Residenza Gardenia

I paid for a two-star apartment, and that’s how I’d rate it. It has air conditioning, hot and cold water, a wine opener, and a small kitchen that works for breakfast or maybe lunch if you make something simple, like ready-made ravioli. A cutting board would be a useful addition 😁 There are excellent restaurants close by, a well-stocked market in one of the buildings, and what I think is Alghero’s best gelateria nearby. The bus and car rental are close too, and the pool was clean. I didn’t feel I was missing anything.

We had a top-floor two-bedroom apartment with a sea view, and the two terraces were the highlight. One faced east for the morning sun, while the other looked west over the sea and sunset. We spent loads of time out there. Our rental car had a private parking spot behind gates, opened by card, under the pool and shaded from the sun. Having the supermarket on the ground floor was handy too. It’s well stocked, with a deli and café, and there’s a very nice gelateria 50m away. The local market is 100m north on Wednesdays. The hotel is a little north of central Alghero and about 100m from the city beach, which is convenient, though that beach isn’t one of the area’s best. The place isn’t very modern, but it has the facilities you need. The pool area was clean and nice, nothing special. It’s a bit outdated but still fresh, with working air conditioning. We had three units in the apartment and never got too warm. The shades on all the windows were welcome, especially in summer. For us, the location, parking, supermarket, and lower prices compared with fancier hotels made it a good choice.

The room had enough space, basic cooking equipment for a small meal, indoor and outdoor furniture, and an okay bed. But the sofa bed was very short, awkward to use, and incredibly uncomfortable. If you’re tall or want comfortable sleep, I wouldn’t stay more than a few days. The furniture was worn and some pieces damaged, though still usable. Cleanliness was a problem. The floors were sandy when we arrived and hadn’t been cleaned. During our week, the room was never cleaned, the sheets and towels weren’t changed, and we got no more toilet paper than the two rolls provided at the start. Reception had odd hours, and contacting them outside those hours costs extra. Some other things also incur fees, including not separating the rubbish for recycling. The staff themselves were helpful and nice. WiFi was decent, but streaming wasn’t allowed. It’s a fairly cheap apartment hotel for short stays, close to the ocean. Walking 20-30 minutes to the center along the beach was easy for us. Most of the nearest beach is private, with sunbeds and parasols for rent at about 18-20 EUR for two beds. There was a lot of loose seagrass in the water, piled up in places and often smelling rotten. I’d choose beds at the back of the beach, though there’s less breeze there and it gets very hot in summer. A supermarket is next door, with several okay restaurants and an ice cream shop nearby that stays open in the evenings and at night. Prices around the city seemed reasonable but higher than in other Italian cities: small pasta dishes were around 10-20 euro, large mains 20-30, pizzas 8-15, beer 3-5 in restaurants, and drinks 8-12. The pool was a decent size, with plenty of sunbeds and parasols, mostly used by families. Its odd hours were 10:15-13:00, then from 14:00 until roughly the end of the day.

For the price, I thought it was a clean place to stay with an old-fashioned feel and a great swimming pool. I’m not sure what people who complain were expecting. The main drawback is that basics like oil, salt, sugar, and coffee aren’t supplied, though there’s a well-stocked supermarket downstairs.