The hotel is located in Mazzarro, from here you can access the beaches down many steps or you can access Taormina by cable car €3 each way per person. You can climb the stepped path up to Taormina in about 20 mins so long as you’re fairly mobile, it is easily achievable. We did it every day we were not on an excursion. The hotel has an old Italian charm feel about it. The staff are very welcoming and helpful, they add greatly to the whole experience. Vincenzo and Alfio deserve a mention for their warmth and attentiveness. The ladies on reception were very gracious and helpful, nothing was too much trouble. The room was kept in a lovely condition throughout our visit. The hotel orientation meant the rooms and terrace had full sun pretty much all day, though the air conditioning was very effective at keeping the room cool.
Minor disappointments on the holiday consisted of the hotel pool area on the roof and the roof terrace - due to their location they could have been spectacular instead of feeling a bit tired looking. The picture of the swimming pool for the hotel is not the one on the roof. There is an option to go to the Ipanema beach club for €10 per person per day and the pool pictured for the hotel is here. The hotel plumbing can be quite loud so that a toilet flushed at night can be clearly heard in the adjoining room.
All the planned trips taken were filled to capacity and needed a double decker type bus. The groups were too big and unwieldy reducing the enjoyment.