San Francesco Heritage Hotel

Sleeping in an old-town convent

The San Francesco Heritage Hotel occupies part of the old convent of San Francesco, next to the church of the same name, in the heart of Alghero's old town. It has 20 rooms, several of them overlooking the cloister, one of the quietest corners of the city. It is not a luxury hotel: the rooms are simple, and what you pay for is sleeping inside the walls, in a building with centuries of history, five minutes' walk from the bastions, the cathedral and the harbour from which the boats leave for the Grotta di Nettuno.

The rooms and breakfast

There are singles, doubles, triples and superiors, single or double. The style is sober, with no frills. Breakfast, continental and included, is served from 8:00 to 10:00 in the cloister; there are gluten-free, vegetarian and vegan options if you ask. There is wifi.

What you need to know before booking

It is an old building and has limitations worth knowing:

• There is no lift: the rooms are reached by stairs. If you have large suitcases or find climbing hard, ask for the ground floor.
• There is no parking, and the old town is a limited-traffic zone: you arrive on foot. Leave the car in a car park outside the walls.
• Animals are not allowed.
• Children are welcome, but there are no cots.
• Check-in is from 16:00 to 23:00 and check-out until 10:30, with no late check-out. Reception is open from 8:00 to 23:00.

Who it is for

For those who travel without a car or leave it parked and want to do everything on foot: the walk along the walls, dinners at Al Tuguri or Il Pavone and the boat to the cave, which leaves from the harbour five minutes away. The website does not publish the star rating or prices: you see them in its booking engine.