Pula, Forte Village Resort

Forte Village in Sardinia is a great resort. It's big enough to be interesting, but not so big that you're walking for hours on end to get everywhere.

We stayed at Le Dune which was a great location and gave a really good selection of (free) restaurants and buffets.

As with all holidays there were some pro's and some con's.

I'd say that this hotel was the best we've ever stayed at from a sporting perspective, and this is definitely how it differentiates itself from other resorts we've visited like Pine Cliffs in Portugal, Porto Sani in Greece and Westin Costa Navarino in Greece.

Our children really enjoyed the football and netball academy and there were plenty of other academies available. Partly due to the exchange rate, the cost of the academies is pretty crazy - you end up paying about £60 an hour for group coaching. In the UK the equivalent would be about £10 an hour.

However, it's a great way for the kids to meet other children and bond and made our holiday really quite special.

Food generally was good. I think one thing that lets the resort down is the fact that it's sold as a family resort but the kids menus can be very poor, particularly at the 'fine dining' restaurants. We avoided them after the first couple of days as there really was very little for the children to eat. The buffets were great though and much more relaxed and enjoyable.

Breakfasts are as you'd expect in such a resort and really good.

If you have children with allergies be warned the knowledge and understanding of allergies across the resort is way, way lower than you'd expect in the UK. Most times we tried to explain to staff about our sons severe allergies to nuts and sesame we were taken to the 'Gluten free' table and told 'Here you go...'. Clearly this was a big lack of understanding and made mealtimes quite a stressful experience at times.

Generally the staff are good - definitely not at the levels of places like Porto Sani where the staff really make the holiday - but generally they are at an acceptable, if not exceptional, level. The pool staff we felt were substandard. They just needed to be a bit more friendly and smile occasioally ... plus occasional cleans of the pool would have been good.

So there are some negatives, but for us the positives outweighed the negatives hence the 4 star rating. Nearly everyone we spoke to had been to the resort multiple times, some had been going for 10+ years, so they clearly attract loyal customers.

We'd go again. Mainly as it felt like a sporty resort. A lot of people we spoke to were quite into sport and this was a general thread throughout the stay.

There are some very clear areas for improvement, hence 4 stars rather than 5, but we had a very enjoyable stay and with a few tweaks this could be an absolutely exceptional resort. As it is, it's a very, very good resort that I would recommend.

Badly in need of investment to catch up with other leading hotels.Need to get a grip on charges.We know it's an expensive resort - that's not an excuse to take the mickey

Forte Village Resort in Pula is highly recommended for quality people. Food is fantastic. The piano-player at breakfast (Cavalieri restaurant) is a real artist. You can even skate on ice in the evening. The resort is a rainforest oasis in the Sardinian desert. They have humidity sensors from meter to meter on each alley. It's a real tropical jungle. The accommodation in hotel Castello was great (very big room and a huge terrace where in the morning you hear piano music live). In 1 word: HEAVEN.

We would really recommend the Forte Village Resort. It's a high class place, the cost may be beyond some people's budgets - but you DEFINITELY get what you pay for.It is like taking a cruise on dry land, because the resort is massive and it has absolutely everything you could possibly need. The hotels are basically six stars, the staff is polite and really helpful and all the restaurants are fantastic. For couples who recently married and without kids like us it is like a second honeymoon!

Well done to the management for the superb holiday that I spent at the Forte Village Resort. Without doubt the best food that I have had on any holiday and the accommodation was quite unique. Thanks Forte Village and I hope that one day I will return.

The Forte Village Resort in Sardinia is an excellent resort, with wonderful facilities for children and adults alike. The food and beach location are second-to-none.

We have travelled on many occasions to Sardinia, but we were absolutely smitten by Forte Village, and we will return! We only had 1 week there, and we wish we had been there for 2 weeks.

I would not recommend Forte Village Resort as it does not give value for the very high costs. I got food poisoning from a sea food buffet served in the open one evening meal. This was at one of their restaurants where I paid 67e each on top of the half board fee. (Most restaurants are supplement depending on which accommodation you book; the included catering is poor for the money).

A half litre of beer is 12e (£8 a pint), 3 diet cokes 12e (£8) ...and it goes on. Lots of expensive clothes shops etc on site but no supermarket so you have to buy every bottle of water etc from them at the very high rates. Nothing is free at Forte.