Alghero sweet Alghero – jewel of a town on the gorgeous, mysterious and truthfully bewitching island of Sardinia (Sardegna in Italian). Me and Frenchy made this town our ferragosto (famous holiday in August) escape for a long weekend and stayed at Villa Las Tronas Hotel & Spa on our first night in Alghero. Very centrally located and first constructed in the late 1800’s (with many add-ons over the years) – this was a place for Italian and Hollywood royalty to schmooze, mingle and do whatever it is that rich people do {I imagine sipping whisky and combing mustaches with a whale-bone instrument} before turned into a hotel in the 1960s.

Famous guests include Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor & the Italian royal family. Btw they also have a helipad. Not too bad, eh?

Since we arrived with Ryanair at 7:30am {no joke – we woke up at 3:45am to catch our flight from Pisa} – we decided to pick our rental car up and head over to the hotel to leave our bags and explore the surrounding area before checking in. I knew this place was going to be gorgeous but when we arrived, I wasn’t expecting how friendly everyone was! Instead of being annoyed at our very early arrival – they took our bags, gave us a brief history of the residence and ushered us to enjoy coffee and free breakfast overlooking the bay.

You could really sense the history and soak in the utter tranquility of the place. It was an absolutely incredible way to start off a pretty intense ferragosto weekend and as you can imagine, it also helped painted a pretty nice first impression of Sardinia.

I like that instead of price-gouging you, they actually include wifi and breakfast in the price of the hotel room (take a lesson American luxury hotels!). Plus besides an amazing view, there are two pools, one indoor and salt-water and one overlooking the sea. Additional amenities include a private area to swim in the sea, turkish bath, spa, a billiards room, ping-pong table and really nice viewing points surrounding the Villa. The rooms are pretty and have an antique, comfortable feel. While we stayed in one of the smaller rooms, they also have amazing suites with terraces overlooking the sea and one even has an outside deck Jacuzzi. Despite having only 18 rooms, there are plenty of places to explore.

What about breakfast? Because you know this foodie is all about choosing a hotel or B&B based on pretty much precisely this (oh yes & comfort and location etc.).  Well…just imagine you have been exiled to the vast island of Sardinia but you have the best view you have ever seen in your life, a huge buffet spread of various homemade cakes, croissants, tons of fresh fruits, cereals, eggs & bacon, local cheeses, meats and you can ask for specifically made egg omelets, cappuccino and maybe even a foot massage?

The service is impeccable and we never had to wait for anything. The fact that there aren’t a ton of rooms means that you feel at home here, there was no cold antiseptic vibe which you can sometimes get at luxury hotels.

And while we are on the subject of food. They offer an evening aperitivo from 7-9pm. If you decide not to stay at the hotel, I highly recommend coming here for a drink.

Moving on, of course we had to go swimming and since we had a plethora of places to choose from which is great since in my former life I might have been a water baby. We swam in the crystal clear blue sea next to the hotel, among huge rocks, boats and then in the indoor swimming pool which at a certain point music was turned on from who knows where when we were mid-swim/kiss. right. 

My favorite part of the day was watching the beautiful sunset across the bay of Alghero. Truly Sardinia probably has the best sunsets in the world. If I could physcially capture that moment in time and keep it in a glass jar, I would. And keep in mind this sarcastic girl never says things like that ;-).

I think I may have just found my second home. Bella Alghero!

Stay tuned for further Sardinia posts shortly.

Villa Las Tronas Hotel & Spa

Lungomare Valencia, 1, 07041 Alghero Province of Sassari, Italy
Phone:+39 079 981818
Hotel class: 5 stars

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