Villa Astoria

We were delighted with our stay at Villa Astoria. Our room number 11 had the most beautiful view and was spotless. The location was also ideal directly across from the bus station and just a short walk to the town centre and cable car. Staff were helpful and friendly. An excellent choice. .

Just returned after spending a fabulous week at Villa Astoria. Location is perfect, just across road from the bus terminal, short walk to the cable car and the main shopping street. The views from the superior rooms are stunning and the staff are amazing, nothing is too much trouble. Would definitely stay here again on a return visit to Taormina. Room tip,room 24, corner room with plenty of natural light and stunning views.

We stayed here for nine nights. Most of the positives have already been said by other reviewers; small and friendly, well located for transport connections and restaurants, lovely views from the superior rooms, clean, bright and airy rooms and an adequate breakfast. The only negative, over which the hotel has no control, is that it is on a main road. There is a drain across the road outside the hotel and every time a vehicle drives over it, it goes clank clank. As the morning traffic starts to develop the noise is enough to wake you up. Two things the hotel could improve on; First, our rom was spacious but there was only a small wardrobe with one shelf. There were no drawers so storage space was limited. Where do you keep tee shirts, underwear, socks, shorts etc.? The room was easily large enough to take a chest of drawers. Second, there was no tea and coffee making facilities in the room. We know this is often the case in Europe, but providing it would improve the hotel and make for a more comfortable stay, particularly if you're the sort of person who likes a cup of tea in the morning while you're still in your pyjamas and when you get back in the afternoon after sightseeing. Apart from the hotel, we regretted having booked to stay for so long in Taormina. It is very expensive, much more expensive in every way than Lake Garda, where we stayed earlier in the summer. It is packed with tourists and is uncomfortably crowded. There is a cable car down to the beach but a trip down and then back up costs 10 euros. The so-called beaches are awful, narrow strips of grey, coarse, volcanic sand, packed with regimented lines of sunbeds for hire at 30 euros a day. After a few days we ran out of things to do. We walked the streets, went to the amphitheatre, walked up to the castle (closed when you get there), had an excursion to Mount Etna and another to a couple of hilltop villages, but then we were stuck. It is a two hour trip to Siracusa and a three hour trip to Agrigento so we didn't bother. In our opinion, Taormina might be worth visiting for a few days as part of a tour of Sicily but not as a holiday destination in itself.