Is Serenas Badesi Resort

Sardinia is special, but we’ve always struggled to find an all-inclusive hotel with great sports on tap. So we were pleased to find this one via operator Sardatur and stay here for one week in the summer. We’d recommend this hotel and will look to stay in others in their small chain. The majority of guests were Italians on holiday from the mainland and having a great time. The buffet restaurant served tasty Italian food and well labelled for dietary requirements including vegan. There was a weird internal structure to the dining room though, so we always chose the outer tables in the adjoining rooms. I’d feedback ‘softening’ the interior design of the dining areas. Wine on tap ok, beer good. Great juices etc. We were very satisfied by food and drinks. We had a clean , spacious, comfortable family bedroom with good beds and great shower. Nice touch of fizz and cookies on arrival. Nice patio and furniture. Swimming pools were lovely. Sports were really great - we enjoyed padel, archery, spin, tai chi and yoga. All superb. Great outside gym! Beach is long and sandy. Loved having the dedicated preassigned sunbeds! All inclusive water sports so we had fun on pedalos and sups too. Great little beach bar to watch the sunset. Beach is 5/10 mins walk from hotel itself but on hotel land and accessible via a smart walkway. The hotel layout was good and lots of greenery and low build with ‘village square’ for evening entertainment adjoining the amphitheatre , bar and shops. The entertainment team was huge and whilst working hard they were obviously having fun too. Lots of shows. Midnight pool party included. Most of the entertainment was in Italian which we are happy with as we like to feel like we’re on holiday and try Italian. We love going to Italy during Ferragosto as it’s such a celebration. I wasn’t so keen on the ferragosta competition with the other hotels - I think it was lost in translation! Fireworks for Ferrogosto at midnight was brilliant. So many amazing singers in the animation team and the hotel band was superb! Our kids are past the age of mini clubs but they looked popular with loads of activities I’d recommend this hotel and brand for anyone wanting an Italian all-inclusive holiday but don’t expect boring chips, endless boozing or English to be widely spoken! Perfect for us 🙏

Don't go,food cold, entertainment crap,and your in the middle of no where.And in the evening when it gets cold there's no heaters no plastic shutters and no where else to sit other than the reception.

