Hotel Villa Sonia

Beatiful view, excellent breakfast. The owners love antiques, And the hotel has a personal charm, situated atTaominas acropolis, and not so busy as Taomina. Visit the greek teater, and take a swim at Isola Bella, and the public garden. Better temperature

We spent 2 weeks at Hotel Villa Sonia in Castelmola. We had a very warm welcome from Davide who was behind reception, who was always extremely helpful throughout our time at Villa Sonia. The Hotel was extremely clean and very typical of Italian Hotels with comfortable Rooms with Dark Furniture, perhaps more appropriate of an older era, but you are not here to sit in your room, the Bathrooms are spacious, and kept meticulously clean by the Hotel Staff, again, perhaps if a little tired. Breakfast (buffet) is served in the Dining Room of the hotel, it was plentiful if not spectacular fare, but still very good. We chose to go Half-Board, the Dinner was served nightly in the Caverna which is 20 Metres up the the hill from the Main Reception, still part of the hotel, despite some reviews which have been negative, the food was excellent, but choice is somewhat limited in comparison to the ‘a La Carte’ offerings, in hindsight we would probably not have taken this option, as it can get a little monotonous sitting in this (delightful as it is) setting every night. Overall, this a very comfortable and friendly Family run Hotel, with spectacular views of Etna and offers good value for money, the location is excellent, particularly as it is away from the Hustle & Tourist bustle that is Taormina, but close enough to make the (somewhat precarious) walk down to Taormina (although the walk back is only for those who are very fit), the Bus Service is excellent and easy to use. If you choose to hire a Car for your stay, driving in Sicily is not for the faint hearted, and the Mountainous terrain, makes every car Journey a white knuckle adventure ride.

Hotel Sonia is beautifully situated with stunning views of Mt Etna . Castelmola is a lovely village with lots of good restaurants and bars and a very chilled vibe. Taormina is easy to get to via bus, either free from hotel or 1.20 euro by local bus. Alternatively it takes about 35 minutes to walk down the footpath which is well marked. We loved the antique furniture in the hotel , the pool and terrace for breakfast. Staff are helpful and friendly. Only issue is the lack of soundproofing in the rooms- you can hear lots of noises from next rooms. We would visit again.

We stayed at the hotel for a week at the start of October. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay. We had an amazing view of Etna and sat for hours wondering where all the little lanes went too. We loved being outside of the Toarmina madness but loved we could use the shuttle or the bus when we wanted this madness. We loved the little village of Castelmola. Enough bars and restaurants to keep us fed and watered for the week. Why not 5 stars … the hot breakfast items lacked variety, the shower cubicle needs replacing as it’s a bit tatty. We would definitely return to the hotel.

We were able to park our car outside the hotel and check in with our luggage before parking the car in their car park. Our room and bathroom were spacious with plenty of cupboards. The staff on reception were wonderful and since we were only staying one night took advantage of their shuttle service into and return from Taormina. Francesco who drove us, was a mine of information. There is also a bus stop opposite the hotel with regular buses to and from the Taormina centre. We had a balcony attached to our room which had great views over Taormina to Mt Etna. Breakfast was full on buffet served on the terrace so that we could take advantage of the views. There is a lovely pool and sunning area on the same level. We wished we had spent another night here but had an hotel booked the next day in Cefulu. Would recommend this hotel for a number of night stays.

Hotel villa Sonia is a beautiful immaculately clean hotel in a small village called Castelmola above Taomina. As soon as we arrived we were made to feel very welcome by the reception staff who were very knowledgable and helpful throughout the stay. The views are stunning and you can see Etna on a clear day. They kindly upgraded our room to a deluxe room with Etna view free of charge which we really appreciated. Decor was traditional and antique style which we loved. All the staff work really hard and were friendly and accommodating. The pool area is lovely and is well kept. We loved the local area of castelmola it is not too far from taomina and there are free shuttle buses three times a day (you have to book) and local buses run hourly and are only a couple of euros. The people in castelmola were so friendly, local business owners remembered us when we went by and said hello which was lovely. The views are also stunning. A couple of downsides… the shower in the room splashed water everywhere as was over a bath with no screen or curtain, we thought a wet room would probably be better. We would not advise to go half board. The hotel has a beautiful restaurant la caverna. It’s really quite spectacular when you walk in, set in a cave and a warm and friendly atmosphere, however on the half board there was limited choice each night, some of the choices were nowhere near the standard of the a la carte menu. One of the choices was omelette which is a very poor offering for an evening meal. On the last night the menu choices were almost the same as the previous nights choices and there was nothing we wanted so had to go elsewhere which really disappointed us. We couldn’t understand why they didn’t just offer an alternative pasta or risotto dish as they cost very little to produce. It’s such a shame about the half board because the rest of the hotel guests who wernt half board said how lovely their food was. We felt devalued as half board customers. It made us feel like the ones having free school meals! I would defiantly stay there again but would just go bed and breakfast.

Very comfortable hotel in an absolutely beautiful setting. We had a big room with a wonderful view of Mount Etna. Traditional decor and furniture but all kept spotlessly clean. Reception staff very friendly and helpful. Breakfast was fine. A good selection of fruits, pastries etc and some hot food options too. We loved Castelmola set high up in the hills. Some lovely restaurants and a great atmosphere. Much less busy than Taormina where we also enjoyed spending some time. We did the walk down three times and up twice! Quite hard going but a good challenge. We also used the bus, the free hotel minibus and a taxi back one evening. We were glad to be staying in hotel Villa Sonia in Castelmola.