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.

Great hotel. Very clean and spacious rooms. Staff very friendly. Evening meals were good and varied and worth €35 each. I found the breakfast satisfactory and would have liked more variety My reason for not giving 5 stars was that there was little to do in the evenings and because of its location on a hill some way outside Taormina there was nowhere to walk Location not great but there was a shuttle bus which took you into the town regularly. This also was true of the beach where once again there was a complimentary shuttle bus. The two pools were very good and we had no problems getting sun beds at any time of the day. I would suggest that staff should have name badges if only forenames as I would love to have complimented them personally All in all a nice relaxing place to stay.

Beautiful and authentic hotel, with stunning view, good food, nice and large rooms with beautiful view. The staff is very nice, they care about making your stay special. A big thanks to Alessandra on reception for always helping and being so friendly, and to the bartender, a very nice person. I’d highly recommend Baia Taormina!

This is a lovely hotel set on a hillside about 3 miles from Taormina. Views are stunning from both the hotel and the pools. We had the most helpful staff member (Andrea) who gave us tips on where to visit and even got ice for my husband knee after he’d twisted it. The hotel shuttle is handy if you don’t have a car although doesn’t always run at busy times. Rooms were good - kept clean and tidy. Hotel cat (Lobby) was super friendly and always about for a play. I’d probably get a car if was coming again but other than that we had a fabulous week here.

Booked 3 nights here based on some good trip advisor reviews, but was disappointed. Positives; beautiful views from restaurant terrace and pool areas. Nice pools on two levels with helpful, attentive young man on duty. Good sized room and balcony. A/C worked very well. Negatives; some staff , while friendly, are poorly trained, ill informed. Two gave us incorrect info. re the pick up point for the shuttle bus in Taormina, hence we were left stranded at 11pm, no apology when we eventually arrived back on public bus.The shuttle service is too sporadic and only takes max 8 guests. One of the girls wasn’t able to sort out a dinner amendment on my booking which should have been straight forward. I had to email the booking office myself at her request! It was then sorted. We were offered a welcome drink on arrival , however a beer wasn’t possible, only wine. We’d have though a simple beer would not have been easy. Food, both breakfast and dinner was bland and uninspiring served in a ‘school canteen type’ restaurant. Dinner buffet left to go cold and items not replaced when they ran out. This is not four star eating. Drinks have to be signed for….an attempt was made to rip us off one night but thankfully hubby was able to spot it on time. Shower in our bathroom leaked and enclosure didn’t close properly. Shower in great need of upgrade. There was no furniture on our balcony when we arrived, staff seemed puzzled but on the second time of mentioning it, a table and chairs appeared. One of the reception staff told us ‘not all balconies have furniture’!! Obviously made that up on the spot! View from balcony had sea in distance but was basically over the canopy of lounge below and not great. There was a lady singing on two of the three nights, while she did her best, the whole evening experience completely lacked atmosphere and was boring. By 10.30pm the place was practically empty. If this isolated hotel didn’t have the glorious Sicilian weather, it would have little to recommend it!