We spent two weeks at Is Serenas Badesi as a couple with a baby. We were a bit apprehensive having read the mixed reviews before our trip, however those reviews don't reflect our own experience. This is not your usual AI resort (e.g. Greece, Spain), this is AI done the Italian way aimed mostly at Italian guests. If you like a more authentic experience on holiday but want to go for an AI hotel, we would highly recommend. As with Italian resorts, they are very family-orientated, so if you are looking for candlelit dinners for 2, this is not the place for you. However, if you want a relaxed, friendly time with great facilities and loads to do in the resort (either as a family or with friends), you will enjoy the resort. As a first holiday with a baby, we had a great time and would consider going back. Location The resort is relatively new - it opened in 2021, the hotel facilities (reception, pool area, etc) reflect this and are all well maintained and very clean (including all toilets). The grounds are beautiful, flowering plants and trees surround the area. Do know there is limited ways to go outside of the resort (by foot) given that it is quite isolated, we knew this ahead of time and so were able to prepare. You can rent a car at reception from Europcar (based in Valledoria), alternatively you can also take a free shuttle bus to Badesi, the small town nearby. The Badesi shuttle only runs several times a day (until 30 September 2025) so the only time you can catch it is first thing in the morning (leaving at around 9:55 from the hotel), you get about one hour in Badesi before you need to take the return shuttle. There are other buses in Badesi for Sassari or Santa Teresa but you will need to find a time that works to connect between the free shuttle bus and the other bus. You can find someone to advise and book buses at reception (same place as Europcar). We paid 297 EUR for 4 days car hire, this included the hotel delivery fee. Room The rooms are all either ground floor or first floor in small bungalows. Our room was a good size with a double bed and a small divan bed, plenty of storage space and a good size separated bathroom (toilet, bidet, large sink and walk in shower). The A/C in the room worked well. Outside the room, we had tables and chairs and a clothes hanger. You also have a safe in the room which is free to use. The soundproofing was excellent - our room was facing the main restaurant yet once inside we were in complete silence. Pool and Beach You have three pools plus a splash park on site - two of those pools are open to all (pools for lane swimming and leisure pool with shallow and deeper sections), there is a also a prestige pool open to prestige customers only. The sport pool and prestige pool close in the early afternoon whilst the leisure pool stays open. Bars are located next to each area so you can get drinks easily. Activities take place in the leisure pool such as zumba or aqua fitness. Going in early to mid September, we were very happy to find plenty of sunbeds every time we wanted to go to the pool. Pools areas are closed before 9am so there is no reserving of sunbeds. On some days at 10am, 90% of sunbeds were free. People are quite diligent too and remove their belongings once they leave for lunch, etc... Contrary to something I saw on tripadvisor, you don't need a swimming cap. The beach is a short walk away, a boardwalk was created going from the hotel to the beach so it is entirely step free which was great with a pram. During check-in, you are given the number of your reserved sunbeds and umbrella at the beach, we really appreciated this as it meant less moving around with the pram. We found afternoons were quieter but even the mornings with a few extra people were very nice too. You have a bar there too, although i t closes in the early afternoon too (until 3:30pm). The sea was red flagged on a few days because of waves, although you were still able to go in as long you were in the very shallow areas. There is quite a bit of seaweed but you can easily avoid it (tends to be close to the beach and moves everyday so you can find areas without it). There are clean toilets at the beach too. On days where it wasn't red flagged, you could do watersports (all free of charge except for private lessons), we did the canoe and paddle but there was also sailing, pedalo, wing sup, etc... Staff were very nice there and happy to help you set up. Food and Drink We arrived after the two themed restaurants closed for the season so we can't comment on those. We ate all our meals at the main restaurant situated next to reception. Breakfast times in 2025 were as followed: Breakfast (7:30-10:00)/Lunch (12:30-14:00)/ Dinner (19:30-21:00). There was limited outside tables and with relatively short meal times, it meant two sets of people couldn't necessarily enjoy dining at fresco using the same table over two sittings (e.g. for dinner, people would start to vacate tables around 20:15-20:30 making a second sitting a bit short). The main restaurant can get noisy during the mealtimes, and at times feels more like a canteen than the fine dining experience some may want from an AI resort. You get used to this, and the Italian guests don't seem to mind. Outside of restaurant times, snacks can be found near the central and beach bars - sweet stuff in the afternoon, and savoury stuff before lunchtime and dinner time. You can also order small snacks from the bar directly. We found the food to be delicious and varied, although do know they run on a weekly basis so if you are here for two weeks, you will get a repeat on the second week. For us, it was not an issue as we got to try something we might not have got the first week. The food is mostly italian but if like us you are open to trying different things you will always find something to eat. There is a starters area with deli meats, cheese, a salad bar as well as small plates (cured salmon, squid salad, veal with a tuna sauce, rosbeef, etc..). There is a pizza area and a pasta area (they change every day but examples may include speck and gorgonzola pizza, margarita pizza, almond pesto pasta, boar bolognese pasta, squid ink pasta and more). You also have more plain options such as bolognese and pesto. You also have a grill section and a fried section (grilled fish/steak/octopus/prawns/sausages - one to two options per meal and fries/fried aubergine,fried fish, fried chicken, etc.. - one to two options each meal). You also had a choice of roast meats, a roast fish option or stew and veg options. Desserts were good too, mainly cream based (tiramisu, chocolate cake, etc..), there was also fruits, panna cottas and one flavour of ice cream changing each day. Breakfast was the same each day but good, it included cereals, cakes and sweet pastries (cornetti), pancakes. You also had ham, cheese, toasties, as well as the main components of an english breakfast (bacon, sausages, eggs, beans, mushrooms) although this was italian style. Machines served coffees and juices. Unfortunately all juices were very artificial, it would be good to have some fresh juice options. All drinks are self-service during meals - you can get Peroni on tap, white/red/rose wine, different soda options or water. At the pool, beach bar, central bar, prestige pool bar (I think) and reception, you have self-service machines serving water, and different soft drinks. As water is only provided in your room on the first day, this is the main way for you to get water, we recommend bringing a water bottle so you can refill easily. Activities and Entertainment There is a large animation team providing activities during most of the day at the beach, the pool and near the amphitheatre. There is a real mix of activities, sports (aqua fitness, tai chi, volleyball, nordic walking, etc...), card games, tournaments, dance activities, etc... They are not too pushy, which is great so you can join in if you want to, but you don't have to. They also run the nighttime activities - one of them usual sings near the bar area + group shows every evening on a different theme. Unfortunately with the baby we didn't make it to the shows but people seemed to appreciate it. All activities are in italian but we didn't mind at all. They translate where they can (announcements/questions/show lyrics). Staff Contrary to some reviews we read before our stay, most staff do speak English to a good level, especially staff on reception. Check-in was fast and we were given access to our room before the the check-in time (although I guess this could depend on availability during the summer season). All staff were nice and helpful. We found the housekeeping staff to be thorough in their cleaning too. Child-friendliness The resort is very child-friendly. Both staff and guests are very welcoming of babies, unlike in some countries. On arrival, we found a cot, changing mat, bottle warmer, baby bath and baby soap in our room, which was great. There were plenty of high chairs at restaurants. There is a baby kitchen off the main restaurant with fridges containing milk, yogurt, etc... You can also store your own baby food there. There is also water to make baby bottles. The baby kitchen is open from 6am to midnight but mainly functions during meal time with specific warm and cold weaning food also added. Between midnight and 6am, reception staff will give you access to the baby kitchen. You can find mixers in the kitchen too. Next to the baby kitchen, there is a specific part of the restaurant dedicated to making your children eat with plastic tables and high chairs. If you have a child over 3 years old, they can go to the Serenino Club which is open between 9am and 11pm during summer months and morning and afternoons in May and September/October. This is free! All staff were very accommodating of the baby which was great. Advice - Bring beach towels as they are not provided for free. - Bring a refillable water bottle(s) - If you don't book with Jet2, for example you use booking.com, you may have to pay for the mandatory card that gives access to all facilities and activities (pool, entertainment, water sports) on arrival. Potential improvements - Elongated meal times - Improve the shuttle bus times (either by liaising with the commune of Badesi, or providing one) - Arrange excursions or shuttles to local places, e.g. there is an excellent vineyard (Cantina Li Dunas) only 3km away! The town of Valledoria is also only 10 mins away and we found it to be pleasant with several nice shops, cafes and restaurants. - Fresh juice (even if it's just orange juice) - A two-week meal rotation

