Le Dune Piscinas

Style

Dune not disturb

Setting

Sardinia's wild west

It doesn’t get much more isolato than Le Dune Piscinas, cast out on otherworldly golden shores in the island’s southwest. This is Sardinia unplugged, an isolated lo-fi idyll where an abandoned wagon rail, once used for transporting lead, silver and zinc from the Ingurtosu mines, now terminates at the hotel spa; and hikes over billowing ochre dunes reveal ancient juniper and olive trees, gnarled and stooped by centuries of mistral winds. Pop in your earpods for starlit movie nights in the courtyard, or relish an intimate beachfront dinner accompanied by blazing cinematic sunsets and tantalising glimpses of wild Sardinian deer silhouetted against those ever-shifting sands.

Facilities

Rooms

28, of which nine are suites.

Checkout

11am. Check-in is at 3pm. A luggage store and shower room are available for the use of guests arriving early or departing late.

More Details

Rates include an international buffet breakfast served overlooking the beach at Il Ginepro.

Also

There are some ground-floor rooms with walk-in showers and lowered sinks and toilets. But the surrounding dunes mean that the locale’s not ideal for wheelchair users.

Hotel Closed

The hotel closes during low season, between November and February.

Fitness Center

Free Internet Access

Laundry

Pet Friendly

Pool

On-Site Restaurant

Room Service

Spa

At the Hotel

Free WiFi throughout, gym. In rooms: air-conditioning, LCD TV, and minibar.

Our Favourite Rooms

Rooms and suites are designed to reflect the landscape and nod to the region’s mining past, so expect sandblasted Orosei marble floors, original wooden beams, wrought-iron bed frames, handmade Sardinian fabrics, and unique art pieces from the owner’s private collection. The Junior Suite with Pool gets our vote for its idyllic marriage of indoor and outdoor, with patio doors that open directly onto the dunes, and a private fenced garden with pool, sunloungers, sea views, and a screen of desert foliage. There may be no better spot on the whole resort for spying Sardinian deer at sunset and sipping negronis beneath the stars.

Poolside

The outdoor pool’s sheltered location makes it an enticing option on even the windiest days. There are immersed water treadmills for those who don’t find swimming alone enough of a workout. Open daily, 10am–7pm.

Spa

Restored floorboards follow a former wagon rail to the spa, where both sauna and treatment rooms overlook the dunes, and the small courtyard relaxation area features a tranquil waterfall for maximum Zen. Private spa treatments can also be taken among the dunes themselves, on request.

Packing Tips

Bring flat shoes – as rugged as your ambitions demand – for exploring the varied terrain of the dunes and a rotation of sunglasses to combat the glare. Le Dune Piscinas lends itself well to slow analogue pursuits (even the TVs are concealed behind mirrors in rooms); the library has you covered for books about Sardinia (and by Sardinian authors), but a couple of travel-size board games won’t go amiss.

Also

The hotel’s private sandy beach is accessed by a wooden walkway and is kitted out with precisely 28 parasols with twin sunloungers – a set for each room and suite at the hotel.

Children

The endless miles of sea and sand may be all the entertainment most kids need here, but the free WiFi is handy for teens. A number of different rooms and suites can be connected, but facilities are generally not designed with little Smiths in mind.

Gallery

Food & Drink

Top Table

Seafront seating at Il Maestrale for the win, where only the distant bark of red deer might break the spell cast by those gently lapping waves and superlative Sardinian sunsets.

Dress Code

Le Dune Piscinas doesn’t do dressy, but you might want to consider extra layers for alfresco dining on those breezier evenings.

Hotel Restaurant

A seaview restaurant with stone arches, beamed ceilings, elegant chiavari chairs, and large windows overlooking the beach, Il Ginepro – cool and minimalist in looks – is the main restaurant for breakfast and lunch, and serves dinner, too, when you book half-board. A fresco-style series of artworks by Medhat Shafik hangs proudly over the dining room, referencing the region’s rich mining heritage. The restaurant's Mediterranean cuisine is informed by local, seasonal ingredients – yet quality still trumps terroir, as chef's inspiration demands. Open for dinner only, Rosso Tramonto’s terracotta-pink interiors set the scene for sensational sunsets and show-cooking sessions; there’s a convivial 10-seater chef’s table inside and terrace seating overlooking the dunes. By day a beach bar serving sandwiches and small plates, Il Maestrale transforms come evening, taking diners even closer to the action: this intimate seafront dining experience with ringside seats for sunset is reserved for just three tables.

Hotel Bar

Set in the former mining warehouse, I Geghi American Bar is all exposed stone and wooden beams, and features a grand original fireplace and an extraordinary long-forgotten flagstone floor that has been unearthed and carefully restored. Huge arched windows flood this beach-facing space with light, illuminating 21st-century brushstrokes that include handcrafted Mariantonia Urru fabrics, and a pair of fireplace-flanking canvases by celebrated Italian painter Gianfranco Guerzoni. A modest menu of tapas, sandwiches and salads accompanies a consummate drinks list that'll take you from aperitivi through to nightcaps. Open from 12.30pm until midnight.

Last Orders

At Il Ginepro, breakfast is served from 8am until 10am; lunch from 12.30pm until 3pm, and for half-board guests, dinner is 7pm until 10pm. Dinner hours at Rosso Tramonto are 6.30pm until 10.30pm.

Room Service

Available during normal bar/restaurant hours, between 8am and midnight daily.

Planes

Cagliari Elmas Airport is around an hour from the hotel. Private transfers can be arranged on request.

Automobiles

Public transport is all but non-existent in the Arbus region of rural south-west Sardinia, so a car is essential if you want to get out and explore the Costa Verde and beyond. The drive to the hotel is worth the entry price alone, with the last 10-or-so kilometres comprising of a rough track that weaves down the mountain towards the sea, past the ghostly abandoned mining village of Ingurtosu, with widescreen views of the undulating Piscinas desert landscapes along the way. There’s free parking 200 metres from the resort entrance.

Worth Getting Out of Bed For

It’s easy to see why this rural region of Sardinia has been dubbed Europe’s ‘little Sahara’, with those surreal sci-fi sandscapes that might have been lifted straight from a Dalí painting, or from the blockbuster Dune movie series. No melting clocks or giant flesh-eating sandworms here though (we think). Instead, gentle Sardinian deer surf sculpted sands, turtle hatchlings pepper the beach in summer, and ancient flora – mistral-ravaged junipers, sea lilies and sand poppies – add colour and texture to the whites, golds and ochres of this mystical environment.

Spice up your Sardinia experience with horseback rides through the rolling dunes, or go full Mad Max on quad biking excursions – both can be organised through the hotel. There are also soul-nourishing beach yoga sessions at dawn and dusk, wine-tasting day trips to Costa Verde vineyards, and movie nights beneath the stars in the hotel's small courtyard.

Take a guided diving trip into the clear waters off Piscinas beach, where aquatic flora and fauna thrives on and around an 18th-century English shipwreck, complete with cannon. Or visit the long-forgotten village of Ingurtosu, an evocative (if somewhat spooky) relic of the region’s mining heritage, full of abandoned miners’ cottages, plus a church and hospital.

Earn or Redeem Points with World of Hyatt

This Mr & Mrs Smith hotel participates in the World of Hyatt loyalty program. As a member, you can earn and redeem points and enjoy exclusive benefits for qualifying nights. .