Hotel Corte Rosada, Affiliated by Meliá — Hotel in Alghero

Stayed here for 4 nights with my husband. We arrived very early in morning circa 10:30am, not the Hotels fault obviously, but still would’ve hoped to get in to our room earlier than just 2:30pm :( We drank coffee and sat around, the weather was overcast that day which was a pity. We would’ve got a bus into Alghero but we were told that the bus service was awful and couldn’t be relied upon.. and that the taxi is €35 one way so decided to sit and hope we’d get into the room earlier.||First impression: The staff are nice, views are lovely and having the swimming pool (not heated) and access to small beach is great. There are plenty of seating areas to choose from dotted around the place and having a restaurant is nice. |Our Room was on the 2nd floor and had a lovely sea view with a small balcony that looked onto the pool area. The Room is white, (simple decor), clean and basic. Does it strike you that you’re in a 4 star hotel?? No, personally I don’t think so.. it’s very simple… (Suggestions: The room could do with a nice sofa or comfortable two seater with a coffee table. Perhaps It would be nice to have a couple of free water bottles daily and more coffee pods (not just 2 daily) and also additional hooks to hang up clothes in bathroom and in room for even coats / cardigans or your bathrobe, as there is only wardrobe space and two hooks in bathroom on far wall.) The balcony area is quite shaded because of the palm trees. So don’t expect too much sun! (although our room location was definitely better than the ones that were around the back, which seemed more shadier)|Rooms are clean and serviced every day and they do a great job!!||We paid for s taxi that night into Alghero, the taxi from the hotel is more expensive because it includes the call out charge, compared to the return one that we hailed on the street, but it cost close to €70 for a 30 min (thereabouts) round trip .. that’s very expensive. So we decided on hiring a car to go into Alghero to eat out and to explore the surrounding area. It was arranged by the hotel with a drop off and collection service which is convenient for people like us but please note that it is more expensive this way, compared to hiring it directly at the airport (steep learning curve here!). It was so good to have the freedom. :-)||We only ate at the restaurant for our breakfast, I’m sorry guys to say but the seating area reminded me of IKEA or McDonalds.. plastic seats .. not comfortable. I think it would be nice to have some background ambient music. (On two separate occasions, two residents got on their telephones.. one was on a video call and thought nothing of talking away loudly because we all needed to be part of it (no class on their part). So I think to avoid such occurrences, the restaurant should have signs up to say “no telephones please and/or go outside to take calls”. It’s a disturbance to those who are trying to enjoy the ambience. Imagine having to do this?? But unfortunately this is the age that we’re living in, some people have no regard for their “neighbour”. ||The breakfast itself was ok, you won’t go hungry! If you like continental eg. cheeses, bread, meats, yoghurt, fruit and cakes, together with hot options like scrambled eggs, Frankfurter sausage (yucky) and streaky type rashers. However, we always like to order an omelette when we go away, but did it only once as it was an extra charge of €6 .. seriously?? I have never ever experienced that in a 4 star hotel. There’s also an extra charge for a fried egg and boiled egg.. this seems ridiculous to me and unnecessary, especially if you have paid a big price for the accommodation already. The coffee from the jug tastes like instant Nescafé coffee so not to our liking, we ordered either double espresso machiattos or cappuccinos but you have to ask the waiter each time..||We noticed that they don’t give much away for free here! The Spa costs money too.. €35 p/p for 50 mins I think.. come on?? This should be part of the experience or at least included if you’ve paid for a masssge - which we both had. I had a “relaxing” one and my hubby had a “deep tissue”, sorry to say it was very very average for both of us. The girl was pleasant but honestly I wouldn’t recommend especially at €80 per person and not even a glass of water offered at the end or any time in the Spa. This is a basic at any good hotel! ||The positives: This is an “adults only hotel” ie. No kids, which was noticeable to us!!! It’s nice and quiet in general. The staff are nice and helpful both at reception, the restaurant and even around the pool area, the hotel is clean, the views are lovely and the seating area are comfortable and it all looks even better when the sun is out!! |We enjoyed our stay because we could go off on day trips and go to eat out in Alghero, we had some freedom, our room was well located and clean and the views are lovely. However we would not have liked to have just stayed in the hotel area (just a personal choice). Therefore to conclude, we did enjoy our stay but there’s definitely room for improvement here to make this feel worthy of...

