"We had an absolutely amazing time at Forte Village, Villa del Parco. From start to finish, everything exceeded our expectations. Breakfast each morning was incredible, beautifully presented with fresh, high-quality selections that made it a highlight of our days. Dinner at Cavalieri Restaurant was nothing short of sublime, with flawless service and dishes that stood out as some of the best we’ve ever enjoyed. The entire staff was outstanding, friendly, attentive, and genuinely warm. A special thank you to Director Alessandro for his exceptional leadership and personal touch that made us feel like honored guests, and to Alessia on the beach, whose kindness and professionalism made every day by the sea even more special. Forte Village truly sets the standard for luxury resorts. We can’t wait to return!"

"IN SUMMARY - Just book it, for two weeks if you can. It's a stunningly beautiful resort - there's so much to see and do. You'll love it! INTRO The Forte Village is a fabulous resort comprising eight hotels and thirteen villas, situated on the south coast of Sardinia between Pula and Chia. We picked it essentially at random having not been to the island before, and for a couples holiday couldn't be happier with our choice. There's so much to see and do here that the website doesn't really do it justice, so hopefully my review will be useful. Also, as there doesn't seem to be a general photo gallery on the website, I've added quite a few pictures to help you get a better feel for the place... ABOUT THE RESORT Learning your way around the resort does take a couple of days, but there are maps alongside every pathway and an app that you can use for navigation. In fact, one of the first things you see as you exit the main reception is a 3D map of the resort, about the size of a snooker table, which somewhat disconcertingly you can walk over, as it is set into the reception floor and covered with glass. GROUNDS The website really doesn't do the resort justice in terms of how it feels walking around. Red brick 'roads' connected to and between accommodation make it really feel like its own village. The grounds are quite beautiful, with 30-foot tall pine trees which create a canopy of shade, and a wonderful selection of flowers in every colour of the rainbow. One thing we weren't expecting was the awesome mountain backdrop. It's a very big place, so get used to a 5-10 minute walk from your accommodation to the beach, or you can wait at one of the 'bus stops' and a big golf buggy will appear to take you wherever you need. The hotels and bungalows are all linked by various walkways and the tastefully paved 'roads', where the aforementioned golf buggies ferry people around, families zoom past on their rented bicycles and the maintenance staff whizz around on their own little motorised trolleys. ACCOMMODATION Even though they consider themselves separate, you can pretty much walk in and out of any of the 'hotels', often without even realising you've done it. And many, if not most, of the hotel rooms are in fact self-contained bungalows, with a patio area and/or semi-private garden. After an email conversation before arrival with the Andrea, the rooms division manager of the property about how I really wanted a peaceful location, we were fortunate enough to get upgraded to a room in the five-star hotel 'Villa del Parco' and the service was first class - nothing was too much trouble, with champagne in the room to set the tone. Hotel manager Alessandro made sure our stay was absolutely perfect. Our bungalow was fantastic. Huge comfortable bed, a small 'living area' with sofa and chair, plus a walk-in wardrobe. The bathroom was almost as big, with a huge bath, shower area, two basins, toilet and bidet. The only thing it lacked was an extractor fan... FOOD Villa del Parco has it's own private terrace for breakfast, with full hot and cold options, and eggs Benedict or omelettes cooked to order. Guests of other hotels will havetheir own options, with a big area overlooking the Oasis pool. Given how much we ate at breakfast and dinner we didn't really have much lunch, but there are myriad options from pizza to sushi and everything in-between. On half board we had access to four a-la-carte restaurants and one buffet for evening meals. These are mostly set around the Oasis pool on the upper level, so have great views. First, and quite surprisingly in an Italian beach resort, was the curry house 'Indiano'. Subsequently we ate at the Sardinian and Brazilian restaurants, and the Forte Grill. All the menus were delicious and well cooked. Indiano was great, with so much food! Starters, curry, naan, rice, lamb chops on the side. We were stuffed! Sardo had a great local menu, including house specialty suckling pig. The Brazilian wasn't our favourite. The chef brought the meat to the table in a huge skewer, first some chicken wings, then sausage, beef, veal and lamb chops. The chicken wings weren't that good, but the rest was lovely. Forte Grill, as you'd expect, is a steak house. There's a menu with chicken kebab, lamb chops, steak and burger included in your half board package, or you can spend a lot more on some rarer cuts. The sirloin we had was ok, but a bit ovedone. The Cavalieri buffet supposedly put on a special 'Tuscany night' midweek, but it was unclear what was Tuscany related! There was, however, a superb selection of food and an amazing pianist. We only ate here once as it was kind of frenetic compared to the calm of the a la carte restaurants. Lastly we were invited to the Belvedere in Villa del Parco, a gourmet restaurant on a fabulous terrace overlooking the park. There's usually a supplement of €95 to eat here, but it is really worth it. Chef Giuseppe Molaro has a Michelin star for his