Su Gologone

Italy’s not all rolling hills and vineyards. The rugged mountain landscapes of Sardinia might not be as well known as Tuscany, but anyone who likes a little bit of peaky drama with their verdant hillsides would do well to give it a try. Here in the interior of the island is the town of Oliena, backed by the Supramonte mountains — and in the foothills you’ll find Su Gologone, the kind of whitewashed, tile-roofed rustic retreat that Italian tourism dreams are made of.

The traditional Sardinian interiors are soothingly familiar yet intriguingly novel — unless you’re Sardinian, in which case they’re just soothingly familiar. Either way they’re proof that there’s more to hotel life than modern design. And with 68 rooms and suites, Su Gologone could easily start to feel big, but it doesn’t — there’s a bit of village atmosphere about it, with the privacy that implies.

It’s only by the poolside, perhaps, that you’ll be surrounded by your fellow guests — there and in the Su Gologone restaurant, where the family matriarch is still dishing up Sardinian specialties, several decades after the hotel’s founding. It’s not a bad life — and if you’re mostly accustomed to the mainland, it’s a delightfully novel angle on Italy.

Please note: Su Gologone is open seasonally from March through October.

How to get there:
Su Gologone is approximately one and a half hours by car from Olbia Costa Smeralda airport.