| From: William Blackwell, USA |
| Date of Stay: July, 2008 |
| Rooms were good. View excellent. Management/owner were excellent in trying to help and make our stay enjoyable, very polite and responsive. Hotel is up the hill from the center of town and the walk down to town wasn't bad but the climb back could be tough, and I'm in shape. Not the place to stay if you can't walk. |
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| From: Rocco Rivieccio, Italy |
| Date of Stay: July, 2008 |
| vale la pena pagare il prezzo gia solo per la vista di taormina dalla terrazza del ristorante. la posizione è ottimale per arrivare al centro di taormina (al ritorno è un po faticoso ma si puo fare). nel complesso una buona scelta per stare a taormina qualche giorno. adatto a coloro che vivono poco la camera. |
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| From: RP, Italy |
| Date of Stay: July, 2008 |
| graziosissimo albergo a conduzione familiare, molto gentili e disponibili i proprietari, molto conveniente la mezza pensione, vista bellissima, qualche scalino per raggiungere l'albergo ma la posizione è incantevole! Solo i vini sono un po' troppo cari, del resto Taormina è bellissima ma molto cara! |
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| From: PK, France |
| Date of Stay: April, 2008 |
| Positive points: the view from the room was great(the Villa is located high up on a hill), the staff quite helpful (provided map of the city and indications on how to get there from the Villa), the general surrounding was very lovely (it's like a big mansion on several floors/levels with flowers, trees and plants everywhere), the breakfast was pretty good Negative points: our double room was small with low ceilings, the walls were paper thin (you could hear your neighbors whispering!!!), bathroom was small, the shower wasn't that great either Overall, it's a nice place to stay because of the surrounding area (Taormina is a really pretty town, and you get a great view of the sea and Etna from the Villa), but I found it a bit over-priced given the size of the room and the facilities. Also, if you decide to walk into the center of the town, be prepared to walk down (and back up) many many stairs (not necessarily well lit at night)! Nb: some rooms had a balcony/terrasse with a table and chairs - they might be nicer than our room which was located in a side part of the Villa |
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| From: JC, France |
| Date of Stay: September, 2007 |
| Be careful if you heavy luggages, there are 72 steps to reach your room if you arrive by the lower road, but the view is gorgeous. The rooms are small and the style is rather near of a 1/2 pension hotel for a long stay |
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| From: William Beastall, France |
| Date of Stay: June, 2007 |
| Great views from this hotel above the centre of Taormina. Friendly and efficient welcome from the multilingual owner. Rooms arranged in several connected blocks on a very steep hillside. Access on foot to/from the centre is 10 minutes but very steep indeed. Parking possible outside the hotel, impossible anywhere else in the centre of Taormina. Half-board evening meal was acceptable but not really the advertised Sicilian specialities. Wine and drinks relatively expensive, but this is Taormina. The hotel was very popular with German groups. Because of the vertical situation the map is confusing, but the hotel is well signed once you reach Taormina from the main road - just keep going up in the direction of Castel Mola. |
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| From: AE, United Kingdom |
| Date of Stay: February, 2006 |
| Very warm welcome. Excellent food. Showers didn't work well. |
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| From: Paul Van Hee, Canada |
| Date of Stay: December, 2004 |
| Although the view from the room is breath taking and the staff is really nice, the rooms themselves were in need of cleaning (especially the bathrooms) and the cot for the third person needs to be replace. |
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| From: Herman Zandt, Malta |
| Date of Stay: September, 2004 |
| The strength of Hotel 'Villa Greta' lies in its location. Beautifully positioned on a hill it overlooks the vast surroundings of Taormina, the Mediterranean Sea and above all Mount Etna. The hotel areas, especially restaurant/breakfast room, use this opportunity to the maximum. Other positive characteristics are the above average quality of the home-made food and wine, the multi-lingual and personally caring staff and hotel assistance for car/scooter rentals. Point of improvement, as far as experienced ourselves, are staff/manager's care of luggage carrying: the hallways and corridors in the hotel are very narrow and have a lot of steps, which makes carrying large and heavy luggage a challenge; staff haven't assisted us in this at all, both at arrival and departure. The hotel room had space for two, though was equipped with heavily used furniture and clearly used carpets. Arguably acceptable for a **-hotel, but recommended replacement considering the hotel price paid. Same counts for the bathroom: small, but functional. Cleaning staff kept all tidy. The only window with sea/Etna view was blocked by a tree, which was however compensated by a nice terrace immediately in front of the room entrance door. Regarding the website information: it is suggested that information about any hotel is put in absolute rather than subjective terms; e.g. instead of 'village is close' put 'village is 2.5 km walking distance with steep stairs'. Pictures presented of this hotel have given a realistic view. Overall, the 4-day stay was pleasant, despite 2 days of rain. Hotel 'Villa Greta' is recommended to adventurous and physically fit people who consider walking and climbing as a challenge, as well as go for great home-made food and wine in Sicilian style and for the surroundings rather than hotel inner luxury. |
