Florida Hotel

Just back from a Friday to Sunday break at The Hotel Florida and I am very much impressed by the staff and location of this hotel. Although the rooms are a little tired and dated the overall friendliness of this family run hotel more than makes up for it.

The pool always had sunbeds available and the sandy beach across the road makes a change from the poolside and allows you to take part in the great Italian holiday pasttime of promenading in the shallows.

Ate out lunch and evenings so can not comment on the food at the hotel, but would recommend the restaurant Nettuno just by the harbour for the evening meal and for a lunchtime snack a bar which is on the opposite side of the road from the Catalan Train and Horse drawn taxis. I can't remember it's name but it was continually filled with Italian speaking tourists and the Focaccia was definitely the best I have had. For all you Ice Cream addicts I would suggest a visit to a Bar and Gelateria called Montis. It is on the way into the old town on the same side of the road as the hotel Florida. The vast choice of ice cream flavours is impressive but their taste was even more impressive.

I would highly recommend the Hotel Florida for a short break or a weeks holiday but maybe not longer than that and would suggest ensuring you have a sea view room. Clientelle age ranged from young couples to the over 50s but that probably helped to add to the very family feel this hotel has.

All in all a 9 out of 10 for the hotel and Alghero as a holiday destination

The Florida hotel is good; rooms are small but clean and have air conditioning at an additional cost. There is a gym (no air conditioning) and the staff were always helpful and courteous. We had a problem with the shower in the room coming off the wall, I reported this, and it was fixed within the hour, no fuss.
The pool area is immaculate with plenty of free sunbeds and the cleanest of pools. It is well presented with shady palms.
This however is in stark contrast to Alghero which to my mind looks as if Italy has set it aside as landfill. We were on the end of the season but the amount of litter was quite staggering.
The Hotel is an easy 15 minute stroll from Alghero with a picturesque old walled city, again though the cobbled streets are compacted with cigarette ends and dog mess is profligate along the harbour walk.
The shops shut from 11.00 till 4.00 exactly when you need them so there is little to do but drink or eat.
We arrived last week in September so be warned the temperature is very variable, it rained 4 of the 7 days, and the temperature dropped dramatically. Take some warm clothes and a mack!
There is literally nothing to do in bad weather, we took a coach trip to Stantino, this local beauty spot is just past the abandoned oil refinery (Think Fawley in a desert) and consists of one patch of white sand 100 metres round that interestingly shifts position.
The sea is supposed to be a lovely turquoise however in a force 10 hooley (romantically called "The Mistral") and completely overcast it looks black. Back on the coach then after huddling round a coffee to keep warm to Stintino town. There must have just been an air raid or Stintino were playing at home because the whole place was deserted to which I had some sympathy.
I could go on about unfriendly locals, we actually witnessed students cycling past one lady and her husband and spitting at her, drunks fighting in the street and drivers who were brought up on "Death Race 2000".
In short the bloody "Mistral Wind" couldn't blow me back to Sardinia.