Luxury hotels in Sardinia.

The Costa Smeralda originals, Caribbean water on European soil, and where the yachts actually anchor.

The Brief

Sardinia is the sea, weaponized.

Nothing in the Mediterranean touches this water. The Aga Khan understood it in 1962 and built the Costa Smeralda around five beaches, and sixty years later his hotels remain the axis of the European summer, the anchorage every serious yacht passes through.

The Costa Smeralda is twenty kilometers of granite coves in the northeast. The rest of the island plays a different game, wilder beaches, half the prices, none of the scene. Know which trip you are taking.

The Addresses

Six anchors of the island summer.

Hotel Cala di VolpeThe Costa Smeralda flagship on its own bay since 1963

Romazzino, A Belmond HotelWhite villa on the best family beach of the coast

Hotel PitrizzaGranite villas grown into the rock, the discreet choice

Hotel CervoOn the Porto Cervo piazzetta, center of the evening

7Pines Resort SardiniaBaja Sardinia cliffs, the contemporary entry

Forte VillageThe south coast estate, unmatched for families

Insider Notes

The beaches are a boat problem.

The famous coves, Spiaggia del Principe, Cala Coticcio on Caprera, the Maddalena archipelago, are best or only reached by water. Book the day tender through the hotel and treat the archipelago as the itinerary. Lunch at a beach shack in Cala Corsara resets your idea of the Mediterranean.

July and August here are Europe's yacht season, and the natural extension is a week on the water: our Italy charter desk runs Costa Smeralda to Corsica constantly. Islands compare well too, see Sicily for the culture heavy alternative.

The Luxury.it Perspective

The Costa Smeralda sells one thing, the color of its water. Half a century in, it remains sold out.

Concierge

August in Porto Cervo is an allocation, not a booking.

We work the icon properties year round. Send dates and party, and we will tell you exactly what August still holds.

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Questions

Good to know

Where is the best area to stay in Sardinia for luxury

The Costa Smeralda in the northeast, between Porto Cervo and Baja Sardinia, for the icon hotels, the scene and the archipelago. The south around Chia and Santa Margherita suits families wanting space and long beaches.

When is the Sardinia season

Hotels run from May to early October. July and August are peak scene and peak rates. June and September deliver the same sea with room to breathe, and September water is the warmest of the year.

How do I reach the Costa Smeralda

Fly to Olbia, twenty five minutes by car from Porto Cervo. Olbia handles private aviation heavily in season. Many guests arrive by yacht, and marina berths in August need booking months ahead.