Stayed at this hotel for a 3 day w/e break in August 2007. The room was pretty large but quite basic, the double bed described was actually 2 singles pushed together. The mattress' were quite firm but comfortable. Didn't like the rather hard pillows though. The bathroom is quite large and well equipped (shower over bath though). My main gripe about the room however is the totally inexplicable lack of shower curtain / screen. Why ? It just results in the bathroom floor becoming totally flooded and you treading water through the rest of the room. Infuriating.

The location of the hotel is probably its strongest point. Its literally 2 mins walk to the old town (the nicest part of Alghero) and about 10 mins walk from the beach. The hotel is situated across the street from a nice family oriented park which plenty of benches and swings etc for the kids. (and yes, you are just round the corner from the city jail which we had a great view of from our 8th floor room !!).

Overall, I 'd say not brilliant, but not dreadful either. Really just very average. The Breakfast buffett was a little poor too. Plenty for this hotel to improve on would be the message of the day.

We stayed at the Catalunya and wasn't disappointed. Was a bit concerned before we went due to the other reviews, but was pleasantly surprised. I agree it's not the most up to date hotel, but it is clean. Again not the most attractive hotel on the skyline, it sticks up higher than everything else but you'll not get lost! Perfect location for the old town. Approx 10 / 15mins daudle to the beach. All in all, for a break of a week, this hotel is a good choice. The only point of critisism was that we heard dogs barking & seagulls early in the morning, but obviously thats not the hotels fault, although our window was slightly faulty, but earplugs soon sorted that out!

Having just returned from a 5 night stay in the Catalunya and having read the previous reviews, I would like to add some balance to the correspondents poor experiences.

We arrived at the hotel later than expected having had a delayed flight from East Midlands and a rather unpleasant experience in transferring to the hotel (more later). The night porter was exteremely courteous and booked us in quickly and efficiently. Our room was on the 6th floor but unfortunately, on entering the room, there was an unpleasant 'bad drain' smell. Apart from that it was ok with an excellent view of the old town and marina.

We returned to reception and told the night porter of the problem with the room and he immediately apologised and offered us the keys to two alternative rooms on the 3rd floor and 8th floor. Realising that the 8th floor had junior suites we immediately settled for that and had a wonderful 5 day stay in our upgraded room. The room had an extremely comfortable bed in the sleeping area plus a setee, fridge with bar, desk, side chairs etc. in the lounge area. There were patio
doors leading on to a furnished balcony with magnificent views across
the bay and marina. Having said that, the hotel is not up to usual 4 star standards and probably merits a good 3 star. The bathroom is fine with all the usual bits and pieces.

Breakfasts were the usual continental style with cereal, juices, cold meat, cheeses, yogurt, fresh bread and fruit. The attentive staff will happily make espresso or cappucino fresh on request, tho' there is coffee, tea and warm milk available on the buffet. The hotel is more of a business hotel and the room rate reflects that but we were late in booking our accommodation and none of the more popular, smaller hotels could take us. We were however very happy with the hotel and in particular the free upgrade!

Now to our nightmare transfer to Alghero which will hopefully be a warning to others. The plane was late and we missed the orange AA bus to Alghero which costs 70c. Unperturbed we, along with others headed to the bus stop where there was a blue bus with Sassari on the destination board. When the driver eventually appeared I asked him if the bus went anywhere near Alghero (this being our first trip to the island) He confirmed it was going to Alghero and we assumed it was a stop off point en route to Sassari. Three other couples boarded the bus, all having asked the driver the same question. To cut a long story short, the bus went directly to Sassari leaving us stranded in an empty bus station where the last bus for Alghero had left an hour earlier. We asked the driver how we were to get to Alghero and he replied "tomorrow!" Realising that we were not going to get any help from the driver we asked him where we could get a taxi and he pointed to a lone car at the far end of the bus station. We asked the driver to arrange a second taxi so that all eight of us could get to Alghero which he did. He also quoted a price of 50 euros
to get us there. On arrival at our hotel we asked him to confirm the price so that we could split the costs with the couple we had shared the taxi. The price had risen to 70 Euros which apparently included the cost of cases and the fact that the other couple's hotel was further out of Alghero. The next day we met the couple again and the final price charged was 80 Euros despite the fact their hotel was only 5 minutes further on!!!

What an introduction to Sardinia and it's people - so please be very careful when using the bus to Alghero - IT'S ORANGE AND HAS THE LETTERS AA IN THE WINDSCREEN! Fortunately this was an isolated incidentand we loved the place and its very friendly inhabitants.

As we approached in the taxi, I thought to myself, God I hope this isn't it. But alas it was. Upon arrival we were greeted by the most unpleasant staff I have ever had the misfortune to deal with. We were handed our room key and told to go to the third floor. There was no one to carry bags or even make the offer. I thought maybe there would be an offer as I was on crutches at the time. My wife had to lug two heavy bags up to the room.

The rooms were minimalistic for a so called four star hotel. There are no English speaking channels on the "satalite TV". The walls are paper thin, so every movement either side, above and below can be easily heard. There was a hint of a smell of sewage at all times.

The American Bar which was never opened, consisted of three small tables and about five metal chairs. The restaurant opening hours were inconsistent with what was advertised. We had breakfast included, but after the first experience of this, we decided to eat out for the remaining 2 days of our stay.

The only good thing to be said for the hotel is that, it was ideally located and the view from the ninth floor was stunning.

Apart from the Hotel, Alghero itself is stunning. We ate out each day in a different restaurant and were not let down once. The views are stunning and the atmosphere laid back. I will go back but not to the Catalunya.