Carlton Hotel Riviera

Absolutely awful hotel, staff unfriendly and our room was filthy. Avoid this hotel at all cost. All inclusive not at all as nothing included

We were offered this hotel as an alternative to one we'd first booked which became unavailable. Spent 5 days at the Carlton Riviera Hotel and there were both positives and negatives. A beautiful location, right on the coast, so fantastic sea views and private (pebbly) beach onto clear, shallow waters. Plenty of room around the pool. Unfortunately, it's a fair distance from any shops restaurants etc, so it cost us a bit in taxi fares. There is a minibus you can book for 5 Euros pp a couple of times a day but it soon gets fully booked. Taxi costs 20 Euros into Cefalu, so you really need a car here. It's also a long way from Palermo and Trapani airports. The hotel was clean and comfortable and the staff although few of them spoke English and our Italian was rubbish were almost all pleasant and really went out of their way to help us. The All Inclusive was not good. Breakfasts were so-so, we didn't attempt lunch but dinner was cheap often lukewarm and not always fully cooked. Also, not really a buffet you couldn't serve yourself. In the bar, the drink options were very limited. Only cocktails in the all inclusive were vodka or gin on alternate nights swamped in fruit juice, no fruit or other accompaniments and served from a pre prepared jug! Entertainment was put on by the hard working animation team but very basic and mainly French spoken, so quizzes etc not very good. Some of the fixtures and fittings in the rooms were very tired. We enjoyed the trip because Cefalu is lovely but could not in all honesty recommended this hotel.

We stayed at the Carlton Riviera in Cefalu' which has recently been taken over by new hotel group Italica Hotels and Resorts and the service , food, bedroom quality , staff, food and facilities were simply amazing . The position is just 'Location Location Location ) overlooking its beach the sea and Cefalu in the near distance . It's a 10 minutues drive to Cefalu centre and there is a very good public bus service from right outside the hotels entrance .