice terrace, a very useful playground but above all there is CULTURE.

Twice a week, there are free excursions in the island, both the area in the mountain with numerous interesting villages and by bicycle or kayak. One of the owners, Mr Sergio, has a very deep knowledge of Elba and is passionate by his land, which makes your stay even nicer because you know there is so much to discover.
In every room there is a shelf with several books about the island and one special book telling the story of the Galli family which is really worth reading.
The welcome treat is a 50% discount on a 40 minutes massage which is always a good surprise.
At the reception desk you can have a voucher to get a 10% reduction for lunch at a beach restaurant as well as for the chaises longues.
In the corridors there are containers for recyclables and the whole hotel is environment friendly.

The restaurant is simple and GORGEOUS ! At breakfast time you have the menu for dinner, so you can choose what to have and the price varies according to the number of courses, which is not so easy to find in Italy. The kid’s menu is always different and well balanced, the wine list nice and the desserts… well I had 3 every time !
Breakfast itself is above italian standards and the buffet offers a choice of the classics together with home made cakes and jams with fruits of the garden.
The staff of the restaurant as well as the hotel staff is extremely kind.

The beach was the only very bad surprise: it was just FULL: some moments of the day, you would not even be able to put your beach towel on the sand without touching the neighbour… Astonishing! My memories were really different.
What was really unbearable was that if some companies have the right to rent chaises longues and umbrellas (and the price is quite high, something like EUR 17 for the day!!!) and others should just sit there and wait for the client to come and rent the equipment in order to position it. BUT NO : they put all the equipment on the beach and leave every day a smaller free space in order to oblige people to pay the price… This is scandalous and I almost had a row with these people that illegaly occupy the public areas.

It was really impossible for my husband who was for the first time on the island to imagine how the beach could be without hords of people (not all of them so civilized to remove their litter from the sand).
As a result, we reduced our hours on the beach and visited Marciana (twice, actually !), Capo Sant’Andrea, Marciana Marina, Sant’Ilario and it was very well.

We will certainly go back to Elba Island, but this time we will chose another time of the year (say April or May) and will stay away from the crowds !