Overpriced. Go elsewhere.
19 August 2023 at 01:14:34
Go to this camping ONLY if: 1) you are traveling with your family and you have small kids (under 12); 2) you are planning to spend most of the time at the campsite; 3) you don't mind being really overcharged for pretty much everything. Indeed, for families with small kids and a large budget, this place... is fine. The water by their beach is clean and beautiful, even though the beach is not that great; the campsite is safe and clean; there are enough amenities for children and the staff I engaged with is polite and nice.
But, I don’t have small kids anymore, I don’t care to spend all my time at the campsite, and I don’t enjoy being overcharged to the point of silliness for literally everything. Therefore, after spending a week in July, I know I will not return to Baia Blu La Tortuga and here are my main reasons.
The small and sad bungalow (Baia Blu model) - I have known for a while that Sardinia is an expensive destination and I knew the bungalow we booked was small. We just didn't expect it to be so small and, frankly, given the high price we paid, quite shabby and badly designed (to open the fridge door, I had to step inside the bathroom). The prior year we stayed in another small camping bungalow in Tuscany. This is just to say that we don't have problems with small places, and throughout the years we have been quite flexible with less than perfect accommodations, if they were priced fairly. Last year, for less than half of what we paid Baia Blu La Tortuga, when we arrived our bungalow had clean sheets for one queen bed and two singles, one set of towels for 4 people, a new roll of toilet paper and FREE Wi-Fi. In contrast, this Summer when we arrived at the early hours of the morning at Baia Blu La Tortuga, we found a bungalow that had none of that stuff. The first night we slept directly on the mattresses, and we fought over tissues paper when we had to use the bathroom. (FYI, at our arrival when I requested sheets and towels, we were told that the first set was already in the bungalow and included).
The overpriced food & drink services – Normally the shops at any campsite are overpriced, and even here Baia Blu La Tortuga did not disappoint us. However… we did need toilet paper and a bunch of other stuff. (BTW, the closest town is Santa Teresa di Gallura, so I recommend doing your main shopping there, but it’s not always an option).
What else can we charge you for? - Last year we rented four bikes for a week. We paid a fraction of what it would have cost us to do the same at Baia Blu La Tortuga, if they even had available bikes, but they didn’t. I was reminded again that it is to be expected: we are in Sardegna after all! OK. Then, we discovered that Baia Blu La Tortuga charges even for using the lounge chairs by their pool…! Now, why is that? Isn’t Baia Blu La Tortuga overcharging me already for my dinky bungalow, the sheets, the towels, the wi-fi, etc., so that they can afford to have more free lounging chairs by the pool?
Finally…Check out at 9 a.m.! Again WHY so early? This is an unnecessary inconvenience, that since I am NOT an early riser really put me in a bad mood.
So why we went to Baia Blu La Tortuga in the first place? We joined our friends, and I knew Baia Blu La Tortuga wouldn’t have been our family’s first choice, but I was happy to spend a week with my friends. I just did not expect to be so irritated by the overall money grabbing attitude of this company. Still, I am not giving up on Sardegna, which I know to be very beautiful and welcoming; I am just going to stay away from any Baia Blu La Tortuga establishment.
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