creations, and it was fabulous. The wagyu carpaccio in particular was astonishingly good. There are plenty of other restaurants we didn't have time to visit, often with Michelin star chefs and spectacular views across the sea, so check the Forte Village website to read about those. POOLS There are several pools, so you're spoilt for choice. Again, there really aren't any photos of these on the website. All sunbeds, parasols and tables in the resort and on the beach have a qr code that allows you to order from the bar, which is handy... We spent most time at Castlello pool, which is surrounded by pine and palm trees, and generally quiet. The pool looks out across the Mediterranean, and the view is quite stunning, plus you're protected from the wind that can whip up off the sea. You also get the music from the Tiki bar coming through the trees, mostly reggae and pop, and not so loud as to be a disturbance. The Castello pool is reasonably large, about 25m, and there's also a 10m-ish round pool that's 5m deep - maybe for PADI training if you want to learn to scuba dive. The sunbeds are super comfy, and the fabulous concierge/lifeguard always on hand to help with towels or to move your umbrella. For people that like something bigger there's the Oasis situated at the centre of the resort and the Aquapark near the hotel entrance. The Oasis is large with many areas to swim, four-poster sunbeds all around, as well as the usual chairs. It gets VERY hot in there, as it's sunken into the ground and gets no breeze at all, so beware! The Aquapark is great fun, with four straight sides and two flumes, as well as a kids play area, a 25m lane pool, and another large pool on the upper level. The slides are all pretty gentle, so suitable for all ages. It does feel a little tired compared to the rest of the facilities, however. BEACH The beach is lovely and the sea a beautiful turquoise colour. It is, however, quite a lot smaller than the one website photo I could find. There isn't really much of a tide in the med, but when it's high or is a bit stormy, there's barely enough room for two rows of sunbeds as the sea seems to have reclaimed a lot of the sand. Also, the beach isn't quite as 'pristine' as the website claims - there was a lot of seaweed on the beach and in the water. We went in early September when the resort was very quiet, so there were plenty of sunbeds available, but I can imagine it's pretty crazy down there in peak season! LOCATION There's so much going on in the resort you could spend two weeks here and still not do everything on offer, but as well as enjoying the fabulous facilities, we hired a car and went to four other local beaches; Su Giudeu - huge, beautiful but very busy Nora - quiet with fish that bite you! Tuerredda - small and stunningly beautiful, but beware you must reserve a space on the beach on the website before you go!! - Cala Cipolla, just over the headland from Su Giudeu. That one is much quieter, with no bar or facilities, but also beautiful. All the beaches are quite stunning, and you can wade out into for several metres before even thinking about swimming. But swim you must, the sea is beautifully clear and warm. CULTURE I thoroughly recommend you check out the Roman ruins at Nora, about 15 minutes east along the coast. There was a whole town here 2000 years ago with a court, theatre, fountain, and many houses. The archaeological site costs €10 to walk around, but you'll be amazed at what they uncovered, as well as beautifully preserved mosaic floors, Roman roads, the works. You can truly imagine the atmosphere all those years ago, with the stunning views across the med and up into the mountains as a backdrop. Has society actually moved forward since then?! CLIENTELE The guests were almost entirely Italian, with maybe 10% English and German. This is probably the reason for my only minor gripe - some of the bar and restaurant staff didn't speak much English, and I speak almost no Italian, which caused some frustration. Maybe a tip for next year - get some frozen daiquiris on the beach menu, with a happy hour in the afternoon ;0) However, staff in reception and management all spoke perfect English. COST This is very much a five star resort, so you should be ready to pay for that. The upkeep of all the pools, restaurants, accommodation and gardens must cost an absolute fortune, not to mention all the staff, so expect to pay a lot for add-ons, activities, drink and any food not included. Just as a guide, a beer (¾ pint) is €8.50 and an Aperol spritz €16. The wine list is huge and there are many bottles on there over €100 and even some Château Pétrus at €14,000 if you fancy that. Sardinian house wine is about €45 and perfectly acceptable if you're on a budget. COUPLES V FAMILIES We came the first week of September as a couple to relax and absolutely achieved our aim. The weather was perfect, 30° and sunny every day, the pools and beaches fabulous and the food delicious. We didn't use the spa, but there's plenty of relaxation treatments available if you want them, as well as yoga, saunas and solariums. There are so many things for kids and families that I couldn't list here. But there are extensive sports facilities, including separate academies for tennis, coastal rowing, rugby, netball, fencing, cycling, boxing, climbing, dancing and more! HEALTH ADVICE Bring bite cream and anti mosquito spray. We were bitten in reception before we even got to our room and collected more throughout the week! FINAL THOUGHT This isn't a cheap holiday, but it's absolutely worth it. The grounds are stunning, the pools plentiful and the surrounding beaches beautiful. The food is exceptional and the staff all fantastically friendly. It really was one of the best holidays we've ever had."