Hotel Due Colonne - Cagliari

This was our first trip to Sardinia and Cagliari. We booked a double room for four nights at 110 euros per night. For a city stay, Due Colonne was well-located and clean, and the staff were usually helpful and friendly. The breakfast was pretty good--not great compared to some other Italian and French hotels with breakfast included, but quite acceptable. Our stay was spoiled by the fact that the air conditioner was not functioning properly. The weather was very warm for our whole stay (October 25-29, 2011). Night or day, one did not need to wear even a light jacket. As soon as we arrived, we complained that the room was hot. The desk clerk explained that because it was autumn, the ac had been turned off and probably could not be turned back on, although with urging, he said he would contact the manager. He suggested opening the window. First of all, opening the window was a problem because of the street noise--people, police cars, etc. We were on the second floor.Secondly, it was hard to pull back the heavy drapes, and thirdly it didn't really cool the room when the outside air was hot and very humid. On the second night, the air conditioner was working (what a relief!). The same for the third night, but unfortunately, on our last night it was off again when we arrived back late and we didn't have the energy to complain again. It was really stifling in the room. This experience left us with a very negative impression of what should otherwise have been a pleasant stay. Our Sardinia guidebook described the province as having "six months of summer", and locals we asked did not seemed surprised at the weather at this time of year, so the excuse that it was "autumn" doesn't seem valid; even if the weather were unusual for this time of year, the management should have made comfort for guests its primarily concern.

A thoroughly convenient small hotel for downtown Cagliari run by a young team trying to please. Right by the shops (the big store Rinascente), and some of the best bars (try Lo Svizzero which is opposite) and resturants of Cagliari (I like Crackers but there are many), and also near the ferries, trains and buses. Double glazed windows do their job at keeping out the noise. Compares well with the adjacent hotels I have tried.

Fine and clean hotel, but 2 problems: - no initiative to offer a solution for parking; - on sunday morning, at 9 o'clock, breakfast buffet was empty (no more bread, butter, jam, ...) without any initiative to correct the situation, even when many guests were waiting before an empty cup !...