Dune Village Resort

we have just spent 2 weeks in le dune village although we had a lovely time we thought that we should have been told in the brochure that the resort was remote, and proberbly would benefit from car hire so that you could get out and about and see more of the island. The staff however were always polite and friendly, and the food was good. There is no public transport as such, although a mini bus is provided free of charge into the next village but there is nothing there. You have nowhere to go in the evenings and although there is entertainment in the village, we found that it was repeated the second week. Ideal for families with small children but not for people who want to get out an about.

I was given a recommendation to Le Dune by my trusty Travel Agent, and was not disappointed - quite the opposite! Having stayed at Italian Resorts in Sardinia before, I knew what to expect - good food, excursions and generally, comfort all round. I stayed in the "Le Rocce" part of the resort, which is the quieter area meant for couples, and it is the area I recommend if you want a peaceful stay without children screaming (these are located elsewhere). It is easy to get to the fantastic beach, you are transported there by a "Navetta" (a sort of golf buggy) which come and go at all times. Alternatively you can relax by the beautiful pool in peace and quiet. There are several restaurants, the best ones we found are the "Carrimbanca" (meat restaurant, which serves wonderful 'porceddu' - sardinian pork) and the "Scorfano", the fish restaurant, as well as the "Romantico", which says it all. Badesi village nearby is nothing special, but make it a point to hire a car and go to the Costa Smeralda or to Alghero, or else just join an Excursion. Although I speak Italian fluently, the very helpful and polite staff speak the principal languages and are always ready to help. Would I go again? Definitely!

Have just returned from holiday and must say was cautious after having booked the holiday to then read some comments on this website. So now I am back I thought that I would post my comments as I found some of the comments to be unfair. Me and my husband travelled with my 3 year old son and stayed in Le Palme area. We booked flights, hotel and car hire independently and saved a huge amount from the brochure prices we saw. We flew with Ryan Air to Alghero and then drove from there which took about 1and a half hours. The maps are not great so you have to have reasonable navigation skills. We arrived after a long and very hot journey and we were disappointed with the resort on arrival as its appearance is very tired looking and in need of a lick of paint. We were allocated a room on the first floor which was very dark and dismal so we asked to move and we were allocated a fab room (628) which was right opposite the pool and had a garden at the front where my son could play football without coming to any harm. The only disadvantage to this was at night any entertainment around the pool was noisy to say the least. We felt that the location of the room far outweighed the noise at night. The cleanliness is above average and our room was cleaned every day and the hotel areas are kept really clean too.The hotel is on the West of the Island and if you don't have a car you could go a bit stir crazy as there is nothing to do outside of the hotel - no immediate shops, bars or restaurants. The nearest town is Badesi which is a hike up a very steep hill about 2 miles away. There is a supermarket there which is good to stock up on as the hotel prices for drinks outside of your board allocation are very expensive - Approx £5 for a bacardi and coke! The food is exemplary and the choice of restaurants is good. There is a booking system in place for the restaurants but we did not find this a problem as some seem to have and we were there in high season. The entertainment programme is immense and continues all day. Every evening there is a huge show in the open air theatre. All the shows we saw were good. We did not use the childrens club as I thought my 3 year old might feel a little out of things as most of the children were italian as of course were the childminders and I felt that he would not be able to contribute to any conversations. I would say that this hotel would appeal to some and not others. I would not choose the hotel if you have no children as it is so geared up for children. If you just want to sit by a pool or on the beach for the duration of your holiday then this is quite adequate but if you like to explore as we do then in hindsight we would have chosen the North East of the island which we did visit (2 hours drive) and the resorts were much closer together and seemed to be more to do. Porto Cervo is pretty with the big boats in the harbour. The beach at Badesi is nice. However, if you get a chance to visit Isola Rossa about 10 mins drive there is a lovely beach called Sa Maddalena which is actually well hidden but really nice. Isola Rossa is a pretty harbour town too. We also drove to a beach at Stintino which is at the tip of the island (this took 2 hours). The beach is lovely but really busy and parking was a nightmare. Sa Maddalena beach is just as nice and less travelling time. Sea is amazingly clear at this beach and quite shallow enough for little ones to swin in. We discovered that the island is HUGE and we had hoped to cover more of it but only managed a fraction as the road system is not bad but very windy as the island is mountainous. Very pretty island and really nice people. Remember to brush up on your italian before you go as there is not much english speaking which is actually quite refreshing. Weather was glorious and we all had a great time.

