Hotel Sporting
S. Italy: Sardinia: Porto Rotondo
With a high rate of repeat guests, the Hotel Sporting is the smallest, least pretentious and least expensive of the hotels the Aga Khan built on the Costa Smeralda as part of his CIGA group. The atmosphere is warm and friendly with a superb manager and an attentive staff. Located a short walk from the port, the Sporting is quiet and offers a private white sand cove beach with the crystal clear turquoise waters for which Sardinia is so famous. The restaurant specializes in seafood and most dining takes place adjacent to the swimming pool. There is also one of the best piano bars in Sardinia, and because of this, the bar is busy every night. A recent major renovation nearly doubled the number of rooms and expanded the bar terrace so that guests can now enjoy drinks with a magnificent sea view. (The last time we visited, the yacht - with two helicopters, frogmen and lots of security - of a very famous gentleman was anchored in full view of the hotel!) Rooms are simply and comfortably furnished and many open directly onto the sea. Some are a stone's throw from the hotel's beach. There are connecting rooms for families. While some shops are walking distance from the hotel, there is an incredible selection of shops with eye-popping prices in nearby Porto Cervo, about 20 minutes by car. This area of Sardinia, not frequented so much by Americans as by wealthy Europeans, is breathtaking in its beauty. A boat trip to see the surrounding islands is a must. Some, like Mortorio and Soffi e Le Camere offer small pristine beaches and turquoise waters; others have incredible rock formations fashioned by the wind and the sea over hundreds of years. Hotel normally closes by the end of September and reopens in mid-May.