I was very excited about this trip as I had never been to Italy before, and Sardinia seemed the best place to start exploring this amazing country. It is the second largest island in the Mediterranean, offering beautiful white sandy beaches, secluded coves, crystal clear turquoise waters, and numerous historic ancient ruins. This visit was made all the better by visiting one of the most premium resorts on the island - the world exclusive Forte Village.
It offers all you can possibly want during your stay in Sardinia. It is situated on the south of the island. This ultra luxury complex, which offers a mixture of four and five-star hotels under one roof, offers a wealth of facilities and activities for all ages. It is popular with couples and families.
As soon as I entered the complex, I was greeted by some of the friendliest staff I have ever met and was handed a nice glass of champagne to enhance my check in experience. This was made even better by the sight of my room at the Castello Hotel. My spacious sea front room overlooked one of most beautiful white sandy beaches I have ever seen.
The hotel amazed me by how much it offers all its guests. For families, it has all ages covered. There is a childcare facility called Wonderland, offering day care and babysitting options for guests. The Mario Village is great for children to escape and spend a few hours in the beautifully detailed playhouses in a miniature village. One of the highlights for any child here, must be the chance to enter the world of Barbie. Here parents can purchase a VIP Barbie package, which gives their child a Barbie style bedroom makeover, with bedcovers, toiletry bags, exclusive gift and a Barbie or Ken doll. It was also nice to see how they have a child garden, which gives the little one’s chance to learn all about fruit, vegetables, and flowers.
The older children are covered in Leisureland. Here I got the chance to be a kid again, by playing bowls at the bowling alley, checked out the go kart track and visited the Aquapark. Here I enjoyed the waterslides, water cannon, pirate ship and swam in the Olympic sized swimming pool.
I was fascinated by the Forte Village Centre of Sporting Excellence, which offers professional training academies for all types of activities and sports, from tennis, basketball, football, rowing, fencing, cycling, netball, boxing, DJing, cooking and sailing. Here children can have one on one training with famous sporting personalities at certain times of the year and can create some long-lasting memories with their sporting heroes.
I even indulged in some well-deserved pampering at the Acquaforte Spa. It provides a unique beauty treatment, which entails sampling six saltwater pools at different temperatures and salt densities, all set within a wonderful wooded garden setting. The first three pools are set at a high temperature and are good for detoxing, and then the last three have less salt content and cooler and are good for regenerating the body. I certainly felt the benefits. The spa also offers a sauna, hammam, solarium, aerial dance, pilates, yoga and Aryuvedic massages, as well as a gym with private trainers.
Forte Village has a vast choice of restaurants, where I was lucky enough to partake in some amazing food whilst I was there. Here you can dine in any restaurant regardless of whether you are staying in one of the four or five-star hotels within the complex. I enjoyed some fine Italian and international cuisine, prepared by some world-renowned chefs during my stay. I tried to be adventurous trying everything.
I particularly enjoyed sampling the local Sardinian food offered in Le Dune, where they made some fabulous fish dishes. This was made more magical by the setting overlooking the beach and having the sun set behind me whilst I was enjoying some fine dining. For something a bit different I enjoyed the Ristorante Sardo, where I was able to try some local pasta dishes, meats, and wines from the region. The Ristorante Brasiliano, was unique as I was able to see the meats being prepared on spits in front of me and then brought to my table by the chef, where it was cut straight from the spit roast rod. They served a variety of meats such as venison, lamb, chicken and beef. It was all very tasty.
I even had the chance to be a wine connoisseur by trying a wine tasting session at the hotel wine cellar. Here I was introduced to some of the finest red and white wines from the region, accompanied with meats and cheeses. I found the restaurants very family friendly and very accommodating with any dietary requests you may have. I would certainly recommend trying them all during your stay.
For a novice cook such as myself, it was great fun to try my hand at making pizza with the professional chefs at the Forte Village Cooking Academy. I was looking forward to this as I wanted to sample pizza prepared traditionally in Italy. They even kitted me out with a chef hat and apron. I had a one-to-one lesson with a seasoned chef in putting together the perfect pizza, from shaping the dough, adding the sauces and toppings, before cooking it and enjoying it for lunch. It was great fun, very messy, but thanks to the guidance of my chef it turned out very nicely and was very enjoyable with a glass of nice white wine.
For some retail therapy there is the Piazza Luisa which has all the designer shops for all your fashion needs. Here there is plenty of fun to be had in the evening, where I enjoyed listening to the hotel band and dancing the night away under the stars and finishing the evening at the nightclub. The hotel also has a concert arena where performers such as Tom Jones and Sting have performed. In fact, Sting is returning this Summer.
Forte Village has something for everyone. I would highly recommend a stay there. If you would like to know more or have any questions, please get in contact with [email protected] or call into the shop in Stroud.
