Club Esse Gallura in Aglientu

Ok let’s start with this caveat: this place was a 2 star for us, but I can see how others would rate it higher. It’s for a specific type of traveler which we didn’t know when booking it.

Let's start with pros:

-Because this place is HUGE, it had space to accommodate us last minute. We booked about an hour before on an evening when most places were fully booked. We though “well, it’s just a place to sleep for the night , let’s do it”.

- for the price, the accommodations (at least the one we were placed in) was huge. Only two of us but two bedrooms, a closet area, bathroom, big closet space, and big balcony where in the morning you can see the ocean.

- clean/the rooms were physically very clean

- location: if you have a car- this place is within 30-40 minutes of some of the most amazing beaches in Sardinia. Venture out!

- the staff at breakfast and reception were very nice! I wasn’t feeling well from lack of sleep and they let us check out an hour later. Thank you!

Cons - this is where they lost the stars for me.

- this place has 250 rooms and when I tell you it’s packed, it is PACKED (at least in the summer). This place clearly requires a lot of staff to maintain so I’m assuming it’s expensive to maintain but it has SO much potential. This place reminds me of the adult dummer camp in the movie dirty dancing. A place families come with their friends that also have kids, and where all the adults hang out together and their kids venture off to hang out together without adult supervision. We were joking that this is the kind of place that you get your first kiss as a kid or teenager, in the dark corner of the tennis court while your parents are lounging and hanging out by the pool. So it’s packed to the brim with kids and teenagers. There is entertainment that goes late into the night and kept us awake because the windows are not very soundproof. For many- the entertainment and tons of people would be a plus, for us it wasn’t. The amenities we didn’t use. More for families with kids than for couples.

- the smell in the room and the beds. Even though I could tell the place was physically clean- it had a musty smell that wouldn’t go away.

- I can’t understate this enough: this was the worst sleep of my life. I had dreams about my legs and back being in pain that night- and the pain actually woke me up multiple times throughout the night. Italian hotels aren’t known for their mattresses, but these ones take the cake. I might as well have slept on the floor. Please, for the love of god - invest in mattress toppers or new mattresses. This turned out to be not just a place to sleep for the night, but a place to have a restless painful sleep. Teenagers won’t care about this, but adults do.

- lastly - the breakfast. It was not good - simple as that. The coffee wasn’t even decent. We’ve eaten a lot of free b&b breakfasts and they are usually at the minimum decent. This one was not. I couldn’t stomach the eggs or beans (again very summer camp esque).

-lastly (and again for some people with teenagers who are constantly on their phones- this would be a plus one-star) but for us - no WiFi in the rooms was a huge bummer. Especially since we are traveling exclusively with WiFi and no cellular /SIM card.

To wrap up, this place is great for Italian families with kids and teenagers looking to hang out with their other family friends. Not a place for couples who want to rest. If this place just invested in mattresses that are comfortable - it would have been 4 stars. But the horrible sleep killed it for me.

Not for elderly people without young children.

To buy a coffee you must first go to reception and buy a card for 5 euros then load the card with another 5 then go to the poolside bar and order the coffee. They swipe the card. They did return the unspent value of the card but not the 5 euros for the card.
I'm sure many would enjoy such a place. Not me.

- @ CLUB ESSE GALLURA TEAM: We live in a world where plastic waste is becoming a mayor problem. I am sure you are aware of this!

So, I am asking you :-)

When will you replace those plastic cups during breakfast? Why do you use plastic packaging for the biscuits while serving all that cake without packaging?

When will you finally stop using plastic packaging for the soap, shampoo, … in the bathroom ?

…

If you need help to implement these measures, let me know! There is enough hotels out there that have reduced their plastic usage significantly. No doubt, you can do so too!