4 Spa Resort Hotel — Hotel in Aci Castello

Having come from a lower budget hotel in Rome we had high hopes for the 4Spa as we picked it especially for ourselves and two adult children, however we were disappointed. Our hotel in Rome was very run down, but this was made up for by the exceptional friendly staff. The 4Spa is almost the opposite with a much nicer building, but almost entirely unfriendly staff.

The hotel itself is in good condition though a few things were broken (most notably the main umbrellas by the pool, paving lights, cracks in grouting etc), but it is clean and maintained well for the area it is in, which is quite run down. Perhaps too much so; the hotel uses white and beige for what I presume is temperature reasons a lot, and as a result comes over very clinical. It's certainly far from a warm and inviting atmosphere. The pool is also restricted to 10am - 6pm for no reason other than breakfast finishes at 10 and dinner starts at 6, and they set up tables around the pool. This is despite it being still 28 degrees at 9pm during our stay, and a dip in the pool after dinner does not seem an unreasonable ask. This is even more frustrating when the indoor pool and gym are also closed for no apparent reason during the hottest weather (all of August and September). The hotel is also not geared for families at all; the restaurant sets all its tables for 2, even the larger ones that are clearly meant for 4-6 people only have two place settings put out despite multiple families staying during our visit. They also use sheets of black paper as place mats that are an absolute joke, and just get in the way. The food selection is ok, very much like everything else you will find in Catania, though more limited than I expected.

Now the staff. With one or two exceptions, the staff came over, sadly, as unwelcoming and anything you ask for seems a massive imposition - even if that is asking them to set up the beds in the room to the configuration that was agreed prior to check in!! The evening restaurant staff in particular were very stereo typically Italian. We showed up for an evening meal for four adults, and again all tables were set for two. Not knowing how it worked (if we sat ourselves or waited to be seated), we stood at the same desk you wait at for food during the day, and a waiter walked past us 3 times ignoring us completely, other than on the last pass looking at us with what can only be described as contempt. We left and ordered Just Eat the the room - they give a better service. Some staff are friendly and do make an effort to make you feel welcome, but overall the staff did not seem welcoming. Some of this may be down to the language barriers (English is not well spoken here), and maybe the recent heat - it seemed to improve as the week went on.

Overall this hotel is disappointing to stay in for it's ratings. It "welcomes" families but clearly does not really want them, and although seemingly geared for romantic couple retreats he atmosphere couldn't be further from romantic if it tried. It should also be noted that there is nothing nearby, and you are a good 40 minute walk to Catania itself, or about €25 by Uber (we knew this in advance but I mean nothing - no usable beach or anything!). There is a bus service but it's as reliable as a sauna for storing ice-cream.

Whatever type of stay you are looking for, I would look around before choosing the 4Spa, and read the...

Rooms were nice and spacious with modern decoration. Also super clean - I cannot the fault the cleanliness. Only downside is the AC was hard to work and there was limited places to hang towels. Even the hotel towels were folded up and put on top of the cupboard. One thing to consider when booking - the volcano is mostly not seen and surrounded by clouds, so book a sea view room instead!||||Staff were nice enough, but it wouldn’t hurt to say hello when passing by the reception.||||Pool was okay, but they make you wear swimming caps. That’s not so much an issue, but you have to pay for the swimming caps (€3,50 each) - which they did not tell us. We only found that out until we paid our bill at the end of the stay. This was particularly frustrating as we misplaced our caps and then had to pay for new ones. Enforcing the caps is fine, but you should provide them free for guests of the hotel or at least tell us there is a charge- not happy.||We much rather preferred going to the Lidos along the coast instead - Lido Bellatrix is only 5 mins walking. ||||We only ate at the hotel once and while the food was fine, it was way overpriced. If you don’t mind a walk, there are plenty more options (and much better value) 20 mins walking away. Mare La Putia Sur Mare was lovely and right next to the sea. ||||The location is a bit far out, and I would recommend renting a car if you can. We were only here a short time so didn’t mind paying for the taxis a couple of the days. Expect to pay €20-€25 one way to Catania. ||||Overall I would have given the hotel 4 stars, until the last day. Weather was due to be overcast on our last day so we planned to go to the spa before our afternoon flight. The spa is advertised as €15 for one hour for hotel guests, and I’d booked a 15% discount for spa facilities when making the reservation, so should have been €12,75 each. However as we’d checked out 30 minutes previously, we were no longer considered guests and asked to pay €25 each. This was absolutely ridiculous - guests should be treated and considered guests til they leave. We both refused and left and then had to double check we wouldn’t be charged for using the pool since we’d checked out. Terrible service and ruined our last day for us. Shame...

Our holiday to Catania was a replacement for our trip to Crete which unfortunately had to be cancelled due to Covid-19. We found this hotel on LastMinute.com and it looked really Inviting with lovely photos and the promise of plenty of spa choices.||||Overall the room was clean with clean sheets and towels provided everyday. The A/C was fairly irratic so a couple of nights were poor due to the low uncontrollable temperature. Although there was free wifi this was poor quality and kept cutting out (even when trying to confirm payments for booking tours online). There were no mini bar prices, but on checking out we were disappointed to discover we were charged €3 per 500 mL plastic bottle of water (a glass 1L bottle in the restaurant was also €3 so this made no logical sense). ||||With relation to the spa, there was no brochure and no clear pricing on the website, all you had to go on was verbal pricing from reception. In addition, the website did not mention that many facilities were unusable due to Covid.||||The breakfast was ok but a bit monotonous as they serve the same thing every day, and the food is clearly bought in large bulk from factories. The restaurant is more like a canteen and while the fresh pizza is delicious and good value for money, the rest is rather over priced. However as there are not many restaurants in the surrounding area you need to venture into Catania itself if you want something a bit different.||||Access to Catania city centre from the hotel is only doable if you are renting a car, unless you want to pay a lot of money for a taxi (€30-35), or walk (5 ish kilometers), however this takes a lot longer than google maps will estimate as the roads are not overally suitable for pedestrians (pavements will randomly stop on busy roads), and google will send you over the Via Nazionale rather than by the ocean, the former of which has no pavement. ||||Beware if you order a taxi from reception, as the taxi company they use will charge you extortionate and somewhat...