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| From: David Rossitter, United Kingdom |
| Date of Stay: July, 2004 |
| I cant reccomend this hotel more highly. I would rather stay here than any of the top hotels that I have stayed in back in London. The family who run this place are fantastic and the food in the restaurant is superb. The sun terrace overlooking the bay and Mount Etna was at the time the greatest place on earth to be. Everyone should stay here, it is amazing. |
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| From: Leo Lombardi, Canada |
| Date of Stay: July, 2004 |
| The hotel is far away from the center of Taormina. The view from the hotel is the best thing there is to enjoy. The washroom in my room was old and decrepit. I'll come back to Taormina but I'll search for a better hotel closer to Taormina as this one is closer to Castelmola. |
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| From: JH, Italy |
| Date of Stay: July, 2004 |
| Verbal instructions from the hotel make it easy to find. The hotel although old is charming and the staff pleasant. The views are wonderful and the food delicious - the Euro 40 extra charge for halfboeard for 2 adults and 2 children was well worth it. The rollaway beds forthe children were a little uncomfortable but OK, and the locks on the doors could do with replacing, although it is not a security problem (it takes 5 minutes to get the key in just the right place to lock/unlock the door!) Worth a return visit! |
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| From: PL, France |
| Date of Stay: July, 2004 |
| Great location.Very good dinner(half board).Basic rooms however,not very confortable and small(we were four people in a quadruple!) Hard to find.No indication in town.It should be precised in center town that you have to drive up. |
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| From: AS, United Kingdom |
| Date of Stay: July, 2004 |
| A perfect setting--and especially enjoyed the balcony--even though it was an uphill walk from the town it was a pleasant stroll. A lot of steps but the price you have to pay for the Etna view. Morning coffee could have been stronger for the British taste. Would like to visit again! |
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| From: Alexandre Barbosa, Belgium |
| Date of Stay: July, 2004 |
| Room extremely dirty and small. Friendly owners but, by far, the worse and most expensive hotel we stayed. We left earlier than planned |
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| From: Marcello Fernandes, United Kingdom |
| Date of Stay: July, 2004 |
| A very nice hotel, has beautiful views and nice rooms. The breakfast good and the staff were friendly. |
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| From: EP, Italy |
| Date of Stay: July, 2004 |
| Good meal and wonderful sightseeing! Just a remark: specify in the website that there are no elevators available, this is a strong limitation as the hotel has a lot of stairs! there could be many problems for handicapped or even old aged people |
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| From: John Lumia, USA |
| Date of Stay: June, 2004 |
| Very nice for a one star hotel. |
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| From: Isabel Vaughan, South Africa |
| Date of Stay: May, 2004 |
| Although we did not specify that we required a room with a terrace, we were under the impression that all rooms would have terraces. We were not offered a better room after we complained after our first evening that we were not happy with the room. We stayed for 4 nights and although the hotel was not full after the weekend, nothing else was suggested to make our stay more pleasant. We paid a penalty for two nights and left Taormina. I would suggest that the website advises travellers to have a car when staying at this hotel, as the stairs to the main centre were quite exhausting. The bathroom was also very small, and the water pressure low. Beautiful view from the terrace, but our room was not good value for money. |
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| From: Joseph Purpura, USA |
| Date of Stay: May, 2004 |
| The rate quoted to use over the internet was not what we were charged. The rate turned out to be about 25 Euros more per night. The shower stall in the bathroom was very small and the door was a bit tricky. If you are a large person there is no way you can fit into the shower. |
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