Hotel Castello

"Booked this hotel for a 4 day stay. When we arrived we felt rushed to have dinner straight away, the meal was hurried throughout and not the relaxing experience we would have liked after travelling for several hours. Although evening meals in general were nice, they were hurried and we felt if we didn’t arrive at the time the restaurant opened it was an inconvenience. We were half board and felt a complimentary glass of house wine or even water would have a nice touch, instead guests had to pay extra for these. Breakfast was very uninspiring, it definitely lacked selection - again, get there when they open the doors. Our room was spotlessly clean with good views, but it was pretty basic. The shower didn’t look much but was actually quite powerful which was a pleasant surprise! Staff were either super friendly or miserable depending on who was working. Fredrico was excellent, always happy and helpful and there was another male who worked in the restaurant who again was excellent. The grounds and garden were lovely and cleaned regularly. We didn’t use the pool so couldn’t comment, again this was always cleaned. Many people we spoke to had been to the hotel previously, maybe they knew something we didn’t, however we would not return unfortunately."

"We booked our holiday back in September last year through Easyjet Holidays. We've never been to Sardinia before, but we didn't consider it to be cheap (around £1800 for 5 nights B&B for 2 people). On arrival, the façade of the hotel is not overly appealing. On checking in (early) Gina kindly looked to see if our room was ready. During the discussion she offered us a reduced cost upgrade to a beautiful sea view (room 208) which we accepted. Despite this, we were initially disappointed with how compact the room was. However, like many European hotels, it was clean and had the basic amenities. One thing that we missed when booking was the swimming pool. There is one within the grounds of the hotel, but it was empty and looking at other Tripadvisor comments and Gina's response, it seems this belongs to the adjacent apartments. Breakfast was included and there was a reasonable choice. We had lunch at the hotel twice and it was very good, along with great service and reasonably priced. We particularly liked the app for ordering, which linked with Whatsapp (although you can still order with the staff). Gina also have us some guidance on getting the bus to Olbia and kindly messaged the timetable. The beautiful location and the friendliness of all staff somewhat made up for the basic room and lack of pool and we ended up having a lovely holiday. All of the staff were very friendly and helpful and whilst we don't recall all of their names, a big shout out to Gina, Georgia and Bartha. Although our room was on the small side, it was clean and the bathroom and shower were good. The hotel is roughly a 15-minute walk from town so on the outer edge. We visited in mid-June and it was VERY quiet and a bit of a ghost town during the day, although some restaurants remained open during the riposo. More restaurants are open in the evening with plenty to choose from (we particularly liked the La Pecora Viziosa which is very popular so be sure to make a reservation). We also enjoyed a lovely traditional meal in a recently opened restaurant called Radici. There is a private beach area with sunbeds and parasols for hire (around €30 - €40 per day depending on back, middle or front row). Given there was no pool to sit around, we felt this a little expensive especially if you want to go to the beach a lot, but perhaps this is typical for Sardinia? It is also fair to say that you could sit on the beach on your towel for nothing. Alternatively, the beautiful beach stretches all the way to the town. The hotel also has a small shaded veranda for food/drinks but apart from that or your own balcony, there isn't anywhere else to sit and relax if you don't want to go to the beach. I expect in high season, the veranda would get busy. We only stayed for 5-nights which was plenty as there wasn't much to do in the locality. We booked a 90-minute dolphin tour with the scuba/snorkelling team in town which was great. We will probably return to Sardinia but perhaps to an area where there is more going on, but we did enjoy our stay here!"

