Baia Taormina

In recent years I've taken to holidaying in places where I can understand and be understood so then I choose Sicily! We're all complicated and contradictory! This hotel is really lovely and aesthetically Sicilian. My only quibble on the aesthetic side is that the inside dining area is a bit bland. We avoided it for that reason - choosing instead to either dine out or walk about 1 min up the road to a very pretty restaurant ('Margherita' - I think) and equally reasonable prices - worth knowing as Taormina is not cheap. Consider how you get about before booking, this hotel has a free shuttle to/from Taormina but it's limited and you have to book ahead. The hotel is set on a cliff side so you will need to walk uphill at some point, some other guests with walking aids were not happy with their respective travel agents! The airy atrium is nice as is the inside seating area. Bar staff are very good and the cocktails done professionally. Everything is charged to your room so factor in and keep a rough tally would be my advice. The rooms are fine, bathrooms could do with a makeover in my view - especially the showers as it is highly likely that your bathroom floor will be soaked afterwards! Not all rooms have a safe, ours did but my daughter's didn't. Might be useful to specify when booking. The beds are huge and comfy, TV will let you access your own streaming services (Netflix, Amazon, Disney, Apple). All electrical points are two prong so bring enough converters for your electric needs. Staff are all great and will try and help you. English is not their first language (naturally) so communication can be difficult at times, just be clear about what you are asking. There is a Gym, though it's not brilliant TBF, the treadmills weren't working and the weights only go as high as 10kg. The pools are freshwater (not chlorinated) but are a joy to swim in and are cleaned regularly. There are two pools, the lower one you can stand up in, the higher one is 3M deep all around. There are towels available. There is also a Wellness Centre on the 4th floor with a range of treatments available. There is entertainment on an evening -- a lovely singer who interpreted lots of very well known tunes into a jazz style, it was almost a case of guess the tune, she has a great vocal range and is very personable. My wife and daughter (typically) led the dancing!! The hotel entertain travelling parties as well (folk who are touring the island) so to us it was really busy one night then quieter the next etc. Breakfast is mostly a selection of croissants, cakes and fruits/salads with cereal and yoghurts available. There is also lots of breads and bacon and scrambled eggs. On the whole, a beautiful Sicilian hotel, very helpful staff, authentic with views to die for over the Ionian Sea. It is set into a cliff and you do need to think about getting about due to it's location. Would highly recommend.

Pros and cons of this hotel: Pros - clean room with good facilities Good quality food Good views Some polite and helpful staff at pool and pool bar Cons - Every few nights the hotel takes in coach parties and from early evening until after breakfast the next day these guests are the priority- the restaurant manager even called away our waiter mid- order to attend to someone else ! At dinner and breakfast the coach guests eat so much that there is hardly anything left and desserts are then replaced with frozen options. There is even a sign asking guests not to steal food. The coach party arrivals also impact on the availability of the shuttle to Taormina which only takes 8 guests at a time, as there are not enough staff to accommodate every service. There are several hotel lifts but they are often out of service, if you are on the top floor it’s 3 lifts to reach your room. Is also a lift to the pool which is intermittently available so not suitable for those with limited mobility. There are no restaurants nearby and so if you don’t want to eat at the hotel then you will need a car or taxi - walking is not an option as the main road is busy. Customer service at reception is very poor- our pre booked taxi did not arrive (booked for a time during the arrival of a coach party) and we were told that it wasn’t the hotel’s fault. We couldn’t trust them to book our airport transfer for this reason. We had to ask for excursion details and then were just given a leaflet- no offer of help or suggestions about where to go. Despite all this we did have a great time, but sadly this hotel just wasn’t what we expected.