In the best tradition of Dredging Up Old Threads Because I Have Nothing Better to Do with My Life (used courtesy Who Could That Be? ) it occurred to see whether the renowned Hotel Cala di Volpe managed to up its game since our dear RockHard alighted there on the wings of his Starwood points. The picture gleaned from recent TripAdvisor reviews remains, politely put, mixed... Obscene prices Reviewed 4 weeks ago We have stayed at the hotel for three nights. There is literally nothing to do in the immediate area and you either have to agree to pay 90 per person for lunch and the same amount for dinner each and every day or they will charge you 165 When you first check in. Otherwise you need to take a taxi for 30 each way to the closest town to have lunch or dinner at very high prices also. This hotel chain owns all of the four high-end hotels in Sardinia and have a monopoly on all prices. I found the management to be fairly arrogant even though all of the employees were excellent. The hotel food at cala del volpe was very good and not very good at the other three sister hotels After the first day we found out that they will prepare any food for you but they did not come out and say that since they have large buffets. The restaurant manager reserved the same table for people for their entire stay and therefore it is difficult to get a window table or a preferred table if other people have had the tables every day prior to you There are so many other great places and hotels to go to Italy and I would avoid this hotel chain and island at all costs. 12 1/2 euros for a bottle of water and the set price for the meals is ludicrous A bit below expectations Reviewed August 20, 2014 You get almost everything you expect from a luxury hotel. But something is missing. 1) very low ceilings in the rooms 2) tiny beach (shame for Sardinia) 3) very few arrangement on outside hotel territory to hide from such burning Sardinian sun Lunch time let down Reviewed June 26, 2014 Had lunch at the Cala di Volpe as I'd always wanted to visit, and what a disappointment it was for hotel of such repute. The barbeque on offer was simply too pricey for us. 165 euros (!!!) for what amounted to little more than a Sizzler buffet, so we opted for a lighter option at the outdoor bar. Still, 28 euros for a salad nicoise which was little more than bagged lettuce, a tomato, green beans, egg, tinned tuna and a couple of anchovies rolled round an olive was a real rip off, whilst my friend said his ravioli (around 30 euros) was from frozen and left him with a bad stomach. With bread, water and service (which was polite but not exactly friendly) it all came to 90 euros. The place was all but deserted, and the grounds, which we explored after, were far from well kept (brown turf, junk in plain sight, cracked walkways, leaves and flies in the pool, empty glasses and napkins left by the sun loungers). We were even told not to take photos by one surly member of staff, even though we'd paid for the privilege of being there (whether you're staying the night or are just there for a coffee, a drink at the bar, dinner or a conference, a customer is a customer, and should be treated as such). The saving grace was the amazing architecture - the food, presentation and service were astonishingly lacklustre for a world class hotel. We arrived excited and feeling like stars, but left depressed and belittled. SWIDNLER- oriented management. AVOID!!! Reviewed June 13, 2013 We were a group of friends, staying for a week in this hotel. I can say that all of us are quite demanding clients, but we really had the worst experience in our life. First of all, this is definitely not a 5 stars hotel- the rooms are far too simple design, and too small, just normal bathrooms, nothing special. They will explain you about "authentic Sardegnan design", but we are in the 21st century, I guess. If you pay 1000 Euro per night, you expect something more than this. After trying the bar snacks for few days, we realized that most of the food they offer is really below average, and some positions are uneatable, like frozen pizza for 25 or club sandwich. The price tag is shocking: gin-tonic here is 25 and a cup of espresso goes for 10,50. They will NEVER give you the bill for a signature, until you ask for it, and they leave you to wait for 15 min to sign it. This is made intentionally- at the end during check-out you'll find a lot of extra stuff in your bill. The thing is they divide food and beverages, and do not give you full details of what you had, just the price. If you ask to give the details, the answer will be "We can't". All the staff looks like the band of swindlers who look at you and just wait for the moment to grab as much extra money as they can! I have never seen such unhonest management- if you ask for a bottle of wine or champagne, they will not get you the vine list to choose - they will quickly open one bottle of the most expensive one (750), and straight away the second one, even if you did not start to drink! The locals told us that two years ago the management has changed, and the new team has one and only goal - to CHEAT as much as possible, and to increase your bill with EVERY, sometimes abominable methods! http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g945747-d195286-Reviews-Hotel_Cala_di_Volpe-Cala_di_Volpe_Province_of_Olbia_Tempio_Sardinia.html