Alles Prima

I really wished I wasn’t here writing this review but here we are. My family of 4 stayed at Is Serenas for 10 days in September. We booked through a travel agency. Long story short: on the website you can read everything about the 3 restaurants, the possibility to eat at the beach bar etc. We picked this resort (and paid a decent amount of money) also for the options that they were offering. When we got there we were told that 2 restaurants were closed, that the pool bar was closed and that the beach bar was only serving drinks and snacks (most of the time it was the leftover from breakfast). This meant that the only buffet restaurant was always extremely busy and the queue at the bars during the day could get to 7-8 minutes just to grab a coffee or a drink. We complained for the lack of transparency as this was not advertised on the website, both with our agency and directly. We have been contacted by the manager and then the director 2-3 days before the last day of the holiday offering 2 compensatory meals and access to the “prestige” pool, which we didn’t accept . They ended up giving us £100 off on what we purchased at the bar (the ice creams are not included !) .Overall the resort is ok but it is not worth 4 stars for sure (and not worth the price !!!!)

PLEASE, PLEASE Cancel your booking immediately!! Especially if you've book with Loveholidays, we are currently in resort trying to get home. Rooms are like cells and all restaurants are closed. It's like an Italian old people's home! Ever English guests hate it!! YOU'VE BEEN WARNED!!

The location is great, staff members are kind, the rooms are ok but the food is recycled and old. Two weeks and not even one thing tasted fresh. All the fish served under two weeks REEKED of old fish, and tasted as such. Vegetables are tasteless or sour, the porridge overcooked and with old fruits in it which rules out anyone with allergies. The pizzas are made of old bread and they are moved outside as snacks and brough in again - from the heat and flies - and served at dinner. They served FRIED BREAD! At a "4 star hotel" - fried! I've been to Malasya, Egypt, Urugai and other places where I've stayed at 2-star hotels and such and none of them had food worse than this. I spoke to roughly 27 other guests and they all agreed with me that it was the worst food they've ever had. Just DON'T GO HERE!

Perfect holidays and everything spot on, delicious food, Dream Team top of the top performances (mini musicals , bands tributes, comedy shows) that you could easily pay 20£ + for each show to see on West End , Kids Club dream arrangements, all the staff very helpful and nice , rooms , restaurants perfect clean order, if you like to go somewhere where there is not many Brits this is perfect, a lot of Italians that love their local island. One of the best holidays.

