The Italian island’s Forte Village is both a serene haven for holidaymakers and an action-packed destination for incentive guests, says Tom Otley
Sardinia has a well deserved reputation for unspoilt beauty. The second largest island in the Mediterranean after Sicily, it has a population of only 1.6 million so it’s easy to find peace and solitude away from the main cities. The beaches are outstanding, there is a dramatic coastline of steep cliffs and a mountainous interior, and it offers everything from rustic simplicity to the glitziest resorts you could hope for (or wish to avoid) in the yachting paradise of Costa Smeralda in the north.
Forte Village, which I first visited about 12 years ago and returned to this summer, is on the south coast, about 30 minutes’ drive from the capital of Cagliari and its international airport. (Incredibly, Cagliari is closer to Tunis in North Africa than to Rome.)
The airport’s proximity to the resort is a big plus, particularly for groups, and its infrastructure has improved in recent years. There are good connections throughout Europe, with both BA and Easyjet flying from the UK. But most impressive is the resort’s private Saturday charter of a 38-seat jet with 30 business class and eight VIP seats from Moscow direct to Cagliari for its high-spending Russian and Ukrainian clientele.
The staff say that people go to Costa Smeralda to be seen, and come to Forte Village when they want more privacy. Set in 25 hectares of lush gardens and sheltered by mountains, the resort was originally created by Lord Charles Forte of Trust House Forte in 1970, when he saw the potential of the bay. Careful nurture, as well as constant maintenance, mean the 2,000 varieties of plants, bushes and trees, many now fully mature, create a wonderfully peaceful ambience and also do a good job of hiding both the size of the resort and the other people staying in it.
There are more than 750 rooms and bungalows across eight hotels, with staff topping 1,000 in high season, but the place rarely feels bustling, all the more impressive because it is hugely popular for meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions. Major events for the likes of Pfizer, Porsche, Ferrari, Vodafone, Siemens and Mastercard have been held here in the past few years.
The climate is benign and while the resort caters for about 100 big events each year, these are concentrated in the shoulder seasons of March to May and September to November. There are 18 meeting rooms ranging from 15 sqm to 750 sqm, and all are equipped with modern technology. There are also plans to build a new convention centre next year.
The international nature of the attendees, who are mainly from Italy, Russia, Ukraine, the UK, Germany and Switzerland, is accommodated by a multilingual staff. British guests tend to come in the half-term holidays, Germans in May, June and September, and Italians and Russians in July and August.
At the height of the season there are 21 restaurants in operation, including one by Gordon Ramsay (open in July and August only) who comes for a week each year to help devise the menus with the assistance of Italian chefs Rocco Iannone and Giancarlo Perbellini. The choice of cuisines available at the different eateries includes Mediterranean, Italian, Indian, Brazilian, Lebanese and Japanese, with 100 cooks working across the kitchens.
The food is delicious, from fabulous buffets to impressive à la carte offerings, particularly in Le Dune that overlooks the sea, and the Beachcomber fish restaurant. The resort works its way through more than 100kg of fresh pasta, and 400kg of seafood and fish, every day. With this in mind, visitors can easily fill their days with eating, from breakfast, which starts at 7am, through to dinner and live music in the resort’s central square until past 11pm.
If the thought of that is enough to give you indigestion, there is a long list of possible activities to work it all off – tennis (12 floodlit courts), water sports, cycling, bowling, trampolining, trekking, a fitness centre, basketball and PADI diving courses both in the sea and in one of the hotel’s several swimming pools – there are fresh and saltwater options, some with kids’ slides, and others with waterfalls.
What’s more, Forte Village has its own Chelsea soccer school, with coaches chosen by the football club itself. This came about after owner Roman Abramovich visited the resort during a tour of the island in 2007 and suggested a partnership. The model has also been extended to tennis and rugby academies, the latter presided over by former England internationals Will Greenwood and Austin Healey.
There are so many activity options at Forte Village that often the most challenging thing is ignoring them and simply relaxing. One way to do that is to visit the resort’s Thaermae del Forte spa. It’s a peaceful, spacious place, much of it open to the skies, and is organised around a courtyard with terracotta tiles and rough hewn wooden pillars, giving the place an air of a comfortable medieval cloister.
The spa has a waterfall, whirlpool bath and six thalassotherapy seawater pools of differing temperatures, one being a patented briny oil bath with a high concentration of magnesium. There’s obviously science behind this, and the spa’s medical clinic includes a University of Milan experimental centre for this kind of marine therapy, which also includes sand and seaweed treatments. Still, the average incentive guest taking a break from the convention centre is as likely to float around the pools, staring up at the occasional white cloud in the deep blue sky, as wonder how the saltwater is affecting their stress levels.
Plenty of thought has gone into the resort’s design. The taller, more modern buildings have pale peach or pink walls with flowers in window boxes on every balcony, and the attention to detail stretches to the large indoor Turkish hammam. Its mosaics are copies of those found in the ancient houses of Nora, a Phoenician archeological site a few miles away, and the sauna’s eucalyptus vapours keep you sufficiently awake to enjoy the view through its windows of the gardens outside.
The efficiency of the resort is matched by the pride the staff have in their service, which obviously comes from good training under long-standing general manager, Lorenzo Giannuzzi but also, perhaps, from new ownership – Forte Village was bought by Italian investors Fondi Immobiliari Italiani three years ago.
Still, not everything is seamless. Internet access seems to be a challenge, at least in terms of pricing, with the choice being one hour for €10 or one week for €100 – it would have been good to have a 24-hour rate. The prices of some of the activities are also very high – €30 for an hour in a dinghy from the beach is steep, as is €20 for 24 hours’ bicycle hire (admittedly, the bikes were all brand new).
But these are quibbles. The success of Forte Village in riding out the recession is testament to its appeal both to leisure and business guests, and after a gap of nearly a decade, I was surprised to find that my fond memories of the place were superseded by even more favourable impressions.
Prices start from €305 per person per night, staying in a four-star hotel on a half board basis. Children’s rates available on request. Visit fortevillageresort.com or call +39 070 921 516.
