"My friend and I had visited this hotel in Oct 2017 and fell in love with it. Beautiful pool, great food and reasonable bar prices. We remembered it being somewhere we always hoped to return to.
The previous visit we hired a car and it was a difficult and lengthy journey but it was worth it so we looked into doing so again.
This time car hire being in August was ridiculously expensive and we knew we were really only using it to get us to and from the hotel so it was prohibitive. We did consider going somewhere nearer the North as we were flying into Olbia but remembering how much we loved the hotel previously we decided to go for it and paid for a private transfer to and from the hotel which was expensive.
On arrival our room was not quite ready. No problem. The desk staff were lovely and welcoming and we felt it was great to be back. We ordered a bottle of prosecco at the bar. The price had jumped from around €15 in 2017 to €30. We were a bit surprised but inflation and all that so ok but we did feel it was a bit steep.
We were introduced to the hotel dogs who I completely fell in love with and I was delighted whenever I came across them during my trip they were so cute and chilled 😊
When we got to our room it was ok but a lot smaller than last time and we put that down to having got a good deal through voyage prive on our previous visit.
We went to dinner looking forward to the great food we enjoyed last visit and this is when we began to feel like this was not the place we remembered. The food, although tasty, had portion sizes which were now very small. The salad bar was incredibly basic, the dressings in average sized bowls that were provided were not replenished so if you were there a bit later too bad and the only bread accompanying the meal was the thin Sardinian music bread (similar to poppadoms). This left us disappointed and hungry…..
We looked at the wine menu and were disappointed in the price of our usual choice of sparkly dry wine. We decided to order a rosé which the waiter recommended after we pointed it out on the menu. It was ok and a decent price of about €20……more about this later!
The pool as we remembered was lovely and there were loads of sunbeds available which was great. We spent most days relaxing by the pool which was bliss.
I was questioned one day by the pool bar staff as to where I had got my coke zero from which I was drinking. I believe she was about to inform me that I couldn't bring my own purchases to this area but I informed her I had bought it from the hotel bar and she backed down. This was a bit petty I think.
Back to the restaurant ….on one occasion knowing we would be hungry after our meal given we were now disappointed in the portion sizes we bought some focaccia at a local store and after dinner I put some balsamic vinegar in a glass to take to our room with a view to it being a dip for our bread and we also tried to take the remainder of our bottle of water from the restaurant to our room. Upon exiting we were told off for taking the vinegar 'that's not what it's for’ and had the bottle of water removed from us!!!!!
In all of my travels (and there has been many) I have NEVER been stopped taking a bottle of water which I have paid for to my room……On questioning this with the desk staff the next day we were advised this is because the bottles are recycled and our remaining water would be given to us with our meal the next night. Honestly this is totally unacceptable. Policing our paid for water….4* hotel?????
We then discovered that since the last time we visited there is a new petrol station come cafe/bar across the road. Puddu Carboranti. What a God send! Staff are brilliant. Good fun and engage you in conversation. Decent prices for prosecco (€12) exactly the same brand as was being served at the hotel for €30! They also provide mini snacks like toasties and small sandwiches whilst you are there for free. Also as an occasional smoker like me you are able to access tables in a smoking area allowing you to have a drink and a smoke and relax. The area is well ventilated with an open wrap around open space above waist height meaning people who don't smoke aren't subjected to the smoke. The hotel has banned smoking from all areas except at the bottom of the stairs to the front entrance with no seats and a stand alone ashtray which was inconvenient and annoying. I know non-smokers may think this is a good thing which is fair enough.
We spent most nights before our evening meal over at Puddu soaking up the atmosphere and mixing with the locals. It has the most breathtaking vista view of the bay and mountains not to be missed!
We spoke to the hotel staff about our disappointment in our portion sizes at dinner a few days in and from then on we were given bigger portions but still upon asking no decent bread rolls - apparently you can only get them at breakfast….so they're on the premises but you can't get them???
On our last night there was a local singing group playing. We went for our meal and it was an absolute disaster. We waited ages for our first course then after that around 40mins for our main course despite reminding our waiter we had not yet been served. When we did get our food it was cold and frankly inedible. Again 4* hotel?????
On to checking out the next day….
We were checking out and asked for our bill and on checking our bill we noticed we had been charged €50 euros for a bottle of rosé wine. We were flabbergasted. Upon much too-ing and fro-ing we were told that this was the bottle we had ordered on our first night. We explained we had ordered the rose from the menu. Turns out the waiter had ‘recommended’ a rosé which was not on the menu. We had thought he was giving us the rosé from the menu. Why would there be wine available which was NOT on the menu?????
The atmosphere immediately changed and although they removed the charge the desk staff who were clearly unhappy and whilst I can understand why, this was absolutely not our fault and they became standoffish and cold.
We paid our bill and as we were leaving they didn't even acknowledge our exit, far less wish us well or even say goodbye.
To say we have been left disappointed in our return trip to brancamaria would be selling it short. For people who are going there for the first time who give fab reviews I wish you had been there when it truly was fab.
We really wanted to enjoy our trip as much as the last time and we are absolutely gutted that we didn't.
We won't return and whilst I imagine that won't bother their owners one bit as a seasoned traveller I believe they could do so much better.
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