Le Dune Resort & Spa, Sardinia: The Family Holiday We Didn’t Want to End
Le Dune Resort & Spa Sardinia Review – Perfect if you’re looking for:
A luxury family resort where children are brilliantly entertained, parents can genuinely relax, and Sardinia’s spectacular beaches are right on your doorstep.
By Rachel Ducker
Some holidays you enjoy and others you wish to last a week longer.
Our recent stay at Le Dune Resort & SPA, part of the Delphina Hotels & Resorts collection in northern Sardinia, was exactly that. From the moment we arrived, it became obvious why so many families return year after year.
Le Dune Resort & SPA is situated within beautiful Mediterranean gardens, between sand dunes and juniper trees and it overlooks the Gulf of Asinara. The award-winning Resort is a holiday village, designed for families, where everything has been thought of to guarantee a wonderful holiday for kids and adults alike.
As parents of three young children, finding somewhere that keeps both children and adults genuinely happy isn’t always easy, but Le Dune absolutely nailed it.
Spacious Family Accommodation
There are five individual hotels on the resort each with it’s own atmosphere, but all share the amenities and restaurants on site.
We stayed in an interconnecting family room in Le Rocce Hotel, it was right by the pool and to us this was the perfect spot in the hotel.
The ability to return to your room in minutes for a sleep, for lost goggles or for a change of clothes is invaluable, especially when one has a toddler!
The rooms were spacious, well-appointed, very comfortable, and the whole complex felt to be in very good order with beautiful gardens.
The Kids’ Clubs Are Worth Their Weight in Gold
One of the biggest highlights was undoubtedly the children’s facilities. This is my honest Le Dune Resort & Spa Sardinia Review: so I will share that my husband and I used to think people were crazy putting their kids into kids club… well, until we had three and we realised we also needed a break too! When travelling with a family holidays are a little different these days.
The Le Dune resort has an incredible amount of space for kids, from age specific Kids Clubs to huge playgrounds, sport and activities and then evening entertainment for all the kids in the resort. There is also a babysitting service too, which is worth its weight in gold for us. This means that the kids can have their own fun and make lots of new friends, whilst my wife and I can have some quality time together.
The kids club activities were fantastic, the kids made lots of friends and had a wonderful time while we were assured they were being well cared for by the lovely staff, who all seemed to really enjoy their work.
We let the kids go in when they wanted to go, and for parents, this gave us something incredibly valuable, time together.
A Spa Experience Everyone Should Try
With the kids happily playing in the Kids Clubs and with a private baby sitter looking after my three year old for 12 euros an hour, on the afternoon of our 8th wedding anniversary, we set off to the beautiful Le Sabine Wellness Centre & Spa.
For my treatment I chose the Sun Ritual, which was definitely one of the best treatments I have ever had the pleasure to receive.
The scrub was a mixture of butter and other products which felt so soft and was scrubbed all over my body to remove all the dead skin cells. The massage that followed was also fantastic, using Sardinian grapefruit essential oils. This variety of fruit is called pompia, and is only grown on this island. It is known to be very nourishing to the skin after sun and also helps to keep a healthy summer glow for longer.
After months of chaos at home this was just what I needed.
The spa has its own hydrotherapy pool and whirlpool, and even has a relaxation room, where you can unwind and take some time to read a book. The treatment rooms are also tucked away from the rest of the resort, meaning that even when the resort is fully booked, you won’t hear a thing.
Ten Restaurants Mean You’ll Never Get Bored
Food is a huge part of any holiday, and Le Dune certainly doesn’t disappoint.
With 10 restaurants across the resort the choice is endless and every night can be different.
Some of our favourites included:
La Romantica, which is an a la carte restaurant.
Lo Scorfano Restaurant, specialising in beautifully prepared fresh seafood.
Il Tramonto, is the beachside restaurant, where we enjoyed a five course meals in the sea views and warm evening air.
Breakfast was another daily highlight.
Freshly cooked omelettes and pancakes, a range of hot and cold cereals, fresh fruit, pastries, cold meats, cheeses and local produce to name a few items that were available to be chosen by the guests. The children of course stuck to chocolate croissants every morning.
Pools for Every Age
Le Dune has pools for every age and for every kind of holidaymaker. Whether you are a child who likes to play and have fun the whole day long in the water or a peaceful swimmers who prefers a relaxing swim in a quite area, Le Dune has the pool for you.
The resort has six swimming pools. Some of them are designed for children and are perfect for a fun day of play, whilst others are more relaxing and for adults only. My son loved the pools and spent hours playing in the water.
In one of the many pools my son mastered an important skill, he learned to swim completely on his own and for the two of us it was a great holiday memory.
