Search Best Hotels in Santa Maria Navarrese

It's a little like stepping back in time arriving at Santa Maria Navaresse - the locale has that old school kind of charm which obviously caters to an Italian crowd. The hotel Nascar itself sits proud in a slightly elevated above the beach and wouldn't be out of place in the Alps to look at. We were welcomed by Laura (a family cousin) who through our 5 night stay was amazingly welcoming and pro-active. In fact she was standout in her attentiveness. She helped to organise our boat trip which i would whole-heartedly recommend; a smaller boat (max 12 people) with a more intimate atmosphere and great lunch & wine. I should add however the beaches we visited were very busy with Italian tourists even early in July so don't expect beaches to yourself. That aside, the are picture perfect and very clean. The beach next to the hotel is sweet, slightly shingly but is pristine...it was a massive bonus to us that we could wander down and know that the hotel had reserved beds/umbrellas for guests. It made it very relaxing and a canny move given that this place has no pool. The hotel is quite traditional in its styling with modern flourishes - the bed was comfortable and everything spotlessly clean. I would say though if you are on the front with a small balcony you are facing out to the road and the road is closer than you may imagine and on times a little noisy. The restaurant is also at the front which is charming and very atmospheric in the evening. The food is of very good quality with a wine list to match; try the semi danno - ”Anastasia” a delicious wine from this little known grape. Breakfasts are usually under-whelming in Italy (liking to save room for the deliciousness of Lunch & Supper) but not here. There is a big effort made; fresh eggs cooked to order, pastries, fresh fruit and a juicer for orange. In fact everything you would want. Being half Italian I was surprised just how great it was, the best we'd had on our trip around the island. A small disappointment was that there are no areas around the hotel that I could practice yoga (I'd taken my mat) there wasn't really enough room in the bedroom but also no hidden little areas of garden. There is only space to the front of the property which is occupied by the restaurant - I didn't fancy practicing in full view in the park opposite! But it's just a small quibble. Make sure you check out L'olivastro (next to he beach slightly up the hill) we loved it there for a great casual lunch, wine and aperitivo in the evening such a lovely spot looking out to see shaded by giant olive trees. Gorgeous and incredibly good value. If you are touring around the beautiful island of Sardinia I would definitely put Nascar on the list of great little low-key & charming properties in a more under-the-radar East coast spot.

The hotel has an interesting architecture and the rooms are spacious. The breakfast is ok but not fantastic. Regarding the parking, if you park the car inside the hotel, the keys must be handed over in the reception. Having said that, I must refer that I was shocked by the lack of politeness and rudeness of the hotel/restaurant manager. Atrocius bad manners. We checked in at around 5pm, without being given any information about using the pool. At 7:20 pm, when we returned from the beach, I went up to my room while my sons (16 and 14) went to the pool without knowing that it closed at 7:30 pm. While they were in the shower to clean off the salt and sand, they were approached aggressively and rudely by a man speaking Italian, a language that my children don't speak. Given my children's complaints, I asked reception about the rules of the pool, and was told that it opened at 9:00 am and closed at 7:30 pm. Nothing more. I passed that information to my sons and forgot about it. The next day, we arrived at 6:15pm and my sons used the pool, while I went went to the nearby supermarket for around 20 minutes. When I returned, the rooms' key cards were blocked because ”we didn't respect the rules of the pool”. My wife asked what rules were that and they said that ”children must be accompanied by their parents and no diving was allowed”. I went to the pool to inform my sons about it. I talked to the employee of the pool who told me that they have dived 3 times and that they were not accompanied by me. I read the rules and it didn't refer the ages of the children so it seemed that younsters under 18 are considered children. I sat in the pool chairs and waited till the 7:29pm and to assure that the rules were followed by my sons. As I was there, 2 others boys dived into the pool, the employee saw it but didn't care on a clear double standards attitude. At 7:30pm, we left the pool and the manager was appologizing to some customers, saying that the reprimands were not for them, but for ”others”. I speak Italian so I understood it clearly. The ”others” was me and my family, but he didn't have the righteousness of talking to me personally during the 2 days that we spent there. This situation could be avoided easily if he did it and if he could show some politeness. But no, just bad manners and total unability to deal with simple, easy to solve situations. I intended to have dinner at the restaurant but changed my mind because of that. When I made the check-out, I complained about it but the reception employees gave me ridiculous excuses about the behaviour of the manager.

È la seconda volta che soggiorniamo in questo hotel, devo ammettere che è carino e il personale molto gentile.. Per essere un 4 stelle direi che la macchinetta del caffè si potrebbe evitare e magari mettere del personale...accolgono gli animali domestici però solo in stanze al piano terreno e non possono entrare dove si fa colazione e in varie altre zone...insomma per chi ha animali è un pò penalizzante. Tutto sommato carino