Hotel Le Calette — Restaurant in Cefalù

A lovely, but compromised stay at Le Calette. Firstly, I think the location is superb. Close enough to Cefalu, but far enough away to remain quiet and secluded. We had a good stay but some of the finer details were lacking, which are what I expect from a 5 star hotel, which is why I've taken a star away.||The hotel itself is down an unassuming road, which doesn't show the beauty of the property, but is great for safety. There was plenty of parking, which was complementary. The grounds are vast, covering large areas of the cove, with rooms split into 3 distinct areas. It's a 20 min walk to Cefalu, past the marina. It felt safe at all times and was a nice easy walk. There are restaurants accessible, in case you want to try somewhere different was amazing food. La Trinacria was one of the best places I've been in Sicily. Make sure you try it, especially the Parmigiana!||Our welcome was very warm, and we were greeted by our car and escorted inside. The receptionists were friendly and spoke fantastic English, making it easy to understand each other. It was our wedding anniversary, so they also kindly upgraded our room, which was a lovely touch. Our room opened up onto the swimming pool, with 2 seats outside, which was perfect.||There's plenty to see in the resort, from the bar, restaurants, gym, spa, swimming pool, nature beach (our favourite) and reef club.|The nature beach is accessed by a small path to a beautiful cove with a few sun loungers. No one was there for our trip so it felt like a private retreat. There's no service, or sandy beach, but a rocky area with a few loungers and ladders into the crystal clear water. Heavenly!||The service around the pool area was attentive and friendly, serving drinks and snacks. If you go down to the reef club, which has its own decking area and staff, there are formal seating for food, loungers that face onto the sea and a small jetty to access the water. Wonderful views and service.||We only had breakfast in the resort, which has plenty of variety, however, the coffee was poor. It was out of a machine, so it should have been fine, but it was not great.||Our room was well appointed, with a small living area at the front of the room, before entering the bedroom. The bathroom was behind the bedroom and well appointed including gorgeous Ortigia products. The bed was massive and bedding of very high quality. Impressive.||Part of going on holiday is to relax and get a great night's sleep. Unfortunately, we did not get a good night sleep at all. We stayed in room 110, which has a staff entrance behind it (including 109,112, plus upstairs). This mean that doors were being slammed (unintentionally, I'd like to believe) at all times of the day, and echoed through our room very loudly. Secondly, there is a train line behind the hotel. Luckily, the trains are not frequent, but if you're trying to sleep during the day, as you couldn't sleep at night, it creates an inconvenience.||We spoke to reception about it, and even showed where the noise was coming from, with the doors, and was assured that they would remind the staff to be conscious at early/late times. That's all we were asking for, maybe to remain quieter until approx 07:30, but to no avail. The doors started slamming regularly at 05:40 each day which mean we were woken up and couldn't get back to sleep. We were quite disappointed by this, and despite asking reception a few times, nothing could be done. It also happened in the evenings, but not after 22:30.||The second issue was in the spa. We got a couple's massage and wanted to have different treatments. My Thai massage was perfect, but my wife's was poor. Partly due to the language barrier, but the masseuse couldn't understand that my wife was continually asking for harder pressure, and to focus on certain areas. When leaving, my wife was quite upset. The thai masseuse saw this and offered to give her another massage to meet her expectations. I thought this represented exceptional service and we thanked her for making the offer, as it was very much appreciated. This massage was much better and my wife left happy.||I recognise this review sounds overly negative, but they are important features we wanted from our stay. To be rested, relaxed and peaceful.||To be clear, we had a fantastic time at the resort, but it was soured by the lack of sleep. It's very expensive, but we would visit again, as long as we got a quieter room, away from any noise from the...

A lovely, but compromised stay at Le Calette. Firstly, I think the location is superb. Close enough to Cefalu, but far enough away to remain quiet and secluded. We had a good stay but some of the finer details were lacking, which are what I expect from a 5 star hotel, which is why I've taken a star away.

The hotel itself is down an unassuming road, which doesn't show the beauty of the property, but is great for safety. There was plenty of parking, which was complementary. The grounds are vast, covering large areas of the cove, with rooms split into 3 distinct areas. It's a 20 min walk to Cefalu, past the marina. It felt safe at all times and was a nice easy walk. There are restaurants nearby, in case you want to try somewhere different was amazing food.

Our welcome was very warm, and we were greeted by our car and escorted inside. The receptionists were friendly and spoke fantastic English, making it easy to understand each other. It was our wedding anniversary, so they also kindly upgraded our room, which was a lovely touch. Our room opened up onto the swimming pool, with 2 seats outside, which was perfect.

There's plenty to see in the resort, from the bar, restaurants, gym, spa, swimming pool, nature beach (our favourite) and reef club. The nature beach is accessed by a small path to a beautiful cove with a few sun loungers. No one was there for our trip so it felt like a private retreat. There's no service, or sandy beach, but a rocky area with a few loungers and ladders into the crystal clear water. Heavenly!

