Hotel Mare Blue 

I stayed here for just under a week, when I came to visit this beautiful island. The hotel is past Olbia (about 20 minutes away by bus/car) and about 1/2 an hour or so from the airport. It is located in an area called Pittulongu, and it’s a quiet area with good access to the beaches (more on this later). The hotel is built in a local style, with large rooms and doors/windows so that, even when it is very hot outside, it feels cool inside. The room I got was very large with a balcony (facing a garden area), with a fridge, a writing area and lots of space for clothes - it’s been a ,ongoing time since I’ve seen a room with this much space! There is also an easy to operate safe. My one gripe is about the bathroom - it is an adequate size, with shower, bidet etc, but the door to the bathroom was set such that you had to squeeze past the door and the sink to actually get in (this is because of the ambulated position of the bathroom). Perhaps they could consider putting in sliding doors…? But as I said, this is a minor gripe. The other point to make is that this hotel does have ground floor rooms, but there are steps to the reception area, and bar (which was not much used, in fairness), and the breakfast area which was on the first floor and was accessed c,imbuing a further few steps from here - I did not see any lift, so this may not be suitable for a disabled traveller travelling on their own. However, everything else was accessible from what I could see, including access to the beach and the roads leading to restaurants etc. The breakfast provided was fairly extensive Continental type, and the coffee was excellent! I think it is included in the room price as everyone came for the breakfast. For lunch and dinner, there are a fair number of restaurants nearby, all within about 20 - 30 minutes walking distance - please see my other reviews for some of the places I tried. There is also a small bar/restaurant on the beach. If you do want to go to Olbia, the bus stop is on the main road, about 5-10 minutes away, and the hotel will provide the timetable etc. Staff members were uniformly helpful and friendly, from what I could see they also speak several languages. They also made recommendations for hotels, trips etc. Now, the beaches: the hotel has its own section of part of Pittulongu beach, which you can access by a rear gate; my room was right next to this gate, so I could leave my room and be at the beach in 1 minute! The water is clear, slopes gently downwards and the waves are gentle, so it’s very safe for children. If you want to rent a sun bed and/or umbrella, you can pay at reception and use it for the whole day!there is a lifeguard who will set the equipment up for you. The beach can get a but busy, so if you want to explore other parts of the beach, go out to the main road and turn right, after 20mi utes you will come to Bados beach which is nice; or if you turn left and walk for about 20 minutes you will get to the main Pittulongu beach. If you then walk past Mama Beach restaurant (an excellent place, by the way! See my review), you will come to a quieter area where the water is even clearer and the beach slopes down even more gently. I would recommend at least 1 visit to this stretch of beach. Overall, the hotel made my stay here a pleasurable one, and I will gladly return!