MANGIA'S SARDINIA RESORT 5 *

We spent a week at the resort as a family with three children (10 and 12), and overall we had a good holiday thanks to the beautiful surroundings, but there are several areas where a four-star resort could do much better. The setting is stunning, with beautiful gardens, lovely views and a very well-maintained beach. The resort was generally clean throughout, the staff were friendly and helpful, and the massages at the spa were excellent. A special mention also goes to the evening animation team, who were incredibly warm and welcoming. They made our children feel included and genuinely cared for, which they loved. Unfortunately, there were also some significant disappointments. The rooms were very basic for a four-star resort. There was no kettle, tea or coffee facilities, no minibar, limited storage space for a family, no proper place to dry swimwear and towels, and the safe was too small to fit a laptop or even iPads. The biggest issue was water. Charging €3 for a 750ml bottle of water in the middle of a Sicilian summer feels unreasonable, especially for families with children who need to stay hydrated. We ended up spending a surprising amount just on drinking water. Providing complimentary water stations or refill points throughout the resort would make a huge difference and would be a much more guest-friendly approach. Food and drinks were another weak point. Drink prices were far higher than expected for Sicily, with cocktails around €13-15, which felt closer to London or New York prices than Italy. Lunch options were also very limited unless you wanted to pay €40 per person for the buffet restaurant. The bar menu offered only a handful of burgers, sandwiches and salads. Opening the pizza restaurant at lunchtime or expanding the casual menu would have made a big difference for families staying on half board. The children's club was a mixed experience. The team themselves were lovely, but the programme advertised was not what was actually delivered. Activities listed in the schedule, including water activities and lunch supervision, often didn't happen, and there wasn't much structured entertainment for older children. Our children still enjoyed the evening activities, but during the day they were often left with little to do. The club seemed much better suited to younger children and toddlers. For adults, some advertised activities, such as SUP and canoeing, were never clearly available during our stay. The room itself was very basic, almost spartanic and missing key items such water kettle, tea bags, some drinks in the minibar. It was also missing sufficient space to put clothes, some rooms didn't have any drawers or wardrobes so the clothes were left in our suitcase for most of the time. There was also no option to dry our swimsuits and no laundry service provided. Little things like the right amount of towels for the number of people were also missing, even though we'd asked the cleaner for it. The WiFi was ok but slow at times. Finally, transport could be improved. Cefalù is only about 15 minutes away, but the resort offered only one afternoon shuttle. Otherwise, the only realistic option was a taxi costing around €70 return, making it unnecessarily expensive to explore the local area. Overall, this is a resort with enormous potential. The beautiful location, cleanliness, caring staff and wonderful evening atmosphere made for an enjoyable holiday. With some relatively simple improvements—complimentary drinking water, better-equipped rooms, more varied lunch options, a more structured activity programme for older children, and improved transport links—it could offer a much stronger four-star experience.

We had a great and relaxing time during our stay at Mangia’s Pollina. We really appreciated the location, the stunning views and the attention to details within the gardens and green spaces surrounding the resort. We also really valued the presence of many quiet spaces where we could reconnect with the beauty of the Sicilian nature. Breakfast has all the choices you can think of (savoury/sweet) and an amazing selection of cakes and desserts including traditional Sicilian specialties. The food quality is high. We did not really like the cappuccino and coffee provided at breakfast, as we thought it did not pay justice to what you would expect to get in Italy. We would also encourage the restaurant staff to better label what is offered. As an example, the cheese selection was only indicated with the label ‘cheese’ without specifying that some varieties did contain nuts (could be an issue for people with allergies). The range of fitness activities offered is amazing including Pilates, Yoga offered by the pool and the beach. We would like to mention Benedetta and Giovanna who have been special during our stay and have made me go back to their classes every day. Our 2-year old really enjoyed the Kids Club and playing with Oussama who has always been very enthusiastic to spend time with him. The space that the resort has available for children is very well maintained and equipped and the staff, including Sabrina and Alice make an effort to keep it entertaining. The resort is overall child friendly. We would have probably appreciated more pushchair friendly routes to the beach and swimming pool as ramps could be added next to some of the staircases.

This is a beautiful resort with all what you would want but the reality is different. Advertised as non-smoking but there is cigarette smell in the hallways and pool area full of cigarette butts. The room is nice size but the soap and dispensers are too high for most people to reach. The food was terrible. The juices were from bottles not natural and the coffee was awful from a dispenser. The bar had a limited amount of drinks and during the day served hamburgers and salads that we tasted which were terrible. At the restaurant the eggs were made freshly but until got to the buffet table they were cold. There was a choice of fried eggs or scrambled but not sure if scrambled came from an egg mix. Their fried eggs were cold and full of oil. Only the hard boiled egg was eatable. The advertised sandy beach was stones. Both at the pool and beach there was a snack bar but no real service. We ate at the pizzeria and took over half an hour to take our order and there were only two other tables with patrons. Others who came after us got served before us. There were only two people working. The workers tried but the problem is the management. Could be an amazing resort but needs to deal with the many problems.

Really enjoyed the stay and facilities particularly beach access but pool/beach bar service was poor. Lunch menu is poor at pool and beach bars are not of a good standard. Basic and tasteless. Service was not friendly and music repeated after 5 songs.