At the beginning of June I was invited to spend a few nights at Forte Village Resort. Located on the south coast of Sardinia, Forte Village is a family friendly resort comprising of seven 4-5* properties and 13 villas. The hotel is set over 47 acres of beautifully manicures gardens and golden sandy beaches.
Flights to Cagliari run every few days from Gatwick and Heathrow. Flight time is just under three hours, so it’s the perfect destination for a lovely summer holiday.
I stayed in Hotel Castello, one of the newly refurbished 5* resorts, but we also looked round a handful of the other properties. For families I would recommend both Hotel Bougainville and Hotel Le Palme. The basic rooms at these two resorts are the Deluxe Bungalows. For families I would recommend the Deluxe Family Plus Bungalow or the Deluxe Family Play Garden Bungalow.
For adults with older children I would recommend Hotel Castello or Villa Del Parco, rooms here are recently refurbished and can interconnect but are a little more adult focused. For those with an endless budget, the Royal Suite at Hotel Castello is a must, you’ll get your own plunge pool and panoramic views of the resort and sea.
If you don’t fancy staying in one of the hotels, you can always stay in one of the 13 villas they have on resort. We had the opportunity to look at the stunning Villa Azzura. A three-bedroom villa with views of the sea, great for families and adults alike.
Forte Village has a wide range of restaurants, from the local buffet in your hotel to the world-renowned Hell’s kitchen and Heinz Beck restaurant. If you visit between July and August, you may even get a glimpse of some celebrity chefs! Another favourite is the Mahiki Bar. Mahiki is a tiki themed bar located right on the beach front and serves some incredible cocktails from the Mahiki Treasure Chest and the Honolulu Honey.
We started our trip with a visit to the Acquaforte Thalasso & Spa, highly recommended after an early start. Acquaforte Thalasso Spa thalassotherapy is based on the revolutionary principle of sea water at different temperatures and different saline densities which has great benefits for the skin.
If you don’t fancy sharing the spa, don’t worry, you can always hire out the private spa for the day. You’ll have your own private spa with a series of Thalasso pools, and two-person massage tent and your own Sauna and steam rooms. It’ll only cost you upwards of £15,000!
Along with the extensive spa, there’s a full equipped gym with state-of-the-art equipment, private trainers, air aerobics and daily classes for you to choose from.
Forte Village is all about fun for families, and my favourite activity was cycling around the resort. This option is such a great addition for those with older kids who want to zoom around the resort. There is also a bike hire centre if you are a little more adventurous and fancy exploring outside the resort.
Forte Village is most known for its Sports Academy. The Sports Academy offers professional training and programs throughout the summer for both children and adults. Academies are available to book before you go or in resort. The most popular is probably the Chelsea Football Academy, but you can try your hand at tennis, basketball, go karting, cycling and swimming.
Another popular one for the children is the Kids Club, otherwise knows as Wonderland. It’s not hard to see why the kids never want to leave this place, from a life-sized Barbie House to a Mini KidZania, there’s an endless amount of fun for the children to have. If that’s not enough, then you can always visit Leisure Land for a spot of Go-karting or spend the day at the Aquapark, an on-site water park for all ages!
Although we didn’t leave the resort, you can book a wide range of activities and excursion from the hotel’s reception, should you wish to see more of Sardinia. It’s recommended that you visit the nearby city of Cagliari for the day. Along with many shops and quaint authentic Italian eateries, there is the 13th-century Cagliari Cathedral, museums and more which are all worth a visit.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed my time at Forte Village, I got to experience some lovely restaurants, became a Formula One driver (go-kart version) and spent a lot of the time on the beach.
If you are looking for a family friendly resort where the possibilities are endless then Forte Village should be top of your list.
