Hotel Ollastu

Hotel Ollastu is just a few Kilometers south of Olbia in Norther Sardinia in the middle of the Costa Corallina area that is quite nice but not the best of Sardinia. The room we had was large and comfortable with a nice bathroom, but in my opinion, there are a few things to improve. The shower dish is fixed, no possibility to shower only part of the body, the closet is small, there is not enough space for 2 people that intend to stay one week or more, the position of the stairs at the entrance of the room are in a very dangerous position and have an uncomfortable round shape. I almost broke a leg while entering the bedroom. Room’s soundproofing is terrible, we could hear almost all intimate sounds from our neighbors. The air-conditioner that is facing the bed and during the hot nights of August, to have a cold air stream directly hitting your head it is not very pleasant. I tried to direct the air flow to other directions to no avail. I read other customers complaining for the presence of ants and mosquitos, but we had no problems with that (no mosquitos and no ants), but being used to sleep in the dark, the absence of any kind of shutters on the windows (and the almost transparent curtains) did not offer any help. What we really appreciated was the food. We booked a room with half-board, and I must say that the food is good, I haven’t the slightest complaint about that. The breakfast is also very good and there is plenty of food to choose from. I didn’t give 5 stars for the following 4 reasons. (1) The hotel management states that the hotel is beach-front and that’s not true. There is a free shuttle service, but it is the only free service related to the beach. The hotel is at least 3-400 meters from the beach, and the beach service is extremely expensive (I would say outrageously expensive compared to the Italian average… double). 70€ for one umbrella and two sunbeds per day. Beach service is not included in the room price, must be paid (cash… that is what they asked us) upfront at the beach (no receipt issued….). It sounds a little illegal to me… and unacceptable for a 4 stars hotel. (2) beverages are extremely expensive, especially spirits. A Spritz-Aperol costs 12€, double the price for the same drink in Olbia center (that is already expensive compared to the average 5€ in the rest of Italy). A bottle of Prosecco at the bar is sold at 25-30€, twice more expensive than at a restaurant in Northern Italy. (3) We were offered a free welcome drink at a nearby resort because we paid in advance the full price… we didn’t ask, and nobody came to offer us the drink. Maybe it’s our fault because we didn’t ask. (4) the beach Is narrow, bordering a touristic port and full of annoying algae in the ***** of water close to the beach. To find the typical blue water of Sardinia you must swim off 30-40 meters. The shoreline is much below the standard of Sardinian’s sea quality. Drinks and food at the beach restaurant are as expensive as at the hotel. My voting

friendly and very quiet