Cefalù Sea Palace

good location, friendly staff, fantastic view

Lovely hotel in a great location just a few minutes walk to the old town along the promenade. We had a large sea view room. The room was very comfortable (would have preferred duvet to the bedspread provided but the room pictures clearly show a bedspread so we were not surprised). One of most striking things is how clean this hotel is. Our room and bathroom were immaculate, as are all the public areas, the hotel positively gleams. Well done to the housekeeping team! . Nice pool area and bar. Drinks are hotel prices. Good breakfast with plenty of choice served in the rooftop restaurant with fantastic views over Cefalu old town and the sea. We did not have dinner but I did notice dinner service was moved to the nearby sister hotel when there was a function in the restaurant (twice in our week). Not necessarily a negative as it is opportunity to try another venue. It is clearly a popular venue for events. Reception staff were friendly and were able to arrange a slightly later checkout for no fee which has helpful. Only disappointment was paying 70 euro for shortest facial I have ever had - just 29 minutes. Would definitely stay again in this lovely hotel. Cefalu is delightful with a beautiful old town, cathedral, lovely beach and lots of nice restaurants and shops. Great hike up the Rock of Cefalu for stunning views ( some degree of fitness required together with suitable footwear). It is a 15 minute walk to the train station with regular trains to Palermo. I fell in love with Sicily and we will return.

I feel a little cruel rating this place a 3 out of 5 because it was one of the cleanest hotels I’ve been to and the reception staff were always so welcoming and friendly. The reason for the three stars is purely because the hotel itself is SO DATED and you feel like you’re stepping back in time with the decor. To get in the room you need to insert a key card & chip into a slot in the wall. But taking the rest of the hotel inti consideration, I can imagine this was top notch tech when chip and pin bank cards originally came out. This card then had to be used for the electric/air con in the room and they only gave us one key so we were unable to leave the air con on when we went out. We also tried to turn it down to 16°c as it was still quite hot when we went but it never really got any lower than 21°c. It didn’t seem very powerful at all. We went Bed & Breakfast. There wasn’t a great selection of food - Mainly cakes and pastries. And some pancakes that were just left on a plate (not being kept warm). If they ran out, they ran out. I had yogurt and some granola every morning. Which isn’t the end of the world or far from what I’ve have at home but o would have had something different every morning if there was the choice. Going back to the building, the restaurant was on the top floor which was like a UPVC conservatory type building - which didn’t hold water. We had a torrential downpour on one of the nights and a storm which left the floor littered with their branded beach towels at breakfast. Every few steps you’d walk past another saturated beach towel on the floor collecting the water falling through the ceiling. The views of the horizon and Cefalu town from the top floor at breakfast however were beautiful. Also, the restaurant was home to one of the best book swaps I’ve ever seen on holiday! Like I say, I do feel cruel giving just three stars but it was perhaps a 5 star hotel way back in the 70’s. It is in serious need of renovation and modernisation. Sorry ‍♀️