This place was awful. We arrived with our 3 young children to a 'hotel' which appeared no more than a holiday camp. I would have preferred to stay at home, the standard is better. It was outdated, grotty, dark and dreary. Fair enough it was clean. We checked into our room, eventually, and walked straight out - from the hotel...to another hotel. It was one shamble after another. The room was so secluded and 'tucked away' that the view from the balcony was treetops, right in your face! It was so dark. The room was very basically furnished with stuff that you could find in a junk shop. The beds for our kids were foam on a bedstand, it looked so uninviting, and our kids like their sleep. Our kids were so sombre while we were there (all of 3 hours). They checked the Ginepri pool out whilst our escape was being arranged and no sooner had they jumped in the water they legged it out as they said it was filthy, the water looked 'syrupy'. We luckily we moved to Cala di Falco for 1 week, then the Marinedda for the next and both were so much better, no comparison, although they are all 4 star.

myself and my girlfriend spent a week here and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. I would stress though that there are areas of the resort that will be just families/kids and should be avoided if, like us, you were there for sun, sea, sand and fun. the food was quite good if nothing amazing. it was all buffet so you could eat what you wanted but wasn't of a particularly high standard. the pools were great and the beach was a 5 minute walk away. it had everything that we were looking for but i would stress that if you are not a family with small children I'd recommend going to the Le Rocce area

Just returned from our third holiday here, and it was the best one yet. Our children made loads of friends, never stopped laughing, slept like logs after such active days, and are making us promise we will go back again next year. We spent lazy days watching our kids entertain themselves, reading, chatting and recharging our batteries. Sometimes in a nice daze from lunchtime wine and food. We arrived just as they were opening the latest addition to the Villaggio, Le Dune Bianca down by the beach. It's wonderful - beautifully situated with views to die for, a small sandy childrens play area and a lovely bar. Book to eat here at least once in the evening - the sunset is stunning and the myriad seafood dishes excellent. You can also have lunch here - we alternated between Bianca and Nautilus for lunch depending on whether we spent the morning on the beach or by the pool. I won't go over old ground, but just underline two key points. Book restaurants for the entire week as soon as you arrive. You may have to queue for twenty minutes or so, but so what? Also, go full board, the lunches are great. The beers, water etc from the bar are expensive. However, it's easy to take the hotel minibus to Badesi and load up your room's fridge from the supermarkets. As usual, there were a few Brits moaning, mainly because they couldn't be bothered to take care of the above two tasks. Just do it! Great place, great staff, great holiday

We (parents with 2 children aged 3.5yrs and 7 mths) recently returned from 2 weeks with Just Sardinia at Dunes Village Resort. Prior to departure we were very concerned with some of the reviews written on this site and sought comfort from our travel agent that Dunes Village was a destination worth visiting. In our opinion they were very accurate in their descipriton saying the resort was fantastic for families, food is great, though the resort itself is "a little tired". I would add that whilst the resort could do with a touch up we thought the staff were superb, all are Italian (though speak English/German/Spanish quiet well) and were incredibly friendly and helpful to parents and children alike. Essentially they made our holiday great. The childrens clubs and evening disco are a huge success, take them to the disco on the first night and they will want to return every night to see and join in with Freddie and his friends....my daughter is still singing the songs and performing the routines! Baby facilities are also excellent. The trip from Olbia airport (Easyjet fly there) is a long winding one. We would advise you to take travel bands or sickness pills for your children if they suffer, like ours, from travel sickness. We did not book a private transfer but had an inclusive eight seater minibus all to ourselves which was excellent. The resort is somewhat isolated so going anywhere requires a hire car (do not use Avis on the resort, they are twice the price of your reps hire car company!). In summary, if you are looking for a family holiday and want to recharge your own batteries whilst giving your children a great time then Les Dunes is an excellent option and is half the price of the better known resorts in Southern Sardinia. We could not fault the resorts cleanliness or the friendliness of the staff over the 14 nights we were there. The resort is well laid out, and is run very efficiently. p.s. go for the full board option not the half board.

We have just returned from a week at Dune Village. We really enjoyed the week and had no major complaints. although it is suited more to families than couples. The restaurant booking system is peculiar though and was only really explained to us at the end of the week;you cant go to the same restaurant two days in a row but it may be a possible to book the whole week in one go - still not very sure on that point though! there apparently was a problem with the computer system the week we were there but why bookings can only be done at one desk seems crazy , we did have to wait up to 20 -30 mins one day. But we thought the food in all the restaurants was very good and the staff were all friendly and helpful . It is isolated though if you dont have a car . The beach is very long and gets quite breezy; it was very rough the first couple of days but then the wind dropped and once you get into the water it is lovely and very clean . They are building a small annexe to the hotel on the beach front at the moment and there are some stalls and a van selling drinks at the entrance to the hotel which doesnt make it look very apppealing but once you go up the road into the village it is very pretty . Our room was in Palme and it was quite spacious and clean ,although there was only a shower and it was quite small. We played tennis a few times and went to the piano bar after dinner where there was a very good jazz pianist . The entertainment was more geared to children but one night there were two singers who were very good. The pools were all lovely and there was shade around the pool areas and plenty of sun loungers. We had a car so did a few trips around the area which is worth doing , it is a very beautiful island but very quiet and relatively unspoiled so may not suit those wanting more entertainment.

