Where to stay and dine in Stintino

Stintino practicalities

The Cala Rosa Club Hotel lies at the back of a housing development called Olive del Mercante, halfway between the town of Stintino and La Pelosa beach—which is to say a three-minute drive, or free shuttle bus ride, from either. (The hotel also offers residents access to nearby L'Ancora, a slightly scruffy vest-pocket beach flanked by a glass-walled pizzeria and the surly but convenient Isola d'Ercole boat-rental outfit).

Cala Rosa is modeled after a small Caribbean resort: a complex of low, pink, two-story buildings staggered around lush gardens to help make the spacious rooms—with their tile floors and modern, unobtrusive furnishings of high headboards and cube-like padded stools—feel semi-independent. There's a swarm of staff to see to guest needs and, in summer, a daily program of resorty events—movies, Latin dancing, fitness activities, a piano bar, and "Mr. Cala Rosa" competitions by the little pool.

The hotel's buffet meals—choice of pastas and meats, antipasto table and salad bar—are a pretty good deal at €18 for all you can eat (add €3–€4 for wine and water) but aren't your best bet for a romantic evening, as they enjoy all the institutional ambience you'd expect from a resort hotel buffet.

• Cala Rosa Club Hotel. Loc. Olive del Mercante, Stintino. Tel. +39-079-520-005, www.calarosa.it. Half-board for two (call for rates without meals) €114–€234—. » book

Seeking a finer, proper dinner, I booked ahead at Albergo Ristorante Silvestrino (which also has bland but serviceable rooms, some with sea views) to snag a table on the awning-shaded deck out front, right along the main drag of the village, which was quiet after dark except for strolling couples and the occasional car.

The menu was local and inventive, including divine baci al Silvestrino, golf ball–sized nuggets of ricotta and spinach wrapped in delicate pasta crepes, smothered in a tomato and béchamel sauce, baked, and dusted with parmesan. The waitress brought out a platter of fresh-caught fish so local I had never heard of five of the species; she suggested the pagaro, simply grilled, which was succulent alongside grilled zucchini and eggplant.

For dessert? Another savada, of course; this time the cheesy puff pastry was dusted with powdered sugar and shaped like a heart.

• Hotel Restaurant Silvestrino. Via Sassari, Stintino. Tel. +39-079-523-007, www.silvestrino.it. Doubles €70–€160—from €70 online. » book

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