Catania International Airport Hotel — Hotel in Catania

Where to start, the rooms were big but not cleaned correctly in any stretch of the imagination, mouldy shower and bathroom, towels absolutely stunk to high heaven, bed sheets were stained, floor had been swept/vacuumed but certainly not mopped. Noisy rooms in which you can hear everything from people walking down the corridor or the tiled floor elevator are beside which the staff drag metal rollers on with equipment etc. The power kept cutting out every time we left the room and our key card wouldn't work on 3 separate occasions to get in the room so we had to trek down 3 floors to get it sorted.

Then there was the food and service, breakfast was absolutely disgraceful, cheap ham instead of bacon, what looked like tinned sausage cut into chunks, inedible scrambled egg. The worst experience was in the restaurant, we had been put in the hotel by our tour provider following flight cancellation for 2 days, they also provided vouchers for meals each. However they only gave us vouchers for 1 meal not the 2 they were supposed to (scammers/fraud//) .

Upon entering the hotel the man who I'm guessing was the restaurant manager/owner greeted us by saying "yes?" We explained the situation and gave him the vouchers to which he pointed and said sit there. We sat for 15- 20 minutes in which there was maybe 4 tables occupied in the restaurant without being asked if we wanted a drink or given a menu, he and his 2 waiters just walked right past us about 10 times without acknowledging us. The owner was too busy taking away food from the other tables who appeared to not enjoy/finish anything. We were getting fed up so asked one of the waiters for a menu and he said 2 minutes, wandered off to his boss and they carried on wandering on for a further 5 minutes before we said excuse me what's going on? Can we have a menu or take an order? He said no the hotel decides what you eat. We asked what he meant by this and he said you get a bottle of water and some "meat pasta" I asked what sort of meat pasta he said "pork and pasta" he spoke good English so there were no language issues here. He attention was more focussed about his family who were sitting beside us eating grilled lobster and pasta. Then any of the guests in the restaurant. We again asked for clarification and he said pasta with pork, my wife was skeptical so asked for what other options before he reluctantly said I will ask the chef for a pasta without meat. A further 5 minutes went by and he frantically zoomed into the kitchen and dining room like he'd had a kilo of Peruvian marching powder, before saying he would make us a vegetarian pasta with pesto. We said that's fine as by this point we hadn't eaten for about 8 hours due to the delays. We finally had a small bottle of water brought over to us and waited at least another 15-20 minutes before being brought out the 2 micro bowls of pasta and sauce you have ever encountered in your life 1/2 to 1/3rd the size of the identical pasta dishes/plates others in the restaurant were eating. We are some of the food but it was absolutely awful, grisly minced pork and the blandest tomato sauce to grace the planet and whatever was to hand to throw together the 'pesto' sauce, which again was awful. We did actually find the menu online after we weren't allowed/given any to look at and it was by far the most expensive prices for food we had encountered on our visit to the city and we had eaten in some fine restaurants. We got up and left as we knew exactly what was going on. The basic jist is that they receive the money from the tour operator and they do whatever possible to make as much profit/ give as little to the guest as possible. Other reviews on here mentioned plastic cutlery and grouping everyone together on mass tables and the same, you get what your given attitude. They obviously get a decent bit of money for guests and make sure they can extract as much profit as possible for as little cost and don't give a hoot.

We unfortunately had to stop here due to the cancellation of our flight, why anyone in their right...