I went to this hotel in September of this 2005. Its a 2hr drive from Alghero which is served by Ryanair. We rented a car from the airport. The route from the airport is by no means straight forward and we managed to get lost a few times (it was late at night!). The resort is quite hard to find your way around at night too. We couldn't even find the reception! We stayed in Le Rocce which is the kid free zone. It was very pleasant and quiet. Definately worth the extra £££ against the other areas. The pool area was very quiet and the restaurant which is for Le Rocce was very nice too. The staff are average - most spoke good english. The room was good, nothing amazing - not quite 4 star but we were not at all disapointed. The air condition worked well if a bit noisy. The food is generally good, we didn't have a problem booking at all like some. The restuarants outside Le Rocce were sometimes quite noisy with kids but it didn't spoil our evening. The entertainment is mostly in Italian but they do speak a bit of English here and there. The tours the hotel offer are really good. We did the boat tour and were really impressed. Definately recommend it. Nothing much going in Basdei but there is a decent Supermarket and thats probably all you'll need as the resort has pretty much everything else you would want. The beach is clean and beautiful - hotel guest are allowed complimentary use of windsufers, canoes and pedlos. Overall we were very impressed. No major faults. As with the whole of Sardinia its worth staying away in August when the Italians all go but otherwise worth a stay.

Returned this weekend from Dune Village and would offer the following opinion: Accommodation: Basic but very clean. We stayed in Ginepri bit - beware most apartments are double storey and sound proofing is poor. You will be able to hear the village 'entertainment' if you want to go to sleep before about midnight. Housekeeping standards excellent - cleaning and linen change daily. Kids Club: This was where the holiday came unstuck for us. Due to shortage of kids, all the kids were in one group - from aged 12 months to 10 !!! We have 2 year old twins, they are used to a more structured nursery set up and they didn't enjoy the general chaos ! In fact they refused to go, so we attended with them to find out why. On day 2, we found them with two 8 year old boys, watching The Incredibles (with subtitles !!!) on a large, fuzzy projection screen. No wonder they didn't get it. Despite the lovely, enthusiastic staff, it was all a bit chaotic and not remotely suitable for kids their age. Result ? We had to look after them all day every day, no break whatsoever, not even a half hour to swim or read. We came here specifically for the kids club facility so it was very disappointing. I wasn't too keen on them being taken swimming or to the beach by people who didn't know them well - much better suited to over 5s. Unfortunately, the kids club schedule had swimming or beach every single day for some hours. Kids facilities on resort : This is really really poor. There's an 'adventure playground' which is in dire need of a refit. Worn out equipment, a big concrete pipe for them to crawl in and bang their heads in, tatty seesaw with nails sticking out, a couple of knackered old teepees (which had been mainly dismantled, and didn't reflect the brochure one bit). A small pool with no steps for little kids to ease themselves in (in fact none of the pools at Dune Village has this - apart from at Le Rocce where no under 6s allowed!) Panels fallen off the swimming pool exposing all the pipes etc. It is also up a steep hill, the most difficult access on the whole resort, especially if you have a buggy. There is concrete absolutely everywhere - concrete steps, paving, poolside etc. Not at all kid friendly. Ofsted inspectors would have palpitations. In fact, I understand that Mark Warner just closed their Sardinia resort (they had just taken it over from another holiday company) because there were too many concrete steps for it to be child friendly - they didn't consider it safe enough for a family resort until they had worked on it. Dune Village take note please. Food: I thought this was really good. We had no problems booking the restaurants and thought the food standards high. The earliest one can eat (including kids) is 7.30. Staff were friendly on whole, lovely to the children and we never had a bad meal. We found lunch options ok, very limited. Lunch for 4 with drink about £15 a day (paninis etc). Pools/recreation: The pools are very cold ! But very nice. Otherwise there is very little to do. There are a few shops that sell a VERY limited range of stuff. We had to go into the local towns to buy nappies and baby wipes, which was surprising, you'd think they would have thought of their captive market ! There is a games arcade but it is small and not terribly exciting. A couple of kiddies rides which are on their last legs. If it rains (as it did for 4 days with us) then you are really stuck. There is NOTHING to do and nowhere to walk to locally. We had a hire car for the duration which meant we could drive across the island in search of some sun. In common with some of the other reviews, our kids also developed car sickness for the first time - the roads are very very winding in Sardinia. Area: Badesi is not the chicest part of Sardinia. It is scruffy and sleepy. There is a clean beach right outside the resort with deckchairs, but the sea is quite rough. The nice bits are mostly around the other northern coasts I believe. Still, a sandy beach is heaven for a 2 year old, so we won't argue. Overall: It wasn't a total disaster - the kids loved it i think - but then they are 2 and not very fussy. I think the 4**** rating is highly dubious. Put it this way, you won't bump into Posh and Becks or Catherine Zeta Jones and Michael Douglas here (they go to Forte Village in Sardinia). The staff are the saving grace of the place - they work hard and are great. But the resort needs lots of work. A week would be plenty (we went for 2 weeks, it is such a shame when you can't wait to get home!) I wish we had spent the money on one week somewhere fabulous instead.