Su Gologone Experience Hotel

A hotel that grew out of a restaurant

Su Gologone is in the heart of the Oliena countryside, about 500 metres from the spring that gives it its name, among olive trees and with the limestone wall of the Supramonte behind. It began as a restaurant in 1967: it was opened by Giuseppe "Peppeddu" Palimodde and Pasqua Salis Palimodde, and the success of its cooking brought the first eight rooms. By 1975 there were 33; today there are seventy. It is run by three generations of women of the family: Pasqua, Giovanna and Camilla. Giovanna is the one who redoes the decoration each year.

It is a hotel of whitewashed houses, courtyards and stairways, full of 20th-century Sardinian art, textiles, ceramics and objects of the island. It has its own shops, Le Botteghe d'Arte.

The rooms

They range from the Classic, of 18 m², to the Deluxe of 20 to 25 m², the Deluxe Emotion with a bath on the terrace or balcony, the Junior Suites of 25 to 30 m² with a sitting area and the Suite dell'arte, with separate bedroom and living room surrounded by works from the collection. The Suite Colores is an open space of 35 to 40 m² for three people. The most distinctive are the Experience Suite, with traditional objects and materials, the Experience Wild Suite, designed for sleeping under the stars, and the Art Studio Villa, with a private pool.

Pool, wellness and food

The pool is 25 metres long and is filled with water from the Su Gologone spring; next to it is a whirlpool bath. There is an outdoor gym, in the garden beside the pool, and a wellness area. The restaurant is the original one, with the fireplace where suckling pig is roasted; for guests, dinners are also opened in the vegetable garden, under the olive trees or beside the bread oven, and breakfast includes Oliena honey, cheeses, cured meats and sweets made each day.

Getting there

From Olbia, a little over an hour and a half by car; from Cagliari, about three hours (estimated). The hotel is about 6 km from Oliena on the Dorgali road. It is the most comfortable base for Tiscali and the Lanaittu valley, which begin next door, and is less than an hour from Orgosolo and Mamoiada. The website does not publish prices, check-in and check-out times or whether dogs are allowed: ask when you book.