Hotel Baia delle Sirene — Hotel in Taormina

Stayed in this hotel with my partner for a short, one week break in September for a little sun and relaxation.|.|First the positives ...|Good location - Just 15 minutes walk from the cable-car at Mazzaro, taking you up to the Old Town. (Note: Half of the walk is along a very busy road with no footpath.)|Good access to beach - Just two minutes walk under the railway tunnel to a shingle beach.|Friendly staff - Staff did everything to help whenever asked. Not enough of them, but great customer service attitude (and even tolerated my very poor Italian).|Room facilities - Good size room. Fridge for cold drinks, but no tea/coffee making facilities. Good size bathroom with towels changed daily. Air conditioning is effective. (Note: If you book a double bed then it's just two singles pushed together with no over-mattress. Always annoying in many hotels.)|.|Negatives ...|Tired and under-staffed - The general upkeep of the hotel feels tired and in need of redecoration / refurbishment.|Misleading photos - At best the official photos are 'staged'. At worse they are misleading. The sun terrace (with loungers on green astro-turf) does not exist. There approximately six sun loungers on the beach and two umbrellas. They are all in extremely poor repair and look abandoned rather than belonging to the hotel. This needs to be addressed urgently.|Basic breakfast - Breakfast was included in our package but disappointing. Very few fruit options. Only scrambled egg and bacon for hot food (and this is slow to be replenished, so arrive early!) Fruit juices are little more than coloured water. But coffee is good!|Room description - We had a triple room with "garden view and sea side". Firstly, the only window was in the door! Because we were on the ground floor near reception we didn't want people looking in the room so mostly had the window shutters closed. So we didn't really benefit from any views. (Note: The garden is also the car park.)|Railway line - Nobody mentions this until you get to the hotel. It is around 200m to the railway line which runs between the hotel and the beach. The 5am train WILL be your early morning alarm. You will get used to this after a few days.|.|In spite of the above, we made the most of our stay and would recommend this hotel if it was more reasonably priced and the photos were...

Stayed in this hotel with my partner for a short, one week break in September for a little sun and relaxation.|.|First the positives ...|Good location - Just 15 minutes walk from the cable-car at Mazzaro, taking you up to the Old Town. (Note: Half of the walk is along a very busy road with no footpath.)|Good access to beach - Just two minutes walk under the railway tunnel to a shingle beach.|Friendly staff - Staff did everything to help whenever asked. Not enough of them, but great customer service attitude (and even tolerated my very poor Italian).|Room facilities - Good size room. Fridge for cold drinks, but no tea/coffee making facilities. Good size bathroom with towels changed daily. Air conditioning is effective. (Note: If you book a double bed then it's just two singles pushed together with no over-mattress. Always annoying in many hotels.)|.|Negatives ...|Tired and under-staffed - The general upkeep of the hotel feels tired and in need of redecoration / refurbishment.|Misleading photos - At best the official photos are 'staged'. At worse they are misleading. The sun terrace (with loungers on green astro-turf) does not exist. There approximately six sun loungers on the beach and two umbrellas. They are all in extremely poor repair and look abandoned rather than belonging to the hotel. This needs to be addressed urgently.|Basic breakfast - Breakfast was included in our package but disappointing. Very few fruit options. Only scrambled egg and bacon for hot food (and this is slow to be replenished, so arrive early!) Fruit juices are little more than coloured water. But coffee is good!|Room description - We had a triple room with "garden view and sea side". Firstly, the only window was in the door! Because we were on the ground floor near reception we didn't want people looking in the room so mostly had the window shutters closed. So we didn't really benefit from any views. (Note: The garden is also the car park.)|Railway line - Nobody mentions this until you get to the hotel. It is around 200m to the railway line which runs between the hotel and the beach. The 5am train WILL be your early morning alarm. You will get used to this after a few days.|.|In spite of the above, we made the most of our stay and would recommend this hotel if it was more reasonably priced and the photos were...

If you want to know what it feels like to stay in a room that looks nothing like the photos, this is your spot. Ours had a window with no blinds, so the room was basically a tanning salon at sunrise. Add to that the joy of hearing staff chatting and clattering dishes in the kitchen, and you can forget about rest.

The bathroom was straight-up chaos. The shower floods the entire floor every time you use it, so going to the toilet means stepping in puddles or sacrificing a pair of socks. Nothing says “vacation” like wringing out your feet.

Breakfast was decent, but that’s the only time you’re allowed to enjoy the view. The rest of the day, forget it. Strangely, they don’t give guests any discount to use their own beach club, while at the same time other hotels in Taormina offer free shuttles from the hilltop to the beach. You’re left feeling like a second-class citizen at their own property.

Location is a letdown. Nothing around to eat or shop, parking is a nightmare, and you end up relying on the car just to do anything. Taormina town itself is where the real magic happens, or even further away for more peace. Here, you’re stuck in the middle of nowhere with none of the perks.

We left regretting the choice, knowing there are much better options for the same price. The view can’t make up for a room that blinds you at dawn, floods your bathroom, and leaves you stranded with no atmosphere. Book elsewhere and...