La Grotta Delle Fate

The place was clean and very quiet, and the owners were friendly.

The owner’s response to my personal situation really affected my impression of the stay. I called to explain something delicate and expected more understanding. After her “suggestions” on the phone, I thought there might be some cutlery in the room, but there wasn’t. I’ve stayed in lots of places surrounded by greenery where the owners were incredibly kind and made me feel like family, not just a paying guest. After many years working with the public, I believe kindness, courtesy, and hospitality should come first for anyone choosing this work. Profit matters, but genuine empathy and consideration shouldn’t just be for self-interest. There’s room to improve. The setting itself was lovely, peaceful, green, and carefully maintained, and the room was spotless. But the location wasn’t ideal: it’s outside the village, past a turnoff toward another nearby town, so you need a car to get to the village, even if it’s only a few minutes away. Breakfast felt sparse and cold, with too few packaged snacks for everyone. Even though I’d told her what time we’d eat, the yogurt and juice were always left in the fridge, and there wasn’t even a bottle of water on the table. The only fruit was pears from the garden, each wrapped in plastic, which almost made it seem like they weren’t meant to be taken. Coffee pods were counted out one per guest, and so were the warm croissants, with no extras. On the second day the croissants were filled with cream, chocolate, or jam, but it was impossible to tell which was which. Checkout was meant to be by 11:00 AM, but the owner changed the time, saying 10:00 AM at the latest, then 10:30 AM at the latest.

We only stayed one night as a stop on the way, and the peaceful surroundings were lovely. The rooms were clean, and the owner was friendly and helpful. We communicated with a translator. Breakfast was sweet, generous, and varied, one of the better ones by Italian standards. There’s apparently an outdoor grill guests can use. If there had been a pool or the sea nearby, we’d have been happy to spend our whole Sardinia trip there. I recommend it.

The staff were professional and helpful, and the place was excellent. 10+++