The Best Boutique Hotels to Book in Sardinia

Castelsardo is a classic seaside town on the island’s northwest shoulder, featuring a medieval castle at its highest point and a small but fascinating museum about Mediterranean basket-weaving techniques. This hotel offers budget-friendly rooms with a panoramic view over the bay, plus an indoor and outdoor pool, and includes the Fofò restaurant which showcases the area’s sea-faring tradition. Friendly staff can organise a day of snorkelling, windsurfing, or simply set you up with a sunbed and a parasol, so you can relax at the nearby beach.

This quirky beach-themed hotel is a 40-minute drive away from the island capital, Cagliari. The playful decor has a whisper of Bali in its wicker parasols, casual beanbags and baskets filled with cushions to crash out on. There are just 14 rooms, all overlooking a central courtyard where you’ll find the hotel’s bijou pool, and a breakfast of freshly baked focaccia, cakes and Sardinian cheeses is served every morning. The team, made up of Aldo, Katia and Elsa, can advise on activities and the area’s best restaurants. Ask nicely, and Aldo might even prepare you a post-beach platter after a long day on the sands of Spiaggia di Chia sa Colonia or the dunes of Riva dei Pini.

Only a 20-minute drive away from the extravagance of the Costa Smeralda, this resort in the hidden-away hills of San Pantaleo offers a more toned-down version of luxury. The 25 rooms and suites are set within traditional Sardinian cottage-style buildings – with handwoven fabrics, earth-tone furnishings and linen-draped four-poster beds – from where you breathe in the island’s fragrant maquis shrubs and flora. Even the most basic have shaded terraces and some come with cave-like private pools set into the granite rock face. There’s a Balinese-style cabin for spa treatments and, as evening falls, chef Luigi Bergeretto serves up gourmet dishes at two restaurants: informal Osteria del Mirto Bistrot and upscale Il Fuoco Sacro, with views over the Maddalena archipelago.

In the heart of Sardinia, you’ll find an area not yet touched by mass tourism: Barbagia. In the 1960s, founder Giuseppe and his wife Pasqua started the very first restaurant in the town of Oliena. Though initially met with suspicion by the local community, within a few years they’d attracted customers from all over the world. Soon, they began to offer guests a place to stay and their daughter Giovanna decorated the rooms with embroidered Sardinian bed linen, local art and furniture made by regional craftsmen. Today, the scope may have expanded to include pools, craft shops, a dramatic mountain-spying bar and terrace, and several restaurants (including one that serves fresh pasta made by Sardinian women each day), but the small details remain the same.

Home to one of the island’s main airports, Cagliari forms the starting point for many travellers’ trips to Sardinia. But the capital is so much more than that: it boasts some of the island’s best museums and restaurants, a bustling creative scene and even a city beach with flamingos – yes, really. This hotel’s three suites are spread out over different neighbourhoods, but all include homely interiors with thoughtful details such as well-stocked libraries and bespoke art prints; one has a sauna and an outdoor terrace while another has a jacuzzi-style spa tub. Your toughest decision will be choosing your favourite.

In the southernmost corner of the island, an old faro (lighthouse) illuminates the rocky coastline. Its light turns on every night and has been doing so for over 160 years, but it also happens to house a number of guestrooms and luxury suites, making it the only lighthouse in Italy dedicated to hospitality, too. The protected nature reserve around it guarantees pindrop-quiet privacy, making it a great bet for romantic escapes, far from the crowds.

The Maddalena archipelago, just off the Costa Smeralda, is known for turquoise waters, deserted lagoons and the whitest beaches you’ve ever seen – with the bonus of barely any tourists there to spoil all the natural beauty. This seaside hotel sits on the island of Santa Maria – with just four rooms, a villa and a litany of chefs, butlers and sailors on hand to show you the best of the island – and also includes a destination restaurant where fishing boats drop their prized catch of the day, before returning to port. And if you think the fish is good, wait until you taste their wine…

On Sardinia’s southwestern corner, you’ll find this family-friendly resort tucked away amid 50 hectares (120 acres) of beautiful gardens and white-sand beaches. Its ‘village’ title comes from the fact there’s actually a selection of three- to five-star hotels to choose from, depending on how flush you’re feeling, as well as luxury villas with private pools. There are wellness centres, playgrounds for the kids, sports activities, bars and clubs, several restaurants, and even boutiques for shopping. The staff help bring everything together with spot-on service that’s ready to meet every request.