As parents, that’s a memory we’ll treasure forever.
Sardinia’s Crystal Clear Sea
The resort enjoys direct access to its own section of the spectacular Li Junchi Beach, one of Sardinia’s longest stretches of white sand and a Blue Flag beach.
The water was a beautiful turquoise and was for the most part shallow making it perfect for kids to paddle about in. As a family the late afternoons spent on this beach were probably one of the highlights of our stay at the hotel.
If you are a beach lover then I’m sure you will be hard pressed to find anywhere with clearer water than here in Europe.
A Behind-the-Scenes Look
One of the real privileges during our stay was being given a tour behind the scenes.
Delphina is very keen on sustainability and using local produce to make the majority of the food served in the hotel.
From the gardens and produce grown within the resort, to the extensive selection of sports and leisure activities, including the newest addition to the resort, Hotel Le Sabine, it is clear that Delphina put a huge amount of emphasis on maintaining the natural environment, whilst offering true Sardinian hospitality.
Attention to detail at this resort is second to none.
Evenings for Everyone
After the kids had finished their evening entertainment we then had a resort to ourselves as the adults had a fantastic time relaxing with a drink in the piazza watching the live music, enjoying a cocktail or a nice glass of aperitif in one of the bars.
The children were entertainingly occupied in the evening, whilst we adults would then retire to a relaxed evening, sipping the excellent aperitifs and cocktails that the bar served up. The live music in the piazza was always a highlight and created a lovely Mediterranean ambience, perfect for the slow pace of a lovely holiday.
Exploring Beyond the Resort
Although we found that we could easily have spent the entire holiday within the resort, we did manage to explore the nearby medieval town of Castelsardo which is about 30 minutes from Le Dune.
The cobbled narrow streets, colourful houses, individual shops and studios, castle on top of a hill all make this the most beautiful town in Sardinia.
The narrow streets of Castelsardo, a small, colourful town full of artisan shops, and a hilltop castle to visit, was an absolute discovery and a truly unique experience of the real Sardinia.
A Tip About Getting There
The resort is approximately 90 minutes by car from Olbia Airport.
When we visited we hired a car but this was a total disaster due to the rental company. They tried to completely over charge us and in the end as we were stranded with three kids at midnight, we had no choice but to pay for the higher insurance.
In retrospect we would have booked a transfer with the hotel. In addition some of the roads leading to the resort are very narrow and not suited for large rental cars, especially when navigating them with tired children after a long flight.
In hindsight, I’d strongly recommend arranging a transfer directly through the hotel instead.
Not only would it save you from the hassle of dealing with a rental company from hell after a long flight with three children in tow, but the roads to Le Dune get very narrow and would be a nightmare to drive down after a long flight.
The Service Makes All the Difference
What really sets Le Dune apart isn’t just the facilities.
It’s the people.
The staff at Le Dune are the best described as extremely passionate to deliver the best holiday. Every single member of staff from the housekeeping to the restaurant to the kids club to the reception and management team were all extremely friendly and welcoming.
It’s that level of hospitality that transforms a lovely holiday into one you’ll always remember.
Would We Return?
Without hesitation…
Absolutely.
Le Dune delivers everything that we as a family want for our holiday! Excellent food, wonderful staff, beautiful beaches, activities for all the ages and lots of relaxation time for the parents to return home feeling refreshed! The children want to return and we would go back to without hesitation! The hospitality received from all of the staff at Le Dune has been the best that we have received and we would like to return to other Delphina Hotels & Resorts throughout Sardinia. I hope you found this Le Dune Resort & Spa Sardinia Review helpful.
The children have already started asking to return to Le Dune, they had such a wonderful time there.
Also, the other hotels of Delphina Hotels & Resorts must be fantastic, so I am also looking for more hotels of this chain in Sardinia.
Le Dune is one of the top family resorts in Sardinia – the perfect choice for your family holiday in Sardinia.
Quick Facts
- Location: Badesi, Northern Sardinia
- Transfer: Approximately 1 hour 30 minutes from Olbia Airport
- Perfect for: Families, multigenerational holidays and couples wanting excellent childcare facilities
- Highlights: Kids’ clubs, babysitting, award-winning spa, 10 restaurants, Blue Flag beach, six swimming pools, sports facilities and outstanding family entertainment.
Contact Details: Le Dune Resort & SPA
Resort: Le Dune Resort & SPA
Hotel group: Delphina Hotels & Resorts
Address: Località Li Junchi, Badesi, Northern Sardinia, Italy
Website: www.resortledune.com
Reservations email: [email protected]
Reservations phone: +39 0789 790314
Nearest airport: Olbia Costa Smeralda Airport
Transfer time: Approx. 1 hour 30 minutes by road