We travelled to this hotel with Jet 2 the last week of August 2025 as a family of 3 consisting of my husband and I and our 10 year old Son. I am writing this review hoping it will be helpful especially to British families. This is a long review so brace yourselves. Transfers We flew into Olbia Airport be prepared for a long queue at passport control. The resort is quite a distance from the Airport and took approximately 2 hours so please be prepared for a long journey. We were expecting this so came as no surprise to us. Hotel Check In On arrival at the hotel there was a desk outside to complete a privacy disclosure this process was of no issue to us i have seen in some other reviews this was a big issue but we had no problems. They also offered to have our luggage to be taken to our room which was amazing. After this we walked to hotel Reception again no issues checking in. We were given our room key and some information about the hotel and map as to where our room was. Hotel Room We did get a little lost looking for our room as the complex is so big bit as we didn’t have our cases it wasn’t a huge issue. If i am being honest i was a little disappointed when we got to our room i was hoping for a first floor room i had also sent a special request through however we were on the ground floor so from reading previous reviews i was worried about bugs getting in. This turned out to be no issue at all. We certainly didn’t have an ant issue but did get the odd mosquito. I would say the rooms are basic they are very clean and spacious though with a nice big bathroom. There was a fridge and hairdryer in the room. Rooms were cleaned every day and we had plenty of towels. We had a terrace with table and chairs and a very large clothes airer to hang our wet clothes and towels. There was lots of wardrobe space and storage for our things. Just a quick word of advice there are two plug sockets next to the beds which at first do not seem like the plugs fit however after a couple of days my husband discovered that if you turned them to the side then they fit into the sockets. To get the Air conditioning to work you need to put your key card into the slot by the door. I did get a bit cold at night so can verify it worked well. Rooms also had a TV. The only issue we had was on occasion there was a strange smell in the bathroom like a plumbing issue perhaps. It wasn’t continuous but sometimes would smell it first thing in the morning so was not pleasant. The room also had coffee machine and kettle with coffee pods and tea bags etc you don’t get milk though. My husband would get some milk at breakfast to put in the fridge in our room. All in all rooms were fine nothing luxurious and do not look as they are shown on the websites. But were clean and comfortable. Food and drink This is an All Inclusive hotel so i never have huge expectations when it comes to food. If i am honest i wasn’t overly impressed with the food here. Breakfast was fine lots of choices and options that you get with Breakfast Buffets. For lunch and dinner there was lots of pasta options but mainly with tomato based sauces there should probably be more creamy cheese based sauces too. There was Pizza every day although wasn’t great. There was usually a grill with fish or meat. Always a good range of desserts too. Me and my son are fussy eaters so choices were very limited for us. I feel there needs to be a children’s section with more choices for them as my son really didn’t get much choices here. It’s probably because it’s Italy but there was never any options for something like chips at dinner time only ever at lunch. lunch and dinner was very similar. I found the food most of the time not very warm and a lot of the time cold. I think this is the one thing that does needs improving at this hotel. I think what’s lacking in this hotel is perhaps a Snack bar I’ve been to previous all inclusive hotels where there’s been a section in the afternoon. They open it usually late afternoon with basic stuff mainly for kids like burgers, hotdogs and chips with some salads and stuff like that but there was nothing here like that in the afternoon in the bar area, there was some snacks Put out but unsure what this was it looked like a tiny little pastry with some weird sauce on the top. I had no clue what it was. They also had some pizza but there was no other options. Also, we discovered on day four of our holiday that you could get snacks at the bar, which was like crisps and nuts, but we weren’t informed of this by the hotel staff so I do feel upon checking in that this is something that the customer should be told. There was a good choice of drinks. You could just help yourself around the hotel they have drink dispensers everywhere with basics like Coke, Fanta water and you could fill your water bottles up so would advise bringing one. They give you little paper cups everywhere though. They have dispensers around the pool area and in the dining area as well. Also in the dining area, you can have beer and wine which you can help yourself to. For the main bar they had spirits and cocktails. I can’t say the cocktails were amazing. We liked the spritz which is like an Aperol spritz which was quite nice. So to summarise regarding food And drink I would say there is room for improvement the food isn’t amazing but I don’t usually have high expectations but I do feel they need more choice for children as all my child ate the whole time was pizza and plain pasta. Also just to add there are à la carte restaurants at this hotel we didn’t ever actually go so I cannot comment on that. I do believe that it was better than the main dining hall from what I heard from other guests. Facilities I feel the facilities at the hotel were very good. There’s lots to do. You have the main pool Area which was always really nice another good thing to say about this is there was never a struggle for sun loungers Which was quite refreshing to see. The main pool is really nice. It’s very big. There’s a slide for the children. It’s a bit cold at first but then you get used to it. It’s not freezing cold pool. There was a splash park for the kids. My son enjoyed that and there was Play Grounds for the children there was the smaller playground for younger children and a bigger playground for the older children which looked lots of fun. There is also a small pool which is for lane