Normally I don't rate hotels, as expectations always coincide with reviews on the internet. Since with this hotel the discrepancy is so high, I like to take the time for future visitors who are considering booking this hotel. The most important thing beforehand:

4 stars, never in a lifetime! Since 2009 there is a new star ranking in Italy and one wonders why this hotel got the 4 stars (because of the pool and the whirlpool? Because of the non-inclusive SPA or fitness center? Because of the tennis court?). What can be said with absolute certainty is that the 4 stars certainly do not come thanks to the service nor the comfort:

facility

This hotel was built in the late 70's and it noticeable. Over the years they have tried to keep the hotel up and running with minimalist patchwork. Don't get me wrong, everything works plus/minus but just not 4-star worthy.

service

The service is an insult to say the least. Especially if you compare it with other 4-star hotels. The staff hardly speaks (bad) English and is poorly informed. There is no attention to the needs of the guests and any extra effort is prevented, if possible, they play dumb or you pay a horrendous extra fee. The staff - some very friendly - is poorly trained and zero motivated. Do not expect 4-star service!

food

The food is completely overpriced and is nicely presented but prepared for the masses, nothing special; extra wishes such as allergies are not taken into account. Again, do not expect anything and you will not be disappointed. Small example: salad with shrimp: three times you can guess whether the shrimp were fresh or frozen :)

room

Neither Queen nor King-sized beds but two single beds laid end to end. The mattresses are poor quality and the room had everywhere dents in the walls, doors, cabinets, etc. Furthermore, very dusty in places you don't use daily. Very small showers, with lots of rust and mold. Bring your own shampoo/shower gel, as it is not replenished. Don't expect too much.

location

The resort is located in a nature reserve. View, as well as nature is beautiful, but definitely not merit of the hotel :) IMPORTANT: rent a car, otherwise you are lost OR you pay for any trips for a cab (to Alghero, airport, etc.) usaually: 70 euros. Once you go further this can cost up to 200 euros.

spa/wellness

NOT INCLUDED. The SPA offer costs 35 euros per person and is hilarious. Extra offers, such as massages, and treatment do not cost much, unfortunately there is no professional team on site, which therefore, doesn't justifies the price. NOT RECOMMENDED.

WI-FI

Forget about the Wi-Fi. No internet connection on the beach or in the room. Excuse: you are in a nature reserve and are not allowed to offer widespread internet :)

beach

Isolated spot with beach fleas but otherwise good. You can "bribe" the hotel staff or lifeguards with money and you are guaranteed your seats in the first or second row. Completely outrageous as most of the time the 1st row were completely empty. The pier allows easy entry into the water, as from the beach, the entrance is impossible. Pier-entry at your own risk, because very old and will break apart soonish. Small anecdote: pier was closed 1 day (Sunday) due to danger of collapse. The person in charge came around noon and left the following note "Why do you let me come here on Sunday, that could have waited until tomorrow". No further comment.

Conclusion: Believe the 1-2 star ratings rather the 3-5 star ratings and don't be swayed by the hotel's responses on google or other pages. The hotel doesn't care about all these ratings, because there are enough people to whom the hotel seems like a dream. You pay for a 4-star hotel the full price, although the hotel and the staff (these were also occasionally asked about the situation) is aware that it can not justify this by far.

Dear hotel, rather delete one star, so you also do not...

We booked for a Friday in mid Oct - the first night of our first visit to Sardinia - looked like a safe bet, if a bit corporate. Adults only was a major plus. Seemed great on arrival - amazing view, clean, quiet, nice pool. The nice lady on reception advised they were in fact closing on Sunday, but that we could stay a second night if we wanted. Unfortunately we did commit to that early on, which was a mistake in hindsight, as it transpired that some of the staff seemed under the impression that as they were closing up imminently, it was therefore ok to treat guests as little more than an inconvenience. This ranged from a bit shirty / irritated to extremely rude. The most unpleasant was the barman who, when asked for a Campari soda, first dismissed this request, barking back ‘we don’t have’, then reluctantly agreed that maybe he could put some Campari in a glass with some sparkling water. When it was pointed out that the water he had used was flat, he opened a new bottle and dumped a load of that into the flat drink. When it was pointed out that this was now a very diluted drink, he angrily asked if he should make it again..and so it went on, like trying to get a stroppy teenager to clean up his bedroom. Pretty pathetic for what claims to be a 4 star hotel. And a major vibe harsh. Requesting if they could please toast their own gluten free bread for us at mealtimes also seemed to be a decision that required a staff conference, but on one occasion they did agree that they could. So that was nice. The one dinner that we stayed in for was expensive and average. The small number of diners (only about 8 tables occupied) in the massive dining room made for a weird atmosphere. Would have been better going for something more relaxed in the bar area. I didn’t even have the heart to enquire about the spa / treatments as I couldn’t bear the deep sigh & eye roll with tired explanation that they were closing soon, that would inevitably have ensued. We don’t get to go on holiday a lot so it was disappointing to feel like an irritation when we did. Other than that, the room was fine, if small, and bed could have used a topper to make it into a double rather than 2 singles with a hard ridge in the middle. The place was basically deserted so it was very quiet, but guessing at capacity it would be pretty noisy given the layout of the rooms. Big thanks to the few kind staff who were majorly let down by their unprofessional colleagues, particularly to Daniele the barman who managed to treat us like human beings, but this place has reminded us why we don’t go to big hotels and we won’t be back. As Londoners we know how annoying tourists generally are, but that’s why we choose not to work in hospitality. I’d suggest that if staff can’t manage to maintain the level of service to which I’m sure they aspire, until their last guests leave, that they should close sooner in the season, or if this was their best effort, then maybe consider a...