Club Esse Shardana in Santa Teresa Gallura

Not a great hotel. Good location, nice views, very nice staff and a pleasant pool. And that's all the good stuff I can say about this hotel.

The room was bad - it smelled like a cat has peed in it which we reported and asked for the AC to be checked. No one came to check anything. There were only 2 working energy outlets in our room (one in the room and one in the bathroom) so we had to pick what we wanted to charge. Our friends had a room next to ours and their fridge didn't work. Someone came to check it a day after we reported it and did nothing. In the end they did something about it after 3 days of our stay. We didn't have any glasses or cutlery in the room (only 2 paper cups). There was no wardrobe and not much space to store things. The wi-fi was pretty weak, so it was hard to do any work.
Also, even though we paid for breakfast, most of the tables were booked. On our last day there was no free table for us to eat the breakfast at. When we asked about it they told us we should have booked one. No one mentioned the need of table booking at any point during our stay. Not at the check in and not in the meantime. Had we known that earlier, we would book too.
Breakfast was of very poor quality. Every day everything was the same. Pretty basic and not very good, so we were happy we didn't not decide for an all inclusive.

I do not recommend it. It surely does not deserve the 4 stars it has.

The hotel was ok and the cleaning services too but I have to put only 1 star because the director’s service and the one who claimed to be some kind of “boss” named Luisa was terrible, she treated the girls who cleaned very badly when they did her jobs very well, I even heard screams and insults from her from my room. Horrible.

If you are considering booking this place, stop. This is not a 4-star hotel in any sense other than what’s printed on the sign.

Issue 1: Cleanliness
We had already read bad reviews before arriving, so we emailed the hotel directly about cleanliness. We never got a reply. Not to the website’s info email. Not through Booking.com.

On arrival, we were greeted by visible dirt on the floor and drawers containing long human hairs. This was not an isolated case. The entire property is poorly maintained. At the buffet, staff with zero training handled bread and food with bare hands. No gloves. No utensils. The scrambled eggs tasted like fish, almost certainly from contamination with the previous night’s dinner. I am allergic to fish.

Issue 2: Rooms
The rooms are dated, uncomfortable, and unacceptable. Thin, cheap sheets. A worn blue bed cover from the 90s. Ceiling light broken. Shower that did not drain. No windows, yet no privacy. Every word and every sound from the next room came through clearly - including things no one on a family holiday should have to hear. No Wi-Fi. No mobile signal on Vodafone, TIM, or anything else.

The most alarming: housekeeping left our door open for seven hours. We were one of the first set of rooms where 70% of guests had to pass by. Anyone could have walked in and taken everything.

Issue 3: Management
We took our complaints to the general manager. His response? Admitting it’s “not really a 4-star” and acting surprised. If you manage a hotel, you read your reviews, you train your staff, and you take responsibility. None of that is happening here.

The property could have potential, but it would require a complete renovation, a professional GM, and staff who actually know hospitality. In over 40 countries of travel, I have never seen this level of neglect. The only person worth praising was the Italian man with glasses and medium long hair who seemed to be doing every role in the building while management looked the other way.

Issue 4: Breakfast
Forget it. It’s a carb-heavy sugar display with no balance or freshness. Fourteen cakes, two types of bread, no fresh juice, green bananas, and bread that tasted old. Not one thing made me want to get out of bed for breakfast.

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This is a badly run, poorly maintained property riding on its location and misleading advertisement. If you care about cleanliness, comfort, or basic hospitality standards, book somewhere else