swimming. We never actually used this pool so I can’t really comment on that but it always looked very quiet. It does shut For a few hours in the afternoons, as does a lot of the other facilities the splash park closed in the afternoons as did the slide in the main pool. We found between the hours of 12 and 4 it was very quiet around the pool areas. There was not a lot of people around. I think this is due to the fact that a lot of the facilities are closed and the shops in the hotel also closed during these hours. So it was always very peaceful in the afternoons by the pool. As mentioned, the hotel has some shops it had a pharmacy and A shop that was selling like gifts and it also had things like flip-flops and Basic toys for children like footballs, etc. It is quite expensive, so just be warned. There’s another store where you can book excursions as you cannot book excursions by the tour operators These are expensive. We did one tour which was the Costa Smeralda It was very nice day out would recommend this one but cannot comment on the other tours as we did not get the chance to go on them as we were only there for a week. Unfortunately, cannot comment on the kids club as my child didn’t go and we never used any of the other facilities like the football or the tennis courts or anything like that. There is a lot to do in this hotel. There’s always something going on or you can just have a more chilled experience. Entertainment The entertainment staff in this hotel are amazing. You can tell they really work hard. They are always around during the day until late at night. There is always something going on They do activities around the pool there’s water aerobics every day. In the evenings there is a show almost every night and then after the show they do more entertainment whether it be singing, karaoke, parties so it’s a very lively atmosphere in the evenings which feels really nice considering the hotel is quite isolated, We were very pleased with the entertainment at the hotel and to be honest the only issue is most of it is in Italian But as it’s in Italy, you can’t really expect much more. .We still found it very entertaining and some of it really funny and comical So was never really an issue for us we still enjoyed it. And whenever you see a member of the team around the hotel, you always get a hello from them to they always very friendly and cheerful. You’re never under pressure to join. You do as little or as much as you want. Location This was probably our main issue but it is no fault if the hotel we kind of knew before we came that this hotel is completely isolated. You are not in walking distance of anywhere. There is a bus that stops at the hotel which takes you to Badesi but from what we saw of it there really isn’t much there. And i believe it’s quite expensive in a cab if you can get one. This is not your typical holiday resort everything is based in the hotel so it’s quite difficult if you wanted to go for a meal out or to a bar etc. if you drive then would probably be ok but for non drivers not so much. Beach The hotel has its own private beach. Which is accessed via a boardwalk. We really enjoyed the beach we liked going in the afternoon after 3pm. You get a reserved umbrella and two sun loungers the hotel gives you a token at check in for this but we never needed to use it. We found the beach very quiet in the afternoon. The sand was lovely and the water temperature was fine. The water is very choppy though so worth being prepared for that. It was lovely and relaxing .There is a bar at the beach which is included in the all inclusive. Other info This hotel needs to have a supermarket type shop so you can purchase your own snacks if you wish this would've come in very handy for us with a fussy eating child as we had no access to a supermarket. I did actually come prepared with some snacks for my son as i knew we might struggle. You can purchase some snacks and premium ice creams at the bar for an additional charge. They also do candy floss and popcorn during the nightly entertainment show there is an additional charge for these. The hotel uses a smart card system so you can purchase other things not included in all inclusive which is also your keycard. This was never explained to us at check in and would’ve been helpful to know. As you cannot purchase anything with cash or credit/debit card. I would also make sure you have more than one keycard we were only given one but would’ve been helpful to have one for each adult. The Wifi was ok don’t think it was strong enough for streaming but everything else was ok and available everywhere in the hotel. You can use the beach towels provided by the hotel you do have to pay for this and is explained at check in but we took our own so never used them. As explained in other reviews you have to pay room tax at check in we paid about 40 euros for the week. Other’s mentioned an issue with mosquitos we did not have a problem with them i brought the wrist bands and didn’t get bitten once and i usually always get bitten my husband didn’t use them and didn’t get bitten. I did see a few in our room but it wasn’t a huge problem thankfully. To summarise Sardinia is beautiful and we had a lovely holiday. My Son had a great time. We would return to Sardinia but to somewhere less isolated as we do like to go out of the hotel and have options to eat out etc. The hotel is lovely you get beautiful views of the mountains it’s really stunning. We did have a great time but the food options need improving. If you are intending on driving i would definitely recommend but if you don’t like to be isolated then i would say it’s not the right place for you. As the hotel was lively and we stayed for a week it wasn’t a massive issue for us and we had a very enjoyable stay but not sure i could do any more than 10 days here. I really hope this review has been helpful.

Spent A week at this beautiful resort in June .. The resort was beautiful the staff were excellent especially the lovely lady in the restaurant she couldn’t do enough for you .. the food was amazing … definitely going back next year the reps were amazing and the life guards . It is remote set in mountains and beautiful lush green scenery .. The entertainment was in Italian at times and you struggled to understand however , it is Italy and the Italian people were lovely … going back next year