Maniel Beach Hotel

Just back, I stayed during the week of Ferragosto, which is the most expensive one, and those who pay such amounts expect proportional treatment. Here, however, even the ordinary was missing. The hotel is located on the Letojanni seafront, a stone's throw from a splendid sea. It has no parking and it is impossible to find any nearby. The daily paid parking area for 15 euros is at the sports field, about 1 km away. The facility is inaccessible to people with disabilities. In the small lobby, there is an unmanned bar counter and a receptionist during the day, whose function I believe is to ask for payment before even unloading the luggage. In the evening hours, you can access the guesthouse thanks to a code lock. Closing the door depends on the kindness of whoever arrives last. The rooms are good and comfortable, not impeccable in cleanliness, but the lady who tidies them up is one person and does what she can. The highlight is the dining. What is sold as full board and half board is actually a fixed-menu meal, a first course, a second course, and a side dish, no fruit or desserts, to be consumed at the refreshment point in front of the affiliated beach club. The proposals for the week of Ferragosto were spaghetti with garlic and oil, pasta with pesto, carbonara, pasta alla norma. Among the main courses, chicken cutlet and fries, a grilled slice of meat that I won't describe out of decency, mussels, and a slice of frozen swordfish. Lunch or dinner could be replaced by the pizza menu. Just the pizza, nothing else. The breakfast is scandalous, also to be eaten at the beach club. The buffet, for which I am attaching the menu, actually included frozen croissants to be filled and some braided pastries, caprese cake, every day, some leftovers of other frozen cakes, yogurt of an unknown brand, sliced bread strictly left open with no possibility of any filling, no cold cuts, never any fruit, never seen, cookies, who knows... Beach spot at the lifeguard's discretion. It also happened that upon returning to the beach after lunch, I found the spot assigned to others. A positive note is the bar and restaurant staff at the beach. All wonderful guys and girls, but unfortunately, with their friendliness, they could not make up for the serious shortcomings of those at the top. For what you pay, it is really not worth it.

Welcoming, well-kept facility, exactly facing the sea. Attached beach club with an excellent restaurant and pizzeria included. The air-conditioned, spacious, clean rooms guarantee a pleasant stay. Management attentive to the customer and always available. Furthermore, at the foot of Taormina, reachable by shuttle bus in 20 minutes. Compliments, successful vacation, see you soon.

The review of the beach club would be two stars at most. Friendly staff, but at the reception we were told that they would prepare sunbeds and an umbrella for us; however, having arrived at the umbrella after at least half an hour, it had not yet been opened, and neither had the sunbeds. I therefore asked someone from the staff to prepare our spot; he just opened the umbrella, and we had to take care of removing the pebbles from the sunbeds and positioning them ourselves. Furthermore, the provided ashtray had not been emptied, and I had to ask for it to be emptied (we are non-smokers). IMPORTANT INFORMATION: the price of the spot does not include the cold shower. To take a shower, you must leave a €10 deposit, and you are given a bracelet that activates the cold shower (10 are free, then you pay €0.5 each). Someone explain to me why cold showers aren't just available to paying customers, because it's not clear to me. What raises the score is the pizza. In my opinion, it's really good. Well-leavened, well-cooked, abundant and quality ingredients. Unfortunately, the service was not up to par. Since it wasn't written anywhere that the table had to be reserved for lunch, we sat at the first one available and the owner, in a rather irritating manner, says to us: "did you book?", I said: "no" and he said "so you just sat at the table like that, without booking". I was about to leave. Pizzas arrived after 40 minutes. Note: THE BEACH CLUB DOES NOT ALLOW YOU TO BRING FOOD OR DRINKS INSIDE. I believe it is illegal.