Grand Hotel Faraglioni

“Faraglioni Heaven”

First the good : A very nice hotel. Excellent staff and customer Service. Cannot fault the clean nice rooms. Heavenly View. Great location. Nice communal areas. Modern and luxurious. Breakfast is great. Taxi distance from the airport. Now The Bad (minimal) : One night a private event meant poundi… more

First the good : A very nice hotel. Excellent staff and customer Service. Cannot fault the clean nice rooms. Heavenly View. Great location. Nice communal areas. Modern and luxurious. Breakfast is great. Taxi distance from the airport. Now The Bad (minimal) : One night a private event meant pounding loud europop invaded our room till 10pm. The external terrace lounge area closed a week before we arrived. With no massive beach to speak of this would have been a godsend. There is a local lido and it is very nice but this costs. Finally the Practical : Worth shelling out for one of the few luxury bigger rooms on the higher floor. Bigger balconies and glorious views (see the faraglioni rocks). Utilise the local buses to visit Catania rather than the costly tours : tickets are €1 from Tabac shops (buy in advance redeem onboard) and the busstop is just down the road from the hotel (and the staff on reception will helpfully provide a timetable when asked) Would we return. Hell yes. We would just go one week earlier to get the sun loungers.

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“Perfect Location. Beautiful View”

A clean, modern, professionally-run hotel. Get a Deluxe Sea View Room if you can. There were none left so had to book a Superior Room Sea View 22sq.m. Has a small step-in balcony for 2 standing only & a large window by the desk (large by European standards). No pool. Great Michelin star restaurant… more

A clean, modern, professionally-run hotel. Get a Deluxe Sea View Room if you can. There were none left so had to book a Superior Room Sea View 22sq.m. Has a small step-in balcony for 2 standing only & a large window by the desk (large by European standards). No pool. Great Michelin star restaurant next door (Faraglioni) that’s part of the hotel where the included buffet breakfast is also served. Must go out of hotel, turn right & up a couple of stairs. No wheelchair ramp that I could see. Buffet Breakfast there is excellent with hot & cold items, excellent cappuccinos. The other hotel restaurant “Canto Delle Sirene” is on the 2nd floor outdoor covered terrace in the main building (elevator access). We had dinner reservations there @ 8pm on a Friday night but they closed it down due to “high winds”. Well too bad. Went to Sicilia’s Cafe de Mar outdoor seafront terrace which was open. Dined under the stars, moonlight & buskers playing great music instead. Probably for half the price!! Desirée & other hotel reservation staff were great in getting back to us thru WhatsApp about room requests, dinner reservations etc. Got Rm 403 in back round tower behind the hotel’s front round tower. It looked out over the beautiful pool & outdoor terrace tables of the adjacent restaurant below (Sicilia’s Cafe de Mar - best view in Aci Trezza!) if you look outward not downward. Look down & you see the restaurant’s ugly roof as well. From our bed, look to your right & see the Cyclops rocks thru the glass balcony door. View may have been nicer in Rm 405 or 401 but beware that some rooms’ glass balcony door faces the side wall not the sea. Room seemed clean. Needed 2nd luggage stand so the hotel gave us a chair to put 2nd suitcase on. This room has no coffeemaker or kettle (book a Deluxe category for that stuff & larger room). Asked for a kettle but they wanted to charge us €6 for tea bags so bring your own instant coffee/ tea bags/ bottled water (€1.50 for 500ml from Sicilia’s Restaurant next door. Hotel bar fridge charges €3. for same size bottled water) & request the kettle for no charge. Drink bottled water in Sicily. Their municipal water is not filtered to a high standard. We loved strolling on the seafront boardwalk promenade across the narrow street. This hotel also has a beach club across the street. It’s wheelchair accessible to the beach lounge chairs but sea access is by stairs only. There’s a wheelchair ramp from road to hotel entrance & elevator. When booking, check the hotel’s website directly — they have some packages that are a really good deal like the Gourmet Experience (including Michelin restaurant tasting menu/ wine pairing/ 7pm late checkout, etc.). The hotel itself doesn’t have a dedicated parking area but it has a luggage /guest dropoff area & then u can try your luck for free parking on the streets or further down is a designated pay parking area fronting the marina. 30min. to Mt. Etna & Taormina. 30min. from Catania airport. Not as touristy busy as the Aci Castello area (it’s in Aci Trezza a bit further away) Highly recommend this hotel.

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“Terrific hotel and gracious staff”

My husband and I can not praise this hotel and staff enough! From the moment with checked in with Fransico we knew we were in good hands. Our delux sea view room was wonderful, clean, comfy linens and fabulous views! The first nite when we returned to our room a pretty glass dome covered dish holdi… more

My husband and I can not praise this hotel and staff enough! From the moment with checked in with Fransico we knew we were in good hands. Our delux sea view room was wonderful, clean, comfy linens and fabulous views! The first nite when we returned to our room a pretty glass dome covered dish holding cookies was left on the table. Salvo served us our coffee and pastry in the morning down stairs graciously. He was a delight as well as Geovanni at the Lido across the street. He was always willing to ensure we had what we needed when we lounged under the umbrellas with big towels that he had set out early for the guest. We also noticed that staff cleaned not only our rooms very well but the entire property was cleaned every morning. This was especially noted after we had spent a couple of days in AciTrezza and could not help but notice that not all property owners take pride in keeping properties clean. Additionally, everything we ate or drank in the restaurants was excellent and presented nicely.

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“Great morning animation!”

I had a comfortable and great morning animation with LUX! Morning yoga was definitely my favorite part, and I loved starting the day with it. The energizing routine helped me feel refreshed, grounded, and fully prepared to tackle any challenges that came my way. It set a positive tone for the rest … more

I had a comfortable and great morning animation with LUX! Morning yoga was definitely my favorite part, and I loved starting the day with it. The energizing routine helped me feel refreshed, grounded, and fully prepared to tackle any challenges that came my way. It set a positive tone for the rest of the day, leaving me motivated and ready to embrace everything ahead with confidence and enthusiasm. Starting the morning like this is truly transformative, making each day feel more balanced and productive. Highly recommend incorporating such a routine into your daily life!

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