The beautiful island of Sardinia is so far estranged from mainland Italy that Sardinians, or Sardi, rarely consider themselves Italian at all. This large island south of Corsica is mostly rural, with large expanses of natural landscape inhabited by beautiful wildlife - in particular, flamingos! Famous for mining, Gianfranco Zola and Pecorino cheese - a hard, strong flavoured alternative to Parmesan, made from sheep’s milk - Sardinia’s capital city is Cagliari, located in the south of the island and locality of the only major airport.

Italy’s very own version of Monte Carlo is here, on the Costa Smeralda or Emerald Coast. On this near-60km stretch of coastline are said to be the finest beaches in Europe and possibly the world. Then again, they would say that wouldn’t they?

A popular haunt of the 5 star jetset, many of the annual visitors to Sardinia come here in their own yachts, while some take part in the Sardinia Cup - a famous regatta involving entrants from all over the world.

Our pick of Hotels in and around Sardinia:

Hotel Tarthesh Guspini (www.tartheshotelguspini.com)

Amid the fauna of rural Sardinia and not too far from the coast lies the small town of Guspini and the luxury resort Hotel Tarthesh. This 4 star complex has everything you need to replenish body and mind but to set it aside from the spa hotels of Tuscany or the beach resorts of southern Italy, this quality accommodation is family run and offers a really different experience.

In house, there’s what you'd expect in terms of classical Sardinian cuisine and extensive wellbeing facilities, including Zen reflexology, Thai Sacrum massage and coaching in autogenous breathing; while beyond the gates there are safari tours of the local countryside, where guests can find Sardinian deer, wild cats and of course, pink flamingos!

Also try: Residence Bougainvillae at Port Cervo Marina (www.bougainvillae.com) or Hotel San Paolo at Porto San Paolo (www.hotel-san-paolo.it), both near Olbia in the northern part of the island.

Any suggestions? As you can see, our Sardinia page is a tad bare - if you have any suggestions of great accommodations anywhere on the island of Sardinia please let us know.