Hotel Isola Bella - Taormina, Italy     

We stayed at the Isola Bella for six nights in September at the end of our fortnight in Sicily. Its bread and butter income is from coach trips and we were very much in the minority in staying for so long. The hotel is in a wonderful location for Isola Bella beach which is excellent for snorkelling - base yourself for the day at Pizzichella to the far left of the beach. However the hotel is right on a busy road with the road and a railway line between you and the sea, so it is not peaceful and you need to sleep with the windows closed - the air conditioning leaves a lot to be desired. The hotel decor and furnishings are very tired and it could do with investment but if you are here only for an overnight stop this is not too much of an issue - just don't expect luxury and you will not be disappointed. Bed linen and towels are clean and changed daily which is important in my book. It is within walking distance of several reasonable restaurants (the hotel is bed and breakfast only) and the cable car up into Taormina. For what it is we thought the price was extortionate, but it was cheaper than staying in Taormina itself. There is a swimming pool at the back of the hotel which is reasonable although not good, although the back view of the hotel is really quite grim. Make sure you get a sea view - some of the rooms at the back of the hotel look straight into concrete walls. Breakfast although buffet style is very basic, bread, croissants and jam, some yoghurts and eggs if you are early and on the first two days of our stay only there was some ham and cheese. Staffing levels are minimal and after the chambermaids have done their work, there is only the person on the front desk in sight. They do provide a couple of PCs for internet access. There is limited parking (about six cars) but saying that on the occasions we took the car out we always got parked again.