Went to reception and asked if they could assist our family of 6 with transport arrangements or should we take an Uber as we wanted to go and eat out. The receptionist said it would be better to use the taxi service associated with the hotel as Uber was not always safe. I showed her the uber app and said it would be €25 to the restaurant for 6 of us, if she could please call the taxi company and liase in her language and please ask the cost. I waited and she called the taxi company who said it would be the same charge for the 6 of us as it was for Uber. My family and I waited outside of the hotel and the taxi arrived at the arranged time however the taxi could only take 3 people. The taxi driver told me, 3 of us must get in the other 3 were being collected now now now as he shouted. Thinking another taxi was on its way the 3 of us got into the taxi and I asked the taxi driver who was collecting my mother, son and partner. The taxi driver said he was going back to collect them....clearly taking the longest, dreadful route to the restaurant. I clarified that the total would be €25 and he said yes PER trip. This meant we would have to pay €100 for 4 trips. 2 trips to the restaurant and 2 trips from the restaurant back to the hotel. I said this was not what was arranged and he literally pulled up in the middle of no where and told myself and my two sons to get out the car! We were shocked and it got worse because now the taxi driver stated he doesn't understand and speak English so we were to get out the car and he became aggressive calling his boss and putting his phone on loud speaker hearing this man screaming and shouting on the phone! I quickly called the receptionist and had her on speaker phone and I refused to get out the taxi. After refusing to get out the taxi and having the hotel on the line he drove us back to the hotel. I would like to add the route he travelled back to the hotel was much quicker than we were seposedly travelling to the restaurant. I spoke to the receptionist and asked how this all could have happened when we both understood the arrangements, the cost and the amount of people and she speaks very good English, she dismissed me. I asked to speak to management who I could see was in the office. He looked at me through the glass office window and instructed the receptionist to tell me I was to write a letter to him he didn't want to speak to me. How can the hotel tell you Uber is dangerous and to use and recommend their taxi service who then tries to wrip you off and then intimidates you to get out in the middle of no where and demands payment? We weren't even taken to the restaurant and it spoilt our stay completely. What a terrifying ordeal. The hotel receptionist and manager were so rude after the receptionist admitted the taxi arrangements she made was as i requested to the remaining 3 family members waiting for our return whilst we were in the terrible ordeal that she had organised with thel taxi associated with the hotel. I really wish I could take this matter further but to who? Our other friends also staying at the hotel were mortified at what had happened and said it was a good job I kept the receptionist on the phone via whattsapp on my family members phone or else we would have been dropped at who knows where!! Personally I will never go back as I didn't feel safe and felt very scared and so did my sons! You would think you could trust the hotels help and recommendations but I warn...

I stayed in this hotel for seven nights. On the first glance (and especially on the web) it looks nice and clean - and it mostly is. The problem is with some of the staff and their attitude as well as the general hotel regulations and practices.

For instance, I once waited at the reception to book the (free of charge) airport shuttle. I waited for about five minutes while the receptionists were busy with other guests (which is totally fine). Then i waited another five minutes and watched them being busy with their smartphones, seemingly oblivious of me waiting. Then someone finally took notice of me and asked if I was being served already. She apologised for letting me wait, and I know that sometimes things get over one's head. But the fact that they played around with their phones, I think, exemplifies that the behaviour of some of the staff implicitly tells that guests are a liability to them - I would like to remind you that we are the reason you are getting your paycheck at the end of the month.

When we went to the pool, the pool staff told us that all the sunshades are broken and we need to take a place at the wall to be in the shade. The pool itself was nice and clean though. Breakfast was okayish - nothing special but not too bad. There was a variety of food provided. Also, their "gym" is a joke - it's a very small chamber with a few very old machines and one pair of dumbells - don't get fooled by the photos on the internet.

The hotel is located at a very busy street with no sidewalks, so it is either you take the bus or you risk getting disabled at best, and dying at worst. I am aware that this is not the hotel's fault, but I mention it for potential guests.

And here comes the reason why I'll give them just one star: They use every strategy in the book in order to soak the money out of your wallet. On the fifth day, they brought two bottles of water to our room while we were absent, not hinting at the fact that one of them costs 2€. We haven't touched them because I am aware of such dirty tricks. The tap water has a very ugly after taste though. The thing is, officially you can't bring any food or beverage to your room because of "hygiene reasons" - another one of their dirty tricks to get you to visit their restaurant and buy their overpriced water. I recommend you just ignore that rule.

But this is the culmination of audacity: Catania (and other Italian citys) have a tax fee that you have to pay before you leave the hotel. It's 1,50€ per adult for three nights in a 4 star hotel at maximum. They charged us 2,50€ per adult for four nights in a 5 star hotel. So they inappropriately charged us the maximum amount of money. You can find the tourist tax regulations on the internet, so I mention it for potential future guests - don't let yourself be ripped off! This is absolutely inacceptable and I am going to contact my bank in order to get the money back. And in my opinion such criminal behaviour also justifies the one...