Budget hotels with pool with easy access to the beach which can be reached without a car are more readily found in Alghero.

Some Alghero pool options:

Hotel Florida:

www.hotelfloridaalghero.it/contattacigbr.html

Hotel Green Sporting Club:

http://www.greenalghero.com/

Hotel Oasis:

http://www.hoteloasis.it/index.php?ver=uk

Hotel Riviera:

www.hotelriviera-alghero.com/servizi_uk.htm

Hotel Soleado:

http://www.hotelsoleado.it/

Hotel La Playa:

www.laplayahotelalghero.it/images/home_en.swf

If flying Easyjet to Olbia, San Teodoro is easily reached by publicc transport but hotels with pools are slightly isolated and/or expensive.

For San Teodoro bus leaves from the airport and arrives into the town. From the stop in the town most accommodations (with organising before the arrival) will pick up from the stop and transfer to accommodation.

For the beach you seek & travelling with a child Alghero has nice beaches near the town (can reach with the bus or walk for the town ones) but also consider San Teodoro's La Cinta beach.

Cheapest hotel in the middle of the town with a pool (it is indoor though as hotel open all year!) is Hotel Bonsai, round the corner from the centre of town and start of the night markets that are on until September and ten/fifteen minute walk to the beach. www.hotelbonsai.com

There is also in town Le Rose that has pool and a shuttle to the beach but the walk is about ten minutes www.clubsardegnavacanze.it/ It is not a budget hotel but I am not sure how look the holiday is for you are wanting to take so thought to post it.

Then other one walk to town, about 2km from La Cinta but closer to small Cala d'Ambra beach (not as nice) is Hotel L'Esagono www.hotelesagono.com

sorry I tried to write, not sure how long your budget is to last you so suggest hotel le rose and hotel l'esagono to look at as have the pool..ciao

Thank you both so much for all your suggestions, I am about to check them all out! Thanks again. (We want a week)

Is Alghero easily reached from Olbia airport? (That's where the cheap flight I found flies to)

Hotel Bonsai looks lovely, as does La Cinta beach!

Olbia-Alghero without a car is not easy at all.

I'm not sure when you are flying, but I just looked at return flights at the end of the month for 2xadults,1xchild with Ryanair and it was about £200 in total ,fully inclusive of taxes etc. Not bad.

It depends what time you arrive in Olbia. There are trains between Olbia and Sassari, then bus or train to Alghero, so it's perfectly possible.

www.getaroundsardinia.com has all the info you need about public transport on the island.

Perfectly possible yes, but with a minimum realistic travelling time of 4 hours on public transport between Olbia airport & Alghero with at least 3 changes, it wouldn't be the way I would want to spend 2 days (return as well) of my a weeks family holiday on a beach.

Particularly given it could be a several hour wait if you miss one connection.

There are direct trains from Olia to Sassari several times a day with a journey time of under two hours. Then there are trains and buses (from the nearby bus station). One change.

I don't know, maybe seeing a bit of the Sardinian countryside is a nice way to spend part of a holiday.

It helps to use a bit of logic and common sense based on local knowledge and the original posters request when replying rather than simply scanning timetables.

Given the earliest possible Easyjet flight arrival time, there are just two trains between Olbia & Sassari, one at 14.08 and the other 16:47 . Most Easyjet flights arrive at 14.40 so its the 16.47 change at Ozieri train; if you arrive on the earlier flight at 09.25, you must wait 5 hours for the 14.08.

So from airport to bus station, change 1.

train to ozieri, change 2,

train to sassari train station, change 3.

and then train to Alghero.

Or go to Sassari bus station for the bus.

So realistically you are looking at a travel time of about 9 hours if you arrive at 09.25 and 5 hours if you arrive at 14.40. Providing the trains are not on strike and you don't miss a connection.

As I said, perfectly possible but not what I would recommend for a probable non-Italian speaking family with a 6 year old on top of a few hours air travel. To be done twice in likely afternon temps of 30c+. Carrying a weeks holiday luggage.