The service around the pool area was attentive and friendly, serving drinks and snacks. If you go down to the reef club, which has its own decking area and staff, there are formal seating for food, loungers that face onto the sea and a small jetty to access the water. Wonderful views and service.

We only had breakfast in the resort, which has plenty of variety, however, the coffee was poor. It was out of a machine, so it should have been fine, but it was not great.

Our room was well appointed, with a small living area at the front of the room, before entering the bedroom. The bathroom was behind the bedroom and well appointed including gorgeous Ortigia products. The bed was massive and bedding of very high quality. Impressive.

Part of going on holiday is to relax and get a great night's sleep. Unfortunately, we did not. We stayed in room 110, which has a service corridor behind it. This mean that doors were being slammed at all times of the day, and echoed through our room very loudly.

We spoke to reception about it, and even showed where the noise was coming from, with the doors, and was assured that they would remind the staff to be conscious at early/late times. That's all we were asking for, maybe to remain quieter until approx 07:30, but to no avail. The doors started slamming regularly at 05:40 each day which mean we were woken up and couldn't get back to sleep. We were quite disappointed by this, and despite asking reception a few times, nothing could be done. It also happened in the evenings, but not after 22:30.

The second issue was in the spa. We got a couple's massage and wanted to have different treatments. My Thai massage was perfect, but my wife's was poor. Partly due to the language barrier, but the masseuse couldn't understand that my wife was continually asking for harder pressure, and to focus on certain areas. When leaving, my wife was quite upset. The thai masseuse saw this and offered to give her another massage to meet her expectations. I thought this represented exceptional service and we thanked her for making the offer, as it was very much appreciated. This massage was much better and my wife left happy.

I recognise this review sounds overly negative, but they are important features we wanted from our stay. To be rested, relaxed and peaceful.

To be clear, we had a fantastic time at the resort, but it was soured by the lack of sleep. It's very expensive, but we would visit again, as long as we got a quieter room, away from any noise from the...

UPDATE: Rather than contacting me directly, the hotel sent me a formal cease and desist letter on letterhead from their attorney in Palermo. The letter claimed I wrote a negative review to extort them for money and demanded I remove my review or they would "initiate all appropriate civil and criminal proceedings" to "protect" their client. I was floored and have never experienced anything like this in my life. This begs the question: Do they have such positive reviews because they send formal legal letters to any individuals who write critical reviews? Needless to say, I won't be deleting my review and I could not recommend this place less.

Original review:

Le Calette is a property with potential, but sadly, it falls far short of what you'd expect from a hotel that markets itself as 5-star. We felt completely misled—and frankly, taken advantage of. We have stayed at other 5 star seaside properties in Italy (Il Pelicano, Il San Pietro, etc) and this property in no way, shape or form, is reminiscent of other 5-star experiences we have had.

When I reached out to Expedia to express our dissatisfaction with the hotel they inadvertently forwarded me communications from the hotel asking Expedia to “kindly prevent the guest from posting any further reviews that may be intended to exert undue pressure in an attempt to obtain financial compensation.” I find this particularly concerning and wonder if the hotel is suppressing negative reviews because this place is absolutely not worth what they are charging guests..

While the lobby and pool are beautiful, that’s where the luxury ends. Our Lotus Bungalow, which cost $1800/night, smelled of mildew and had the sterile, impersonal feel of staff housing. Despite being in a newer building, there was no charm, no warmth, and certainly nothing that justified the price. Our friend stayed in a so-called deluxe room off the pool, which was small, musty, and had black mold in the shower. No espresso machine—just instant coffee packets.

Housekeeping did the bare minimum. Towels were changed, the bed was made, but trash wasn’t taken out and no surface was ever cleaned. Dirty beach towels were left sitting outside for days. Across the property, staff (aside from the front desk) were disengaged—housekeepers and porters didn’t acknowledge guests or offer basic greetings. The lack of service was glaring.

At the pool and beach, service was nonexistent. On two separate days, we waited over an hour without being approached for food or drink orders. We had to get up and go to the bar ourselves. The beach club chairs were old and dingy—not what you'd expect from a hotel in this price bracket.

We voiced our concerns to the manager on the last day and explained that we’ve stayed at other luxury seaside properties in Italy and this was nowhere near the same league. He was apologetic but defensive. He offered to make a lunch reservation, but nothing was done to acknowledge the poor experience—not even a partial comp. A bottle of prosecco and melted gelato was sent to our chairs as a gesture, but we couldn’t enjoy it as we were leaving for the airport.

This hotel is family-owned, and it shows—but not in the charming way. It feels poorly managed and disconnected from the level of service today’s luxury travelers expect. Le Calette might work as a casual beach club or a stop for a sunset drink, but as a hotel? It’s overpriced, underdelivering, and simply not worth it. The family should hire new management or offload the property to a hospitality group who knows how to cater to guests seeking a 5-star experience.

We left feeling disappointed and, quite honestly, ripped off. The entire experience was comical. We look back at it and laugh. Spend your...