J Jax

Review of Grand Hotel Timeo & Villa Sant...

This is a nice enough place, it just really paled ...

This is a nice enough place, it just really paled in comparison to other places: 1) another place we stayed in Sicily for almost half the price, where we had a far nicer room, there was much more to do, service was better, and food was WAY better; and 2) it also compared poorly to another hotel in Taormina where we spent a lot of time & which was the same price, but was a nicer building, had more to do, an even more spectacular view (yes, it s possible,) had much better service & also better food. The food was close to the worst we had in ~2wks in Sicily, but again that s mostly because this was fine, but we had genuinely spectacular food elsewhere. We were a little unhappy with the room because both the room itself & the bathroom were so tiny they were dysfunctional. And I think it was just the location of our room, but it was so loud I got barely any sleep the first few days, until I started using a noise machine. Otherwise, we also had a not-so-nice experience of being literally shooed off the beach in case someone wants to rent the cabana. I had a migraine at the time (in part from lack of sleep), so I was probably more upset than I might have been, but still it was very rudely done, & at $800/night, you don t expect staff rudeness. It was worse because we had sat there before, & seen other people there (without renting the cabana), so the rule, if that s what it really is, is evidently inconsistently enforced. Who knows - certainly they re motivated to rent those cabanas because they cost more than the room itself. The whole thing seemed kind of underhanded, like they were trying to get us to pay more (there were other things that gave us that impression, too). Anyway the whole beach thing, which seemed to be the main attraction, was not that pleasant because the lounges are jam packed & fill early. Having to jostle and connive (or pay) to get a spot didn t add to our enjoyment, to say the least. So- wish we didn t stay here; wouldn t stay again.