This is a hotel that one senses once offered its guests a bit more. There is evidence that it used to offer restaurant meals, but this was not the case when we were there. The grand entrance area has lots of space to sit down, but few people doing that: because there was no bar to speak of. The building is very clean and well maintained, but the services stripped back to the extent that it's basically now a self catering place. With that in mind, the Sporting is really well located and offers something that very few properties in San Martino do: a pool. There is some free parking (it gets full quickly though, mainly with weekly residents who bag a spot then leave their car for the week). There is a garage somewhere (I think it's accessed from another street) but we didn't use it, and I believe it's about €10 a day. Breakfast buffet is €8/day (€4 for young children) and is the usual Italian affair of sweet treats, cereal, Nutella, toast, croissants, ham, cheese, bacon and eggs. And nice cappuccino. The breakfast steward is very friendly and accommodating. The pool area is small but clean. We didn't use the hammam area as our kids couldn't use it (over 15s only). The pool is nice and warm with about a dozen loungers around it. The pool is open briefly in the morning (10-12) then again in the...This is a hotel that one senses once offered its guests a bit more. There is evidence that it used to offer restaurant meals, but this was not the case when we were there. The grand entrance area has lots of space to sit down, but few people doing that: because there was no bar to speak of. The building is very clean and well maintained, but the services stripped back to the extent that it's basically now a self catering place.

With that in mind, the Sporting is really well located and offers something that very few properties in San Martino do: a pool. There is some free parking (it gets full quickly though, mainly with weekly residents who bag a spot then leave their car for the week). There is a garage somewhere (I think it's accessed from another street) but we didn't use it, and I believe it's about €10 a day.

Breakfast buffet is €8/day (€4 for young children) and is the usual Italian affair of sweet treats, cereal, Nutella, toast, croissants, ham, cheese, bacon and eggs. And nice cappuccino. The breakfast steward is very friendly and accommodating.

The pool area is small but clean. We didn't use the hammam area as our kids couldn't use it (over 15s only). The pool is nice and warm with about a dozen loungers around it. The pool is open briefly in the morning (10-12) then again in the afternoon (4ish - 9ish I think).

There's a kids club. The play room is locked outside of the kids club hours (4.30-7, 8-9.30 from memory). There's a kids club leader who supervises kids left in the play room. The play room itself is well stocked, has a small indoor play frame and parents often stayed to play with their young kids. For older kids there's also a room (open all the time I think) with arcade machines, pinball and table tennis.

The room we had (a bilocale, or self catering flat with separate bedroom) was compact but we'll laid out. It has a tiny kitchenette (2 plate hob, microwave, fridge, sink) and has most things you need to prepare meals. No oven, toaster or kettle , though. Most rooms seemed to have balconies. The view at the back is uninspiring, looking onto an apartment block in a state of semi disrepair. The best rooms are likely those at the front. The room has a TV with a small selection of terrestrial digital channels. It was clean, and functional but not luxurious.

There's a small communal launderette and a couple of ski rooms, which we didn't use.

I can recommend this place given its location and the price, but ultimately you do get what you pay for and for a hotel experience that goes beyond the functional you may wish to look elsewhere. For self catering families on a budget this could be just the place. More