New Bussola - Suites and Beach Club Cagliari Poetto

The best thing was being right on the beach overlooking the sea. The apartment was excellent, a lovely big comfy bed, walk in wardrobe, dressing gown, fantastic shower and steam room and couch. There was a small outside area with chairs overlooking the pool. I only used the pool once as the sea was warmer and I love being in the sea. It was cleaned every day and free mini bar restocked. We only hired a cat 2 days as the bus is handy - short walk to bus stop and 30 mins to Cagliari. There were a few restaurants nearby but we went into town a few nights for more choice.

The main thing letting this apartment down is the breakfast. A box of cornflakes and small plastic wrapped brioch roll was a big let down . I steer clear of highly processed food, so we ended up buying our own more wholesome fresh bread. I expected a lot better for the price and quality of the accommodation. Please be aware it is really a set of appartments. We were expecting a hotel with open reception on arrival but we're met with a security door and no way in. We had arrived earlier than check in time but had notified them. I thought we'd be able to sit in a shared lounge area but there was none. Nonetheless, I got hold of them and they kindly let us in and let us leave our bags but had to leave the location until the room was ready. They were really accommodating and it was only 30 mins wait, and we really appreciated having the room early. It was a shame the front is closed at 6pm and reopened 8/9am as you can't see the view. The only other thing about this area was the occasional smell of sulphur in the beach. Apparently it's caused by the decomposition of seaweed I think and I noticed it on another beach on the island.

Let's start with the staff. Responses were always immediate when using WhatsApp. You couldn't ask for more. Location of the hotel is right on the beach, so you walk out of your room to the pool and from the pool straight to the beach. It's perfect. The room is spotlessly clean and comes with its own Turkish bath, which is wonderful. The bed is very comfortable. The location is quiet and peaceful. With the exception of the first night, when there was a party going on in a club just up the road, but it was Saturday night. Every other night was very quiet. There are restaurants right next door an exceptionally good seafood restaurant. If you're looking for a special break, then this is a lovely location for a few days' stay.

I have to admit that the breakfast was very disappointing for the price of the room. It's packaged croissants and biscuits. This fresh yogurt, butter, and jam as well, to be fair as well as fresh milk, and cornflakes. There's a complimentary minibar, which contains beer, soft drinks, and water, along with crisps as snacks. I would also suggest you bring along an eye mask, as the blackout curtains don't completely keep all the sunlight out in the morning.

- Location was amazing! Right at the beach, with nice restaurants nearby. This is probably the most comfortable beach hotel I've seen. - The amenities were wonderful. For example I didn't realize the shower also doubled as steam room until we got there. - The hotel was clean, staff were nice and helpful, and the other guests were nice. Everything was quiet. Overall, fantastic stay, good value for money.

- The staff set up the beach beds a bit late in the morning and removed them too early while there was still sunlight. - I think the reception could also use a chair to sit while you wait to check in, in case you arrive early. - Lastly, there was some miscommunication regarding our transfer to the airport, which caused us to be quite delayed and added some stress to the otherwise enjoyable stay.

- The rooms were new, modern and well-furnished. - The air conditioning was powerful. - The beds were firm but comfortable. - The items in the mini bar were included in the price of the room.

Overall, this property is WAY too expensive given the many deficiencies that I’ve explained below. - Every time we showered, the bathroom flooded. We complained twice and while they tried to fix it, they were unsucccesful. - There are floodlights next to the pool that were on ALL night and lit up our room while we were sleeping since the blinds were not edge to edge. - The neighboring property, La Marinella, played loud music until 1 AM on weekdays and later on weekends. It could be heard quite loudly in our room. - The rooms are only cleaned every other day. Victoria (the manager and possibly the owner) told us that this is because the property is not a hotel. However, when you Google the property, their own website literally refers to it as a “boutique hotel”. - The reception is staffed from 11 AM to sometime before 8 PM. When our flight landed at 8 AM, we were told to just wait until 11 AM even though we could have sat on the beach while we waited had someone been available to let us onto the property at a reasonable time. Victoria’s excuse for why the place was not staffed for longer hours was quite lame. - The exterior of the property appears half-finished, almost as if they ran out of money. - The poolside chairs are hard and uncomfortable. The neighbouring restaurant, on the other hand, has extremely comfortable chairs. - We booked this property last minute and didn’t realize that there are no decent restaurants anywhere near the hotel. This meant that we had to either bus or take a taxi every night into the main part of town, which was expensive and annoying.