Petra Segreta Resort & Spa

Luigi Bergeretto practised medicine for more than twenty years before he turned to cooking, and when he and the architect Rosella Marchese opened Petra Segreta in 2001, in the hills above San Pantaleo, he laid out organic gardens and a farm to supply its kitchens. It began with 13 rooms and has 27 now, in low buildings of rough stone under tiled roofs, set among granite boulders that were on the hill long before anyone built round them. Ten of the rooms have a heated pool of their own, and beyond one terrace a boulder stands taller than the garden wall, which puts the masonry in its place. From the terraces the land falls away over green hills to a marina on the bay, with the islands of the archipelago beyond, and on a clear day, the hotel says, Corsica.

Recommended for couples who would rather look down on the Costa Smeralda than stay on it, and do not mind a drive to the beach: Baia Sardinia is about 10km away. Nobody under 12 is taken, and every room sleeps two. The resort arranges sailing among the La Maddalena islands and towards Corsica, and on the hill a pasta maker teaches the fresh pasta of the Gallura, seadas included, before lunch at Osteria del Mirto. Dinner is Il Fuoco Sacro, under Enrico Bartolini and Alessandro Menditto, which has held a Michelin star since 2022. The time to come is mid-June to the end of August, when Bergeretto cooks up on the roof at Terrazza del Mirto, over the water. From June to September there is also a traditional dinner out at Stazzu Malcusa, a working farm, where the main course is spit-roasted suckling pig: not what most doctors would order, though this hotel was founded by one.