"I have thought carefully about what I have written, my intention is to be honest so that those reading the review get a real insight into what this hotel is like. I also expect the manager (or is she the owner?) to respond in a cutting and unhelpful manner which she has a definite knack for. In reality this is a 2 star hotel- 1 star should be allotted to its beautiful location. The rooms are sparse, kept clean and of a good standard if somewhat basic. Beware of the tremendous amount of mosquitoes, there is no provision made by the hotel so ensure you bring some repellent! Unfortunately, we learnt the hard way. Our group were a fun bunch, we were not wild nor did we behave like Victorian children by being present but silent. Like normal people, we laughed, made conversation, tried to enjoy ourselves, however all this seemed to be a problem. If you wish to be around myopic, flat and dull people this is the place for you. Sadly there is no genuine hospitality within the majority of the staff at Hotel Costello, with Gina being one of the worst offenders. Initially, I thought that words were getting lost in translation, I extended benefit of doubt but sadly this was not the case, had the attitude to making us feel welcome and a willingness to adjust been present I would not have given this damning review but if you want to spend your money, spend it elsewhere. Food Breakfast Breakfast was okay (although most would say poor), it did feel like we were in a time warp- the same every single day aside from when the kitchen served the tiramisu from the evening before for breakfast (the pizza left us so hungry that we went out to get more food and didn’t stay for the dry dessert). The ‘hot’ breakfast which consisted of fried eggs, bacon and beans/lentils was cold every single day, unless we specifically asked for it to be warmed up- a tedious and repetitive task. On one occasion we asked for boiled eggs, the response from Gina was ‘If I make for one then what about everyone else?’ You would think that we had asked for something so extraordinary. We did get some eggs, super boiled a few days later! Dinner Who would have thought that we would come all the way to Sardinia to be served defrosted and stale focaccia with a topping as an evening dinner. There were no sides, just stale pizza bread, far inferior than most schools in the UK as can be seen in the video. Another example of the food served was sliced mozzarella, and unripened tomatoes- no seasoning, no oil and no pesto. One night the veg option for mains was a salad; along came a small Pyrex mixing bowl for each person who had ordered which consisted of literally grated carrot, sliced cucumber and a few other vegetables, no dressing, nowt else! I am sitting here trying to recall what else we ate, but it was so terrible that I have a mental block! To be fair one night I had lasagne which was acceptable, I recall asking my phone to translate whether the pizza was how they would eat it locally, the answer given was yes (awful personal diets). It was a week of substandard evening meals, in the end we started booking elsewhere to eat as we were hungry, despite having paid for dinner in advance of our visit, no refund extended. Along the same stretch of road there are numerous restaurants, standalone and within hotels. It was very clear to us that what we were being served was not within keeping of local diets. What was within meters of the hotel was delicious, fresh, included fish etc given our proximity to the coast. I’ve just recalled that we had a few pieces of rubbery octopus one night, no wonder my mind was telling me to block it out! Not a single person in our group of 20+ thought the food was acceptable, all 20 cannot be wrong maybe Gina will say that we were. The plus point is that no one had food poisoning, there wasn’t really a chance of that given that we barely ate. The sunbed deception We were asked to pay 30 euros for a twin set of beds- but why do other reviews for post summer (when we also visited) say less? We took our own beach towels, it doesn’t make sense, to me this is a form of fraud. You will be followed around and asked to pay if you even perch on one for 10 minutes! Not the kind of place you want to stay at. And before Gina pipes up below, we paid for when we used them albeit that she charged us a different price! Communication skills Gina very kindly organised a boat trip for our group- this was on the 3rd day of our trip. Upon return I thanked her and said it had been great and that I would surely leave a review to which she retorted quite loudly and in a mean fashion “And what about us, what about a review for us?” Gina, here it is. Dear Gina, shouting, sneering, making demeaning comments, looking down on us as though we were somehow classless, speaking about us in front of us to your colleagues in a different language whilst laughing at us is not the level of service we expect. This is precisely what you seem to have forgotten, you are offering a service to people and it is a business which needs to have positive reviews. With people like Gina at its helm, the experience will not be positive unless you want a substandard stay. Our group has travelled to many other destinations, the experience you have was a first for all- a very rude and hostile experience. There are a multitude of languages that are spoken within our group, we would not think to speak about anyone in front of them, when I said as much to Gina, the smile left her face and that of her colleague. I realised that things were not being lost in translation, Gina et al were simply unprofessional and unkind! We were treated like pariahs. Medical emergency One night early in our stay, one of the group members had a seizure which resulted in her roommate panicking and crying out for help, this is something that can happen to anyone. Instead, the following day we were treated as though we had a caused a major disruption for the hotel and its occupants; no concern was shown. It’s actually quite shocking to think that people can be so cold and uncaring. There are so many more negative experiences, but what is the point? The staff attitude will remain this way, and the person reading this review will either pay heed or make the mistake of booking. If Gina does not own the hotel, I suggest the management team get her booked on to some hospitality courses. She needs them and hopefully some common sense will filter down to her staff too."