CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE
came out in May last year. It was an easy two-and-a-half hour flight from London to Olbia Airport, then an hour’s drive to our hotel, Resort Valle dell’erica Thalasso & Spa.
This five-star Delphina resort is isolation at its most splendid, with 70 acres of secluded Mediterranean parkland hugged by nearly a mile of pristine coastline.
Valle dell’erica has recently been crowned Europe’s leading green resort for the fourth time, so you couldn’t hope to be breathing in cleaner sea air.
This peaceful, off the beaten track resort is actually two luxurious hotel villages in one, with the original, the more traditional Erica, merging into the newer La Licciola.
All the facilities are shared, and it simply means you have more grounds, coves and pools to explore.
At the centre, you’ll find the fabulous spa with new Little Mermaid-inspired treatments (lots of seaweed and salt scrubs, naturally), and a thalassotherapy water circuit, with massage jets that are powerful enough to blast away your grumpy inner Sea Witch.
There’s also a kids’ club, which will be offering a fishy tale or two this summer. There’s a host of new Disney-themed entertainment, including spotting a real-life mermaid flipping her fins in the sea, aquatic nail painting and also evening games with “King Triton”.
We stayed at La Licciola, where the reception and restaurant terrace are poised at the apex of the resort, with enticing views of crystal clear waters and the nearby islands of La Maddalena.
From there, the resort spreads out as a maze of fragrant, shrubbery-fringed paths which winds past the tasteful low-rise accommodation, and down to the sandy bays that wrap around the resort.
Our accommodation was two interconnecting bungalows, beautifully decorated with local artwork and each with its own patio so that we could follow the sun throughout the day.
My husband and I called dibs on the one facing the sea, which delivered on the views in more ways than one.
Like many rooms at La Licciola, the shower has a glass panel which lets you admire the scenery out through the
This five-star Delphina resort is isolation at its most splendid
patio doors while you lather up. We were reassured to learn the room’s exterior glazing has a one-way tint to avoid giving passersby an unsolicited eyeful.
There would certainly have been a bit more flesh to see by the end of a greedy week. When you’re staying at a resort that’s its own little bubble, the days are lazy and shamelessly food-based.
There are six restaurants to sample, and we began each morning with an al fresco breakfast at Les Bouches, gorging on buffet pastries and delicious cooked-to-order omelettes.
Lunches were taken either at the beach bar or the all-you-can-scoff Buffet Brunch Mediterraneo (quite a bargain at 36 euro per head, when a toastie by the sea was 18 euro and there’s no mini mart on site).
The real gastronomic highlight, though, was dinner.
One of our most memorable meals was at Li Ciusoni, which serves traditional Sardinian cuisine in a rustic hill-top setting.
It was a feast for all the senses, from the panoramic sea views to the belt-busting courses of delicious local cheese, breads, pasta, steak, hog roast and dessert.
We even got a surprise guest: the wild boar that strayed briefly into view before legging it, possibly after taking one look at what was sizzling on the spit.
For something truly romantic, it’s worth splashing out the supplement on Li Zini for the location alone.
It’s a tiny, tucked-away cove, with seafood served by candlelight on the beach. If Eric and Ariel had gone here, there would have been no delay on the “kiss of true love” moment, and the film could have wrapped up a whole hour earlier. If you want the full, immersive Little Mermaid experience, you won’t even need to hire a car to visit some of the key filming locations.
The hotel has just added a new full-day power boat excursion along the northern coastline which takes in the movie’s prettiest beaches, including Capo Testo, Monti Russu, La Balcaccia and Rena Majore where Ariel rescues Eric with her mermaid song.
The hotel also puts on a daily shuttle to the pretty seaside town of Santa Teresa Gallura, the base for the movie’s Sardinian shoot.
We visited on a Thursday, when the weekly market takes place, and also found time to admire the views from the 16th-century Torre de Longonstard, enjoy a pizza lunch in one of the town’s squares and check out the beach. It’s a lovely, laid-back way of life here, and it was quite a wrench to resurface back in real life.
A week certainly wasn’t enough there and I’d love to go back for a deeper dive. As a certain Princess Ariel put it, “Wish I could be part of that world…”
‘‘ If Eric and Ariel had gone here there’d have been no delay on the kiss