What fun sometimes merely to fly and flop. It is just 20 minutes from a small airport like Olbia. To see out over a wide expanse and lie under the great globe of the unblemished sky that’s simply serene. To witness the mesmerically azure blue sea along miles upon miles of untrammeled coastline.
This ‘endless island’ is for tourists all about the stunning blue water the granite cliffs and its caves most numerous per square mile on earth. It’s in the very heart of the Mediterranean, the 2nd largest island after Sicily. Her population is outnumbered by sheep 3:1. It brought us the words sardine (where once they were plentiful) and sardonic (meaning Sardinia). The four moors on the flag of Sardinia (as opposed to just one on Corsica’s) represent either the four Moorish princes defeated in battle or four Sardinian victories. Indeed whilst invaded and exploited the island never was conquered.
For Sardinia is an exotic wild outpost, a frontier landscape isolated beyond its granite boulders. A bathing paradise of that unsung glory one finds amongst the quieter regions of the Mediterranean. This Costa Smeralda, this ‘emerald coast’, was introduced by Aga Khan to become the 1960s playground of the famous and fashionable. But it’s different from Biarritz, Mustique, Acapulco, or St. Tropez and, after July and August, it passes back into the hands of her inhabitants and nature lovers.
I came first to Golfo Aranci, a refreshingly low-rise ex-fishing village with its backdrop of hills and sea views across to islands. At Gabbiano Azzurro Hotel and Suites I stayed an elegant and refined, independent 4-star hotel. Despite what DH Lawrence says in his legendary 1921 novel ’Sea and Sardinia’ things have changed and there’s now a plethora of seagulls such that Gabbiano Azzurro has adopted the name ‘blue seagull’.
There’s something wonderfully authentic about family-owned hotels. Ones where they live ‘in situ’ as the Datome family has been here for 57 years. It has real heart and became a true home for me too with the infectious warmth of the staff who went the extra mile with their delicate little generosities of beach bags and restaurant fleeces. Open during the April-October season and built in the 1960s, it has soft, yellow de Chirico-esque alcoves. In the bright, airy foyer are ceramic artifacts and nautical sculptures, an inviting white piano, vivacious banana plants, and white sofas with traditional turquoise needlework.
The rooms are timeless and tasteful, fresh, airy and spacious. They are uber-cool and on-trend with their earthy taupe colorings. All have private balconies overlooking either the sea or the village. All have inspirational sandstone bathrooms with the hotel’s own-brand local myrtle-scented products renowned for their anti-inflammatory and healing properties.
My suite came with its own jacuzzi-cum-mini pool on its generous-sized top-floor terrace. My massage on this roof was sublime. Such an added dimension to be ‘en plein air’ with heaven unimpeded and the lapping rhythmic waves taking me further into paradise. Inside had a beach look with aquamarine tones of sea and sky. Each room had fresh orchids, painted driftwood lampshades, and tree-trunk tables. Out from my shutters and glass-screened veranda, I saw both sunrise and sunset. Dawn brought a chorus of seagulls and an orchestra of activity as fishing boats chugged, catamarans bobbed and yachts urged on their prows.
Down a myrtle, mimosa, and oleander-scented walkway is Blu Restaurant, with wooden rotating fans and clusters of wicker lampshades blowing breezily. Such a presentation of that wonderful Italian tradition and such artistry from such simple ingredients. I loved my branzino (sea bass) baked under salt, my salad of julienned carrots, and my Sa Fregula Nera, Sardinia’s unique pasta dish, similar to couscous, worked with the fingertips using water and salt.
On the hotel’s private white sandy beach, very much the prime spot, a forest of tasseled beach parasols, tickled by the breeze, fluttered like balletic swans across their lake. For, with its shallowest of waters, came the calming and gradual process of wading to the deeper water, perfect for parents and their toddlers, as I trod, like comfy slippers, on rock-free ripples of the sandy seabed shaped like the lulling waves above.
I joined Oltremare Escursioni for an evening trip (that included aperitifs on board and a chance for a dip) with a group of a dozen to watch a community of bottlenose dolphins feed near Figarolo Island. The 4-strong staff claims a 95% chance of success as they strain to point out the iconic fish who await the calm before leaping with grace, power, and speed to show their shiny selves. How mesmerizing.
Across the gulf, I came next to Cala Cuncheddi, a 4-star hotel meaning ‘shell cove’, renovated in 2014 and part of the Italian hotel collection VRetreats. So captivating, such a gem positioned in the Capo Ceraso promontory, with panoramic views of the Tyrrhenian Sea and the legendary micro-kingdom of Tavarola. It was wonderful also to look expansively across the gulf that offered every shade of blue before dusk. From the sea, this sandstone hotel reminded me of Corot while the backdrop is pure Cezanne as it’s immersed amongst ancient olive trees in the Mediterranean maquis or underbrush: scrub consisting of cistus, lentisk, juniper, arbutus, and myrtle.
I loved my walks past the hotel’s signature grey and white parasols and past the herons and pomegranate trees to the local bays and beaches. My head-to-toe spa treatment was set in the peaceful, zen-like simple natural décor of the wellness zone with its bikini and kaftan boutique. It felt like floating on water, with a rare yet effective belly massage, helped me unwind deeper. My life was restored with which to step outside into life and its activities. Some cycle, some trek, and most amble down to sunbathe and bathe where the beach, beneath the hotel, is perfect for swimming.
The hotel’s outdoor pool with its single olive tree is the central feature and feels very tranquil. The wild-flower landscaping is sublime with its panoply of ferns, foliage, and shrubs. Tamed wilderness with gorgeous paving stones. A flourishing of native plants sweetening the air with their scent. Everywhere is very spaciously laid out with a sofa here, and a rocking chair there. Nowhere felt crowded. Inside, the airy foyer resembled a contemporary art gallery exhibiting its animal masks, sea-inspired artifacts, and mosaic flooring sparkling like the sun upon the sea.
Most of the 79 rooms and 3 suites (with double rooms starting from £211 / €250 / $270) have patios and charming Moorish verandas with oak railings embracing nature’s curves. Most have a sea view and some overlook the garden. The rooms are stylish yet simple, an art in itself, decorated in calming neutral tones with little adornment, as it’s all about the view and the nature beyond.
Of the three restaurants, I had breakfast at Asarena (meaning ‘to the sand’) and confident dinner menus at both Zinnibiri (‘juniper’) and Asumari (‘to the water’). The former has a stunning setting as six tables sit under bamboo shelters and wicker lanterns. All so natural in the open air. So rustic and yet so stylish. The latter has a lovely basketry display and here I explored all things local: Vermentino white wine, Pecorino cheese, and a Myrto liqueur.
Like DH Lawrence I too loved a 6-day Sardinian sojourn and assuredly, as he famously said, “this land resembles no other place”. For a paradise, it always was a land of outstanding beauty, hard, strong, wild, and ever mysterious.
