Il Mandarino

Does this place even exist? As far as I know, there's only a mechanical workshop next door, and the inside is an old ruin that should be demolished. Where are you getting this information? If you're convinced, fine. Greetings from Decimomannu Cagliari.

It really felt like home. The welcome was excellent, the staff were wonderful, and the rooms were very clean. The property has every comfort. Thanks so much for everything, we'll be back very soon.

RUN AWAY PROS: We received a full refund. CONS I'd missed the 6:00 PM check-in time by mistake. They wouldn't let us arrive earlier, yet by 6:30 PM I'd already had three calls because we hadn't shown up. We'd booked three nights through Booking.com. When we got there, the accommodation wasn't what we expected, and the owner's father greeted us. Our reservation said the room had a private entrance and private bathroom, but we got neither. We were told the bathroom had always been shared and that Booking.com had probably made an error. They tried to reassure us by saying there was only one other guest the first night, with more due in the following days. That didn't help. We wouldn't have paid €60 a night in June for a double room with a shared bathroom anyway, and we weren't prepared to accept that setup during the pandemic, even for less. Though we arrived late, the bathroom was in bad shape: there was urine on the toilet seat, used towels lying around, and no bin liner. That last part matters because guests are told not to flush toilet paper. The room itself was fine, but the bedspread and blankets didn't look freshly washed. We called Booking.com and noticed the listing had changed. It no longer said private bathroom, but shared bathroom. They couldn't offer us an alternative we were happy with, so we asked for a refund and found somewhere else ourselves. Then came two hours of back-and-forth with the owners through Booking.com. The owner said the bathroom was for our exclusive use because there were no other guests. Her explanation was that the last person had left that morning, which was the first inconsistency. The towels were still there, and the toilet wasn't clean. She also said they weren't renting the whole property, only one room because of COVID. But when I checked Booking.com, a room with a shared bathroom was available for the next day, the second inconsistency. Since the property has just one bathroom, that explanation didn't add up either. After more attempts to sort it out, we finally cancelled through Booking.com at 9:00 PM. Breakfast was another letdown. It felt like guests were left to fend for themselves, with the owners absent in the morning. There was tea and coffee, plus a few packaged snacks, supposedly because of COVID. The shared cookie jar in the middle of the table seemed unhygienic to me. We had a few more problems returning the keys, then ended our stay at Il Mandarino. I tried, rather timidly, to clear things up in person, but the owner didn't respond. She brushed me off with, "Don't worry, your reservation has been canceled and you'll be fully refunded."

It felt like home here. The place is beautiful and welcoming, has every comfort, and everything is carefully considered. The owners are very kind and helpful.