Li Finistreddi Exclusive Country Retreat

We went to Sardegna for a scuba diving trip, and my daughter and I got PADI certified. We went in July which is high season in Sardegna and stayed for the whole week. We rented a car to easily travel to Palau where the course was taking place, and it would not require us to stay at a hotel that was at walking distance. While the beaches of the region are world famous, we felt we didn't need to stay at a hotel that was at the beach and would happily trade that for a country retreat upscale experience. With those constraints in mind, we found Li Finistreddi. What a gem of a place. They have a series of suites which are like cabins, each with its own small pool/jacuzzi, surrounded by shrubs for privacy and overlooking the ocean at a distance. They name them too; we stayed at "Mirto". Each named suite also has conveniently close reserved parking. To get to the parking, you enter the hotel driveway from the street, beautifully surrounded by flowers, and as you go up the hill you'll find a covered parking area and two spots labeled by the name of your suite. After parking, it is a short and level walk to the suite area. The breakfast, and actually all the food we had in Sardegna, was excellent. It is not a buffet per-se; you walk into the building and back out into the main pool area where there are tables shaded by a circular structure and a tree that is right in the middle, and you order what you'd like for breakfast from a menu. The service is fast and friendly, and it's augmented by the view of the mountains and the ocean over the borderless edge of the main swimming pool. No less beautiful were the afternoons. One day we sat in one of the pool side couches and listened to live mellow music from a singer that was on site that day. They also have a well maintained and easy to walk ecological path, with stations where you can stop and perform an activity. There is a playground for kids, a small gym surrounded 360 degrees by glass windows (it tends to get a little hot inside though in July), and a tennis court in excellent shape. There is also a spa but unfortunately we didn't get a chance to try it. One important aspect of any stay is how the hotel handles unexpected events, which tend to happen once in a while. In this case, we had left my daughter's favorite plushy on the bed under the sheets, and it was accidentally taken when they changed them out. When we came back and didn't find it and figured what might have happened, we notified the hotel. The hotel let us know that the cleaning company takes all the sheets to an offsite location for cleaning, and that they had notified them of this and that they would look for it. The next day the plushy was handed to us at our suite, safe and sound and in perfect condition. Our stay was quite magical, and the experience of driving down to the ocean to scuba dive, eating in Sardegna, and coming back to the hotel through the flowered path where we could park and walk to our suite in privacy, have a bath in the private jacuzzi and then a hot shower (the showers are also wonderful and have one of those extra wide and flat shower heads), was unforgettable. With the expert handling of the unexpected event in combination with all the other amazing features, and its calm and relaxing atmosphere, I can recommend this hotel without reservation. Hands-down 5 stars.